The Succession of Blood in the royal original Line of _Adam_, is

preserv'd in the sacred Histories and brought down as low as _Noah_ and

his three Sons, for a continu'd series of 1450 Years, say some, 1640

say others; in which Time Sin spread it self so generally thro' the

whole Race, and _the Sons of God_, so the Scripture calls the Men of the

righteous Seed, the Progeny of _Seth_, came in unto the _Daughters of

Men_, that is, join'd themselves to the curs'd Race of _Cain_, and

married promiscuously with them, according to their Fancies, the Women

it seems being beautiful and tempting; and tho' the Devil could not make

the Women handsome or ugly in one or other Families, yet he might work

up the Gust of wicked Inclination on either Side, so as to make both the

Men and Women tempting and agreeable to one another, where they ought

not to have been so; and perhaps, as it is often seen to this Day, the

more tempting for being under legal Restraint.

It is objected here, that we do not find in the Scripture that the Men

and Women of either Race were at that Time forbidden intermarrying with

one another; and it is true, that literally it is not forbid; but if we

did not search rather to make doubts than to explain them, we might

suppose it was forbidden by some particular Command at that Time; seeing

we may reasonably allow every Thing to be forbidden, which they are

tax'd with a Crime in committing; and as the Sons of God taking them

Wives as they thought fit to choose, tho' from among the Daughters of

the cursed Race, is there charg'd upon them as a general Depravation,

and a great Crime; and for which, 'tis said, GOD even repented that he

had made them, we need go no farther to satisfy our selves that it was

certainly forbidden.

_Satan_ no doubt too had a Hand in this Wickedness; for as it was his

Business to prompt Men to do every Thing which God had prohibited, so

the Reason given why the Men of those Days did this Thing was, they saw

the Daughters of Men, that is of the wicked Race or forbidden Sort,

_were fair_, he tempted them by the Lust of the Eye; in a word, the

Ladies were beautiful and agreeable, and the _Devil_ knew how to make

use of the Allurement; the Men liked and took them by the meer Direction

of their Fancy and Appetite, without regarding the supreme Prohibition;

_They took them Wives of all which they chose_, or such as they lik'd to

choose.

But the Text adds, that this promiscuous Generation went farther than

the meer outward Crime of it, for it shew'd that the Wickedness of the

Heart of Man was great before God, and that he resented it; In short,

God perceived a Degeneracy or Defect of Virtue had seiz'd upon the whole

Race, that there was a general Corruption of Manners, a Depravity of

Nature upon them, that even the holy Seed was tainted with it, that the

Devil had broken in upon them, and prevail'd to a great Degree; that not

only the Practice of the Age was corrupt, for that God could easily have

restrain'd, but that the very Heart of Man was debauch'd, his Desires

wholly vitiated, and his Senses engag'd in it; so that in a Word, it

became necessary to shew the divine Displeasure, not in the ordinary

Manner, by Judgment and Reproofs of such kind as usually reclaim Men,

but by a general Destruction to sweep them away, clear the Earth of

them, and put an End to the Wickedness at once, removing the Offence and

the Offenders all together; this is signify'd at large, Gen. vi. 5. _God

saw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the Earth, and that every

Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually._ And

again ver. 11, 12. _The Earth also was corrupt before God; and the

Earth was fill'd with Violence. And God look'd upon the Earth and

behold it was corrupt; for all Flesh had corrupted his Way upon the

Earth._

It must be confess'd it was a strange Conquest the _Devil_ had made in

the Antediluvian World, that he had, as I may say, brought the whole

Race of Mankind into a general Revolt from God; _Noah_ was indeed a

Preacher of Righteousness, and he had preach'd about 500 Years to as

little Purpose as most of the good Ministers ever did; for we do not

read there was one Man converted by him, or at least not one of them

left, for that at the Deluge there was either none of them alive, or

none spar'd but _Noah_ and his three Sons, and their Wives; and even

they are ('tis evident) recorded, not so much to be sav'd for their own

Goodness, but because they were his Sons; Nay, without Breach of Charity

we may conclude, that at least one went to the _Devil_ even of those

three, namely, _Ham_ or _Cham_ for triumphing in a brutal Manner over

his Father's Drunkenness; for we find the Special Curse reach'd to him

and his Posterity for many Ages; and whether it went no farther than the

present State of Life with them, we cannot tell.

