tilence. At length God" did blow with his wind;" and Pharaoh, with all his hoft, funk as lead in the mighty waters.

66

All the irrational creatures are his hofts. "Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl,-praise the name of the LORD." To punish the idolatry of the mingled nations, which the king of Affyria fettled in the land of Ifrael,

66

66

JEHOVAH fent lions among them." Bears were the inftruments of his vengeance on the children, who mocked his fervant Elifha . To the rebellious prophet, the belly of a great fish is provided, as at the fame time a prifon and a place of preservation. He punished the murmuring of the Ifraelites, by fending fiery ferpents to destroy them. At his command, fuch legions of frogs affaulted the Egyptians, that the combined power of Egypt was infufficient to vanquish them. Often hath he poured contempt on the power and on the pride of man, by making the meaneft or the minuteft creatures the meffengers of deftruction. The god Herod is eaten by worms; as if the true God would, by his end, remind him of the meannels of his origin, and of the contemptible impotence of that divinity afcribed to him by his minions. When he would punish the oppreffors of his people, "he fpake, and there came divers forts "of flies, and lice in all their coafts.-He fpake, "and the locufts came, and caterpillers, and that "without number; and did eat up all the herbs "in

• Exod. ix. 15.; Pfal. lxxviii. 50.

q 2 Kings ii. 24.

E 2

p 2 Kings xvii. 25.

t Acts xii. 21.-23.

66

"in their land, and devoured the fruit of their "ground"." He dignifies these mean creatures, the locuft, the canker-worm, the caterpiller, and the palmer-worm, with the character of his "great army;" becaufe, as he fends them for the punishment of a guilty people, they certainly execute his commiffion. To convince the Ifraelites, how easy it was for him to give them the poffeffion of the land of promife, he informs them that he had a very puny hoft that could eafily accomplish the work : "I will fend hornets before "thee, which fhall drive out the Hivite, the Ca

naanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;" and his promife was verified in their experience ". When we confider thefe things, juftly may we fay with Bildad; "Is there any number of his ar""mies?"

Our God is ftill known as " the LORD of hosts," not only in his conduct towards his Church, but in her. The more fenfible difplays he hath formerly given of his power, may be viewed as emblems of his continued, but more fpiritual, operation. As all true Ifraelites are "the hofts "of JEHOVAH," he honours his fervants with the name of angels. Did the ftars in their courses fight against Sifera? Heholdeth the feven

66

ftars in his right-hand," and employs them in fighting againft his enemies. Did he caufe the fun to ftand ftill on Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon? In carrying on the work of

u Pfal. cv. 31, 34, 35. Joh. xxiv. 12.

v Joel ii. 25.

x Job xxv. 3.

redemption,

wod. xxiii. 18.;

y Rev. ii. 1. 8. &c.

redemption, and for accomplishing his purposes of mercy towards the Church, he hath often covered the fun with blacknefs, and converted the moon into blood. He hath made the greateft political luminaries to ftand ftill, to alter their courses, or to hide their heads in darkness. To express the honour put on the prophets, called his two witneffes, they are defcribed as exercifing a delegated power over the elements. "If any man "will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their "mouth, and devoureth their enemies. These "have power to fhut heaven, that it rain not in "the days of their prophecy; and have power

66

over waters to turn them to blood, and to fmite "the earth with all plagues a." Did God employ the weakest and vileft inftruments in punishing the Egyptians and Canaanites? This fitly represents the wonderful difplay of his almighty power by means of the gospel, in choofing "the "base things of the world, and things which are

66

despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring "to nought things that are."

This name affords comfort to the Church in the moft trying and perilous times. This "name of "the God of Jacob defends" her. "Although

an hoft encamp" against her, in this fhe may be confident. He, who is with her, is mightier by far than all that can be against her. She may be encompaffed, not by one hoft only, but by many. But they are the hofts of JEHOVAH, under his government and control, how malevolent foever their

z Rev. vi. 12.; viii. 12.

E 3

a Rev. aj. 5, 6.

their defigns. We may therefore still fing; "The "LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is "our refuge."

It is a special ground of confolation, that this defignation belongs to Jefus, the Saviour of the Church. That King, who appeared in vision to Efaias, was the LORD of hofts; and we know that it was the glory of Chrift, which the prophet faw. Jefus is often reprefented as the bridegroom and hufband of the Church: but of this glorious Hufband it is faid, "The LORD of hosts " is his name ." Chrift is that King and "Lord "of glory," who afcended in the midst of his angels. And "who is this King of glory? The "LORD of hosts, he is the king of glory e."

This character conveys a comfortable affurance of the Church's triumph over all her incorrigible enemies. The Lord comforts his Church with the proclamation of this name, as her fecurity for victory over ancient Babylon. "Thus faith the "LORD of hosts, The children of Ifrael, and the "children of Judah, were oppreffed together; " and all that took them captives held them fast ; "they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer "is ftrong; The LORD of hofts is his name: he "fhall thoroughly plead their caufe, that he may

26

give reft to the land, and disquiet the inhabi"tants of Babylon." As that kingdom of graven images was a type of myftical Babylon, the fate. of the one prefigured that of the other. Hence

we are directed to the fame almighty power, as the ground of our confidence: "Strong is the "LORD God who judgeth her s."

SECTION IV.

Of the Holiness of God.-Of his Justice, as manifefted in the Threatening and Curfe of the Law-in the Antediluvian Hiftory-in the Deluge-in the Destruction of the Cities of the Plain-in the Refemblance between Sin and Punishment in the Mofaic Economy-in the Sufferings of the Meffiah.

ACCORDING to the nature of this work, it is not neceffary that we fhould nicely diftinguish between the Holiness and Juftice of God. As his holinefs is the perfect rectitude of his nature, according to which he infinitely loves what is morally good, and hates what is evil; his juftice, as it regards his creatures at least, is the actual difplay of this effential holinefs: God hath manifefted his holinefs, indeed, in various refpects, in which there was no call for the operation of his juftice. A few of thefe may be mentioned.

He difplayed his holinefs in making all things very good. For the evil of fin was not the work

E 4

of

g Rev, xviii. 8.