The vanity of the worldThe vanity of the vvorld

Or if there have been no such considerable mutations in what concerns us, yet the revolutions that God hath of late years brought upon others, so beyond expectation or example, may well instruct us in the Vanity of the World, and make us no less contemn it, than admire that infinite wisdom that governs it.

It is said of the Wheels, Ezek. 1.17. That they went upon their four sides. For one Wheel intersecting and crossing another, the whole must needs consist of four sides or Semi-circles: And moving upon these four sides, it must of necessity move very ruggedly, by jolts and jerks. So truly the Providences of God do sometimes move unevenly, as cross wheels would do moving upon their sides. Great and sudden changes are often brought to pass without being ripened by sensible degrees; but happen by the surprisal of some unexpected Providence, and as it were, by the sudden jerk of the wheel, shaking off those who sate on the top, and crushing them in its passage over.

It is said of the Wheels, Ezek. 1.17. That they went upon their four sides. For one Wheel intersecting and crossing another, the whole must needs consist of four sides or Semi-circles: And moving upon these four sides, it must of necessity move very ruggedly, by jolts and jerks. So truly the Providences of God do sometimes move unevenly, as cross wheels would do moving upon their sides. Great and suddain changes are often brought to pass without being ripened by sensible degrees; but happen by the surprisal of some unexpected Providence, and as it were, by the suddain jerk of the wheel, shaking off those who sate on the top, and crushing them in its passage over.