We will suppose now that thro' this whole 1500 Years the Devil having so

effectually debauch'd Mankind, had advanc'd his infernal Kingdom to a

prodigious Height; for the Text says, _the whole Earth was fill'd with

violence_; in a Word, Blood, Murder, Rape, Robbery, Oppression and

Injustice prevail'd every where, and Man, like the wild Bear in the

Forest, liv'd by Prey, biting and devouring one another.

At this Time _Noah_ begins to preach a new Doctrine to them, for as he

had before been a Preacher of Righteousness, now he becomes a Preacher

of Vengeance; first he tells them they shall be all overwhelm'd with a

Deluge, that for their Sins God repented they were made, and that

he would destroy them all, adding, that to prevent the Ruin of himself

and Family, he resolv'd to build him a Ship to have recourse to when the

Water should come over the Rest of the World.

What Jesting, what Scorn, what Contempt did this Work expose the good

old Man to for above a 100 Years? for so long the Work was building, as

antient Authors say; let us represent to our selves in the most lively

Manner how the witty World at that Time behav'd to poor old _Noah_; how

they took their Evening Walks to see what he was doing, and passed their

Judgment upon it, and upon the Progress of it; I say, to represent this

to our selves, we need go no farther than to our own Witicisms upon

Religion, and upon the most solemn Mysteries of Divine Worship; how we

damn the Serious for Enthusiasts, think the Grave mad, and the Sober

melancholy; call Religion it self Flatus and Hyppo; make the Devout

ignorant, the Divine mercenary, and the whole Scheme of Divinity a Frame

of Priestcraft; and thus no doubt the building an Ark or Boat, or

whatever they call'd it, to float over the Mountains, and dance over the

Plains, what could it be but a religious Frenzy, and the Man that so

busied himself, a Lunatick? and all this in an Age when divine Things

came by immediate Revelation into the Minds of Men! the _Devil_ must

therefore have made a strange Conquest upon Mankind to obliterate all

the Reverence, which but a little before was so strangely impress'd upon

them concerning their Maker.

This was certainly the Height of the _Devil_'s Kingdom, and we shall

never find him arrive to such a Pitch again; he was then truly and

literally the universal Monarch, nay the God of this World; and as all

Tyrants do, he governs them with an arbitrary absolute sway; and had not

God thought fit to give him a Writ of Ejectment, and afterwards drown

him out of Possession I know not what would have been the Case, he might

have kept his Hold for ought I know till the Seed of the Woman came to

bruise his Head, that is to say, cripple his Government, Dethrone him

and Depose his Power, as has been fulfill'd in the Messiah.

But as he was, I say, drown'd out of the World, his Kingdom for the

present was at an End; at least, if he had a Dominion he had no

Subjects, and as the Creation was in a Manner renewed, so the _Devil_

had all his Work to do over again: Unhappy Man! how has he, by his weak

Resistance, made the _Devil_, recovering his Hold too easy to him, and

given him all the Advantages, except as before excepted, which he had

before? Now whether he retired in the mean Time, and how he got footing

again after _Noah_ and his Family were landed upon the New Surface, that

we come next to enquire.

CHAP. X.

_Of the Devil's second Kingdom, and how he got footing in the renew'd

World by his Victory over_ Noah _and his Race_.

The Story of _Noah_, his building the Ark, his embarking himself and all

Nature's Stock for a new World on board it; the long Voyage they took,

and the bad Weather they met with, tho' it would embellish this Work

very well, and come in very much to the Purpose in this Place, yet as

it does not belong to the _Devil_'s Story, for I cannot prove what some

suggest (_viz._) that he was in the Ark among the Rest, I say, for that

Reason I must omit it.

