CHAP. X.

Of the Prophecies and Miracles of the
Prophets.

He Falfe Prophets prophefied in the Name of Jehovah, 1 King. xxii. which fuppofes that True Prophecies were wont to be delivered in his Name, or else they could never have hoped to deceive by it. And in the Historical Books of the Old Testament, in which the Prophecies and Miracles of the Prophets are related, reference is frequently made to the Records then extant in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah and Ifrael; moft of the Prophecies and Miracles being of that Publick Nature, and fo intermix'd with the Affairs of State, that they must be recorded together with them. (a)Fofeph. Jofiah (a) was prophefied of by Name, Antiquit. Three hundred fixty one Years before he was born: Behold a child shall be born unto the house of David, Jofiah by name, 1 King. xiii. 2. and this was foretold by a Prophet, who came out of Judah, purposely to denounce the Judgments of God upon the Priefts of the Altar, and upon the Altar it felf, which Jeroboam had newly fet up at Bethel, when Jeroboam ftood by the Altar to burn Incense: and his Prediction, at the fame time, was confirmed by Two Miracles; one wrought upon Jeroboam himself, by drying up his hand, which he ftretched forth against

J. 10. c. 5.

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the Prophet, and which, by the Prophet's Prayer, was restored again whole to him, as it was before; the other Miracle was wrought upon the Altar, by rending it, and pouring out the Ashes from it. And a Prophecy delivered in the presence and to the face of an enraged ame Prince, against the Religion of his own setting up,to fecure to himfelf the Kingdom he fo lately became poffeffed of, at the very time when he was offering Incenfe upon his New Altar : And this Prophecy, confirmed by an immediate Judgment both upon the King himself, and his Altar, in the fight of fo numerous an Appearance as must be present on so folemn an occafion, and thefe Enemies to the Prophet, who came from Judah, and to his Religion; a Prophecy thus delivered, had all the Circumstances to make it remarkable and notorious, in all the Tribes both of Ifrael and Judah then at hoftility with each other, that can almost be conceived: And yet the ftrange Death of the Prophet of Judah, for tranfgreffing, by his own confeffion, the Word of the Lord to him, and his Sepulchre, with its Title or Infcription ftill remaining at Bethel, when Johab demolished the Altar there, gave a further confirmation to it.

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The fulfilling of this Prophecy by Jofiah, was no lefssemarkable, 2 King. xxiii. 15. Jofrah was the Son of a very wicked King, and born at a time when the People were exceedingly corrupted by the Idolatry of his Grandfather

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Manaffes; and his Sons likewife proved wicked: fo that he was fo fingular in his Piety, and fo wonderful an Example of it, that no Man of his own Age could have imagin'd that of him, which had been foretold fo many hundred years ago. In all humane appearance, this was a very unlikely time to fee that Prophecy fulfilled; and that which had been wonderful in any Age, was much more wonderful in this: and in fo wicked an Age, this good King fet about the Work of Reformation very young, to fhew that it was not of Men, but of God.

The Deliverance of Judah, at Jehoshaphat's Prayer, was foretold by Jahaziel, in the midft of the Congregation; and was accomplished accordingly, by their Enemies destroying one another, 2 Chron. XX.

Elijah foretold, that the Dogs fhould lick Ahab's Blood in Jezreel, where they had licked (b) Jofeph. the Blood of Naboth: which, as (b) Jofephus Antiquit. fays, was objected by Zedechiah, one of the Falle Prophets, against Micaiah," who foretold, that Ahab fhould be flain at Ramoth-gilead; but he was brought home in his Chariot from Ramothgilead to Samaria, and there the Dogs licked his Blood in Jezreel, 1 King, xxii. 38. fo that both the Prophecy of Elijah and Michaiah was fulfilled. And when one Prophet feems contrary to another, one foretelling the principal thing, and another fome accidental circumftance, which thofe that were prefent, and moft concerned in the Action, could not imagine, till it happened;

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and Falfe Prophets, in the mean time, watch the Events, to take all Advantages from it, against the True Prophets, and can find none: nothing more can be defired, to affure us of the Truth of any Prophecy. The fame Prophet foretold the like Judgment upon Jezebel, and that the House of Ahab fhould be like the House of Jeroboam, and like the House of Baasha; the Destruction of both which had been foretold by other Prophets, and their Prophecies fulfilled, as this of Elijah's also was.

Elijah, by a Writing fent to Jehoram King of Judah, foretold his Death, and the strange manner of it, viz. That after the lofs of his Children, and his Wives, and all his Goods, he fhould be afflicted in his Bowels, and that his Bowels fhould fall out by degrees, 2 Chron.xxi.12. The fame Prophet not only foretold the Death of Ahaziah, but caufed Fire twice to come down from Heaven, upon those who were sent to Apprehend him, 2 King. i. And at his Prayer, Fire defcended from Heaven, and confumed the Sacrifice, in the fight of Baal's Prophets, being Four hundred and fifty; to whom Elijah, who was the only Prophet of the Lord there prefent, had made this Propofal, The God that answereth by fire, let him be God: And when Baal, not withstanding all their hideous Cries, and the cutting themselves, did not hear them; then, upon Elijah's Prayer, the fire of the Lord fell,. and confumed the burnt facrifice, and the wood, and the ftones, and the duft, and licked up the

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water that was in the trench, 1 King. xviii. 38. which was the fame Miracle, repeated in the midst of Idolaters who were fo enraged and provoked against the Prophet Elijah, that had been before wrought in the fight of the People of Ifrael, in the time of Mofes, Lev. ix. 24. and of David, I Chron. xxi. 26. and at the Dedication (c) Cyril of Solomon's Temple, 2 Chron. vii. 1. (c) And contra Ju- this Miracle of Elijah, in bringing down Fire from Heaven, to confume the Sacrifice, and that of Moses in like manner, were both confeffed to be true, by Julian the Apoftate himself.

tian. 1. 10.

The miraculous Cure of Naaman's Leprofie, must be notorious throughout the Kingdoms both of Syria and Ifrael, 2 King. v. The wonderful Deliverance of the Ifraelites, when the Syrians heard a noife of Horfes and Chariots, and therefore raised the Siege of Samaria, and the Plenty which followed, was foretold by Elifba, with a Judgment upon that Lord who doubted of the Truth of his Prediction. The fame Prophet foretold the Death of Benhadad King of Syria, and that he fhould neither recover of his Sickness, nor die a Natural Death. And the Reign of Hazael, who fucceeded him, is defcribed in fuch true and dreadful Characters, that Hazael thought it impoffible for him to be guilty of to much cruelty, 2 King. vii, viii.

The Leprofie inflicted upon Uzziah, for prefuming to burn Incenfe unto the Lord, which it was lawful for the Priefts only to do, was a permanent Miracle; for his Leprofie continued.