God's soveraignty displayed from Job 9. 12. : Behold he taketh away, who can hinder him? &c., or, A discourse shewing, that God doth, and may take away from his creatures what hee pleaseth, as to the matter what, the place where, the time when, the means and manner how, and the reasons thereof : with an application of the whole, to the distressed citizens of London, whose houses and goods were lately consumed by the fire : an excitation of them to look to the procuring causes of this fiery tryal, the ends that God aims at in it, with directions how to behave themselves under their losses / by William Gearing ...

SECT. VI.

The Lord taketh away honours from [ VI] men: He powreth contempt upon Prin∣ces, saith the Psalmist, Psa. 107.40. Man being in honour abideth not, he is

like the beasts that perish: Sim lis pecoribus morticinis, like beasts that die of the Murrain, saith Tremelluns, and so become useless, and fit for no∣thing. This seemeth not unaptly to be figured in Dan. 2. where King Nebu∣chadnezzar saw an Image, whose head was of gold, whose arms and breasts were of silver, the belly of brass, the feet of iron and clay: And there was a stone cut out of the Mountains without hands, which struck the Image on the feet, and brake it in pieces, and brought it into dust. Figuratively by this high Image, you may understand the High and Mighty Man of the World, whose golden Head doth signifie the Nobility of his blood, the height of his birth, and his high honour and advancement in the world; his breast and arms of silver, signifieth the quantity of his mo∣ney, in the getting whereof the rich man useth his heart, hand and arms; the belly of Brass, denoteth his fame or report sounding abroad, for brass doth lend a great noise or sound; by the legs of Iron, his strength and pow∣er is figured; and by the feet of Clay or Earth, is noted his mortality: The stone which is cut out of the Mountain

without hands, may denote the death of man, which the hand of the Lord hath not made, saith the Author to the Book of Wisdome, neither doth he delight in the destruction of any, but our first Parents came thereunto by their own demerits; wherefore this stone strike∣ing the feet of the Image, doth sud∣denly and unexpectedly bring the High and Mighty into dust, as well as others, neither is there any one that can resist his fury; and such, so great, and so un∣certain is his violence in the manner, in the place, and in the time, that mans honour, force, or policy, cannot any way suffice to provide defence against him. Of Gods taking away honour from men, we have a notable instance in proud Haman, who grew insolent by the Kings favour, cruel, stately and lofty in his gate, as if he would have reached the very stars: All the Kings servants bowed their knees to Haman, and worshipped him, for so the King had commanded. Now Haman was as a Cock upon his own dunghill, and would also be worshipped of Morde∣cai as well as others, this Mordecai could not brook; some think he could not do it, because Haman had the form

of some Idol-gods wrought on his gar∣ments in Needle-work; others think this worship did contain something of Divine Worship in it, a worship not to be given to man, therefore Morde∣cai refused to perform it, lest he should have given Gods honour to a man. Now behold on a sudden a won∣derful alteration, while Haman was next to the King, and bragged of his Honours and Riches, his Noble Fami∣ly, his Children, his benevolent fortune, the Kings favour, and the like, while he had the Command of an hundred twenty and seven Provinces, he is ad∣judged by the King to the Gallows, while Mordecai that was condemned to the Halter, was all of a sudden cloathed with the Kings Robes, set upon the Kings Horse, adorned with the Kings Crown upon his head, led through all the chief places of the Ci∣ty, Haman being as it were his Lac∣quey to attend him, crying, So shall it be done to the man whom the King de∣lighteth to honour. See what a change is here; Mordecai but even now ap∣pointed to the Gallows, is now next to the Throne, and Haman who was so highly advanced, is now hanged up∣on

the Gibbet he had provided for Mordecai.

Notes

• Tremel. in Psa. 49.
• By gold, silver, brass and iron, are meant the Assyrian, the Persi∣an, the Grecian, and the Roman Empires, who should rule the world till Christ, here call∣ed the Stone, doth come himself to destroy the last of these Mo∣narchies.
• Esther 3.12.