And now having mention'd Satan's being in the Ark; as I say, I cannot

prove it, so there are, I think, some good Reasons to believe he was not

there: _First_, I know no Business he had there; _secondly_, we read of

no Mischief done there, and these joyn'd together make me conclude he

was absent; the last I chiefly insist upon, that we read of no Mischief

done there, which if he had been in the Ark, would certainly have

happen'd; and therefore I suppose rather, that when he saw his Kingdom

dissolv'd, his Subjects all ingulph'd in an inevitable Ruin and

Desolation, a Sight suitable enough to him, except as it might unking

him for a Time; _I say_, when he saw this, he took care to speed himself

away as well as he could, and make his Retreat to a Place of Safety,

where that was, is no more difficult to us, than it was to him.

It is suggested that as he is Prince of the Power of the Air, he retired

only into that Region. It is most rational to suppose he went no further

on many Accounts, of which I shall speak by and by: Here he stay'd

hovering in the Earth's Atmosphere, as he has often done since, and

perhaps now does; or if the Atmosphere of this Globe was affected by the

Indraft of the Absorption, as some think, then he kept himself upon the

Watch, to see what the Event of the new Phaenomenon would be, and this

Watch, wherever it was, I doubt not, was as near the Earth as he could

place himself, perhaps in the Atmosphere of the Moon, or in a Word, the

next Place of Retreat he could find.

From hence I took upon me to insist, that _Satan_ has not a more certain

Knowledge of Events than we; I say, he has not a _more certain

Knowledge_; that he may be able to make stronger Conjectures and more

rational Conclusions from that he sees, I will not deny; and that which

he most outdoes us in is, that he sees more to conclude from than we

can, but I am satisfied he knows nothing of Futurity more than we can

see by Observation and Inference; nor, _for Example_, did he know

whether God would repeople the World any more or no.

I must therefore allow that he only waited to see what would be the

Event of this strange Eruption of Water, and what God propos'd to do

with the Ark, and all that was in it.

Some Philosophers tell us, besides what I hinted above, that the _Devil_

could have no Retreat in the Earth's Atmosphere, for that the Air being

wholly condens'd into Water, and having continually pour'd down its

Streams to deluge the Earth, that Body was become so small, and had

suffer'd such Convulsions, that there was but just enough Air left to

surround the Water, or as might serve by its Pressure to preserve the

natural Position of Things, and supply the Creatures in the Ark with a

Part to breath in.

The Atmosphere indeed might suffer some strange and unnatural Motions at

that Time, but not (I believe) to that Degree, however, I will not

affirm that there could be room in it, or is now for the Devil, much

less for all the numberless Legions of Satan's Host; but there was, and

now certainly is, sufficient Space to receive him, and a sufficient Body

of his Troops for the Business he had for them at that time, and that's

enough to the Purpose; or if the Earth's Atmosphere did suffer any

particular Convulsion on that Occasion, he might make his Retreat to

the Atmosphere of the Moon, or of _Mars_, or of _Venus_, or of any of

the other Planets; or to any other Place, for he that is Prince of the

Air could not want Retreats in such a Case, from whence he might watch

for the issue of Things; certainly he did not go far, because his

Business lay here, and he never goes out of his Way of doing Mischief.

In particular, his more than ordinary Concern was, to see what would

become of the Ark; he was wise enough doubtless to see, that GOD, who

had directed its making, nay even the very Structure of it, would

certainly take Care of it, preserve it upon the Water, and bring it to

some Place of Safety or other; tho' where it should be, the _Devil_ with

all his Cunning could not resolve, whether on the same Surface the

Waters drawing off, or in any other created or to be created Place; and

this State of Uncertainty being evidently his Case, and which proves his

Ignorance of Futurity, it was his Business, _I say_, to watch with the

utmost vigilance for the Event.

