New England Freemen Warned and Warmed

They have set up Kings but not by me, they have made Princes and I knew it not.

MEn, Fathers and Brethren, whatsoever you expect or suspect of me, I would neither expect nor suspect of you the representative body of a high professing People, that you should take up this solemn worship of God as a bare ceremony to attend the Granduer of the day, but would hope you come to look up to the great God, that he may give us some meat in this season. Psal. 145.15. But then look we to him with a single eye, for if we come resolved to him, & not to be resolved by him; we dissemble in our hearts, as they, Jer. 42.10. They ask counsel but take it not, Come not I pray you to enquire with an Idol in your heart, Ezek. 14.7. If there be here any of you with an Idol of prejudice, not to do what you hear; or a fixed purpose to do whatsoever you had a mind to before, be it right or wrong; let such an Idoll fall down before the Living p. 2God, but whatsoever ye will do, the Lord tells me what I must do, Ezek. 2.7. Thou shalt spe◊k my words, whether they will h◊ar or whether they will f◊rbear, and the words he hath at this time put into my mouth are thes◊, They have set up Kengs:

Whose coherence is this in the first verse, the P◊◊phet hath order from the Lord of 〈…〉 to sound an Alarm with the greatest earnestness, with a Trumpet from the roof of his mouth against secure Hypocrites, & so to signifie the aproach of a ◊wift and ravenous enemy, as an ◊agle against the ten Tribes; and this notwithstanding any pretence to their Church estate, or being a house of God, and professing themselves to own, know and acknowl◊◊ge him: ver. 2. they will cry 〈…〉 God we kn◊w thee, now the reason of Gods severe proceeding against them is, because they have broke the substance of their Covenant with God in the main Articles of it, transgr◊ssed my Covenant, and trespassed a◊ainst my Law, and cast off the thing 〈…〉, which is, that which the Cov◊n◊nt and 〈…〉 require▪ and in this 4th. ver. 〈…〉 proof of their thus breaking with God in their civil and religious administration the former is our present concern; They have set 〈…〉 ▪ p. 3Explic. They have set up Kings but not by me, the 70 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 they have Kinged it to themselves and not to me, so the Syriack and vulgar Latine, but the Arabick varies a little, they have reigned of themselves and not from me, They h◊ve made ◊rinces and I knew it not; the Greek Syriack, vulgar Latine, Arabick, they we◊e Princes & told me not, but the Hebrew verbes in the Text being in hiphil, and so of transitive signification doth avouch our Translation, and so the Ch◊lde paraphraseth they made to rule, and not from my minde and will; yet often the 70 as quoted in the N.T. enlargeth the next and express sense of the Hebrew, and so it may here be allowed and the matter will bear it well; For those civil Governours that are of a corrupt constitution are not likely to carry on a godly administration, what power is ill laid in, will be ill laid out, Mich. 1▪ 7. what is gathered of an Harlot will return ◊◊ the hire of an harlot, what is from the fl◊w will bring forth corruption, and so in case of the Text it proved, of all the Kings of the ten Tribes, we finde not one godly King: But for further concerning the sense of the Text I would speak to two Questions.

p. 4Quest. 1. How may we understand their setting up Kings and Princes and not by the Lord and his Knowledge?

Answ. They did it not by his direction and approbation, they did never enquire and prosecute the minde of God in that business, nor did the Lord know and approve their way and procedure as he doth the way of the righteous, Psal. 1. ult.

Quest. 2. How did they set up Kings and Princes without Gods approbation?

p. 4Answ. Not meerly (as I conceive) in setting up the Kingly Government, for that was revealed to be his will eventually, Deut. 17.14. but their sin in first taking to this Government was their lusting after it out of season and measure; this itching humour in the Israelites was partly from their distrusting their God, and partly for Gentilizing or conforming to the Gentiles, and it broke forth in Gideons time, Judg. 8.22, 23. they would have a Regal Hereditary Government, but Gideon suppresseth the motion, and oppo◊eth the making a King in other time and manner then God appointed, to be a rejecting of Gods Government; they say, rule thou over us, thou, and thy Son, and thy Sons Son, and Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither p. 5shall my Son rule over you; but who then? the Lord shall rule over you: But this lust in that people did afterwards rise, ◊udg. 9. toward his Bastard Son Abime◊e◊h, who had not that honest spirit to check it as his Father did; the same lust was stirring in the Israe◊ites demand of a King, 1 Sam. 8.5.7. and this the Lord counts the rejecting of his Government, by which formerly a fit instrument was designed by the Lord in every extremity, and thus far the ten Tribes did act with the other, in setting up Kings without Gods approbation; afterward I finde this sinful proceeding to reign chiefly in the ten Tribes, for they knew the will of God, for the succession of David the Type of Christ, 2 Sam. …