An exposition with practical observations continued upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters…

¹how many young ones are there who in their youth give very good hopes but it proves to be ⟨p. 579⟩but a morning cloud, their timely beginnings, end in apostasy. Another example we have in Amaziah in the 2 Chron. 25.2. Amaziah ²in the 6. verse had hired an hundred thousand of Israel to go to the war with him, and for their hire he had given them an hundred talons of silver, now after he had hired them, and paid them all their monies, there comes a Prophet of God & tells him, that he must not use a man of them, why saith he what shall I do for my money the hundred talents which I have paid the Army with? the man of God answered, the Lord is able to give thee much more than these; he had no security for it, but only G••s word for it and that from the mouth of a man; what now? Amaziah obeyed presently and separated the armies of Israel; But what became of this? Vers. 14. after he returned from the slaughter of the Edomites he brought the gods of the children of Seir and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down to them; and the 15. verse, God sends him another Prophet, and now see how the spirit of the man is changed; In the former verses the other Prophet comes to him and crosses his design and turns his mind, & he hearkens presently unto him, and obeys the command of God in that thing which was for his present and eminent loss; but this Prophet speaks as mildly, with as much love as possibly could be, and he speaks as much reason to him as a man can desire: Why hast thou relied and sought after the gods of the people which could not deliver their own people out of thy hand? they could not rescue or save their people from thee, and wilt thou serve them? yet in the 16. vers. mark what he saith, Meddle not with this matter, Art thou made of the Kings Counsel? forbear, why shouldest thou be smitten? Dost thou know what a plot and design there is in this thing? The Prophet forbears, but what follows? I know by this, the Lord hath determined to destroy thee, Because thou hast done this, ³and hast not hearkened to my counsel. The truth is, when we see men unruly, stubborn, and wilful, rejecting counsel, and very unreasonable in their way, especially after some good workings and stirrings, it is a fearful sign God hath a purpose to destroy them: So that wicked King at one time could call the prophet his father, yet how