If the Ark was (as Mr. _Burnet_ thinks) guided by two Angels, they not

only held it from foundering or being swallow'd up in the Water, but

certainly kept the Waters calm about it, especially when the Lord

brought a strong Wind to blow over the whole Globe, which by the Way was

the first, and, I suppose, the only universal Storm that ever blew, for

to be sure it blew over the whole Surface at once; I say, if it was thus

guided, to be sure the _Devil_ saw it, and that with Envy and Regret

that he could do it no Injury, for doubtless had it been in the Devil's

Power, as God had drown'd the whole Race of Man, except what was in the

Ark, he would have taken care to have dispatch'd them too, and so made

an End of the Creation at once; but either he was not empower'd to go

to the Ark, or it was so well guarded by Angels, that when he came near

it he could do it no harm: So it rested at length, the Waters abating on

the Mountains of _Arrarat_ in _Armenia_, or some where else that Way,

and where they say a Piece of the Keel is remaining to this Day; of

which, however with Dr. ------ I say, I believe not one Word.

The Ark being safe landed, 'tis reasonable to believe _Noah_ prepared to

go on Shore, as the Seamen call it, as soon as the dry Land began to

appear; and here you must allow me to suppose Satan, tho' himself

cloth'd with a Cloud, so as not to be seen, came immediately, and

pearching on the Roof, saw all the Heaven-kept Houshold safely landed,

and all the Host of living Creatures dispersing themselves down the

Sides of the Mountain, as the Search of their Food or other proper

Occasions directed them.

This Sight was enough; Satan was at no Loss to conclude from hence that

the Design of God was to repeople the World by the Way of ordinary

Generation, from the Posterity of these eight Persons, without creating

any new Species.

Very well, says the _Devil_, then my Advantage over them, by the Snare I

laid for poor _Eve_, is good still; and I am now just where I was after

_Adam_'s Expulsion from the Garden, and when I had _Cain_ and his Race

to go to work with; for here is the old expung'd Corrupted Race still,

as _Cain_ was the Object then, so _Noah_ is my Man now, and if I do not

master him one way or another, I am mistaken in my Mark. _Pardon me for

making a Speech for_ the Devil.

_Noah_ big with a Sense of his late Condition, and while the Wonders of

the Deluge were fresh in his Mind, spent his first Days in the Extasies

of his Soul, giving Thanks, and praising the Power that had been his

Protection, in and thro' the Flood of Waters, and which had in so

miraculous a Manner, safely landed him on the Surface of the newly

discover'd Land; and the Text tells us, as one of the first Things he

was employ'd in, _He built an Altar unto the Lord, and offered

Burnt-Offerings upon the Altar_. Gen. viii. 20.

While _Noah_ was thus employ'd he was safe, the _Devil_ himself could no

where break in upon him; and we may suppose very reasonably, as he found

the old Father invulnerable, he left him for some Years, watching

notwithstanding all possible Advantages against his Sons and their

Children; for now the Family began to encrease, and _Noah_'s Sons had

several Children; whether himself had any more Children after the Flood

or not, that we are not arriv'd to any Certainty about.

Among his Sons the _Devil_ found _Japhet_ and _Shem_, good, pious,

religious, and very devout Persons; serving God daily, after the Example

of their good old Father _Noah_, and he could make nothing of them or of

any of their Posterity; but _Ham_ the second, or according to some, the

younger Son of _Noah_, had a Son who was nam'd _Canaan_, a loose young

profligate Fellow, his Education was probably but cursory and

superficial, his Father _Ham_ not being near so religious and serious a

Man as his Brothers _Shem_ and _Japhet_ were; and as _Canaan_'s

Education was defective, so he prov'd, as untaught Youth generally do, a

wild, and in short a very wicked Fellow, and consequently a fit Tool for

the _Devil_ to go to work with.

_Noah_, a diligent industrious Man, being with all his Family thus

planted in the rich fruitful Plains of _Armenia_, or wherever you

please, let it be near the Mountains of _Caucasus_ or _Arrarat_; went

immediately to work, cultivating and improving the Soil, encreasing his

Cattle and Pastures, sowing Corn, and among other Things planting Trees

for Food, and among the Fruit Trees he planted Vines, of the Grapes

thereof he made no doubt, as they still in the same Country do make,

most excellent Wine, rich, luscious, strong, and pleasant.

I cannot come into the Notion of our Criticks, who to excuse _Noah_ from

the guilt of what followed, or at least from the Censure, tell us, he

knew not the Strength or the Nature of Wine, but that gathering the

heavy Clusters of the Grapes, and their own weight crushing out their

balmy Juices into his Hand, he tasted the tempting Liquor, and that the

_Devil_ assisting he was charm'd with the delicious Fragrance, and

tasted again and again, pressing it out into a Bowl or Dish, that he

might take a larger Quantity; till at length the heady Froth ascended

and seizing his Brain, he became intoxicate and drunk, not in the least

imagining there was any such Strength in the Juice of that excellent

Fruit.

But to make out this Story, which is indeed very favourable for _Noah_,

but in it self extremely ridiculous, you must necessarily fall into some

Absurdities, and beg the Question most egregiously in some particular

Cases, which way of arguing will by no means suppose what is suggested;

at first you must support there was no such Thing as Wine made before

the Deluge, and that no Body had been ever made drunk with the Juice of

the Grape before _Noah_, which, I say, is begging the Question in the

grossest Manner.

If the Contrary is true, as I see no Reason to question, if, _I say_, it

was true that there was Wine drank, and that Men were or had been drunk

with it before, they cannot then but suppose that _Noah_, who was a

wise, a great and a good Man, and _a Preacher of Righteousness_, both

knew of it, and without doubt had in his preaching against their Crimes,

preach'd against this among the rest, upbraided them with it, reprov'd

them for it, and exhorted them against it.

_Again_, 'tis highly probable they had Grapes growing, and consequently

Wines made from them, in the Antediluvian World, how else did _Noah_

come by the Vines which he planted? For we are to suppose, he could

plant no Trees or Shrubs, but such as he found the Roots of in the

Earth, and which no doubt had been there before in their highest

Perfection, and had consequently grown up and brought forth the same

luscious Fruit before.

Besides, as he found the Roots of the Vines, so he understood what they

were, and what Fruit they bore, or else it may be supposed also he would

not have planted them; for he planted them for their Fruit, as he did it

in the Provision he was making for his Subsistence, and the Subsistence

of his Family: and if he did not know what they were, he would not have

set them, for he was not planting for Diversion but for Profit.

Upon the whole it seems plain to me he knew what he did, as well when he

planted the Vines as when he pressed out the Grapes; and also when he

drank the Juice that he knew it was Wine, was strong and would make him

drunk if he took enough of it: He knew that other Men had been drunk

with such Liquor before the Flood, and that he had reprehended them for

it; and therefore it was not his Ignorance, but the _Devil_ took him at

some Advantage, when his Appetite was eager, or he thirsty, and the

Liquor cooling and pleasant; and in short, as _Eve_ said, _the Serpent

beguilded her_, and she DID EAT, so the Devil beguiled _Noah_, and _he_

DID DRINK; the Temptation was too strong for _Noah_, not the Wine; he

knew well enough what he did, but as the Drunkards say to this Day, it

was so good he could not forbear it, and so he got drunk before he was

aware; or as our ordinary Speech expresses it, _he was overtaken with

drink_; and Mr. _Pool_ and other Expositors are partly of the same Mind.

No sooner was the poor old Man conquer'd, and the Wine had lighten'd his

Head, but it may be supposed he falls off from the Chair or Bench where

he sate, and tumbling backward his Clothes, which in those hot Countries

were only loose open Robes, like the Vests which the _Armenians_ wear to

this Day, flying abroad, or the _Devil_ so assisting on purpose to

expose him, he lay there in a naked indecent Posture not fit to be seen.

In this juncture who should come by but young _Canaan_, say some; or as

others think, this young Fellow first attack'd him by way of Kindness

and pretended Affection; prompted his Grandfather to drink, on Pretence

of the Wine being good for him, and proper for the Support of his old

Age, and subtilly set upon him, drinking also with him, and so (his Head

being too strong for the old Man's) drank him down, and then, _Devil_

like, triumph'd over him; boasted of his Conquest, insulted the Body as

it were dead, uncovered him on purpose to expose him, and leaving him in

that indecent Posture, went and made Sport with it to his Father _Ham_,

who in that Part, wicked like himself, did the same to his Brethren

_Japhet_ and _Shem_; but they like modest and good Men, far from

carrying on the wicked Insult on their Parent, went and cover'd him, as

the Scripture expresses it, and as may be supposed inform'd him how he

had been abus'd, and by whom.

Why else should _Noah_, when he came to himself, shew his Resentment so

much against _Canaan_ his Grandson, rather than against _Ham_ his

Father, and who 'tis supposed in the Story the guilt chiefly lay upon?

we see the Curse is (as it were) laid wholly upon _Canaan_ the Grandson,

and not a Word of the Father is mention'd, Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27, _Cursed

be_ Canaan, _a Servant of Servants shall he be_, &c.

That _Ham_ was Guilty, that's certain from the History of Fact, but I

cannot but suppose his Grandson was the Occasion of it; and in this Case

the Devil seems to have made _Canaan_ the Instrument or Tool to delude

_Noah_, and draw him in to Drunkenness, as he made the Serpent the Tool

to beguile _Eve_, and draw her into Disobedience.

Possibly _Canaan_ might do it without Design at first, but might be

brought in to ridicule and make a Jest of the old Patriarch afterward,

as is too frequent since in the Practice of our Days; but I rather

believe he did it really with a wicked Design, and on Purpose to expose

and insult his Reverend old Parent; and this seems more likely too,

because of the great Bitterness with which _Noah_ resented it, after he

came to be inform'd of it.

But be that as it will, the _Devil_ certainly made a great Conquest

here, and as to outward Appearance no less than that which he gain'd

before over _Adam_; nor did the _Devil_'s Victory consist barely in his

having drawn in the only righteous Man of the whole Antediluvian World,

and so beginning or initiating the new young Progeny with a Crime; but

here was the great Oracle silenc'd at once; the Preacher of

Righteousness, for such no doubt he would have been to the new World, as

he was to the old, I say, the Preacher was turn'd out of Office, or his

Mouth stopt, which was worse; nay, it was a stopping of his Mouth in the

worst kind, far worse than stopping his Breath, for had he died, the

Office had descended to his sons _Shem_ and _Japhet_, but he was dead to

the Office of an Instructor, tho' alive as to his Being; For of what

Force could his Preachings be, who had thus fallen himself into the most

shameful and beastly Excess?

Besides some are of the Opinion, tho' I hope without Ground, that _Noah_

was not only overtaken once in his Drink, but that being fallen into

that Sin it became habitual, and he continued in it a great while, and

that it was this which is the meaning of his being uncovered in his

Tent, and that his Son saw his Nakedness; that is, he continually

exposed himself for a long Time, a hundred Years, say they, and that his

Son _Ham_, and his Grandson _Canaan_ having drawn him into it, kept him

in it, encourag'd and prompted it, and all the while Satan still

prompting them, join'd their Scoffs and contempt of him, with their

wicked Endeavours to promote the Wickedness; and both with as much

Success as the Devil himself could wish for.

Then as for his two Sons modestly and decently covering their Father,

they tell us, that Represents _Shem_ and _Japhet_ applying themselves in

an humble and dutiful Manner to their Father, to entreat and beseech him

to consider his ancient Glory, his own pious Exhortations to the late

drowned World, and to consider the Offence which he gave by his evil

Courses to God, and the Scandal to his whole Family, and also that they

are brought in effectually prevailing upon him; and that then _Noah_

cursed the Wickedness of _Ham_'s degenerate Race, in Testimony of his

sincere Repentance after the Fact.

The Story is not so very unlikely as it is certain that it is not to be

proved, and therefore we had better take it as we find it (_viz._) for

one single Act; but suppose it was so, 'tis still certain that _Noah_'s

Preaching was sadly interrupted, the Energy of his Words flatter'd, and

the Force of his Persuasions enervated and abated, by this shameful

Fall; that he was effectually silenc'd for an Instructor ever after, and

this was as much as the Devil had Occasion for; and therefore indeed we

read little more of him, except that he lived three hundred and fifty

Years after the Flood; nay, we do not so much as read that he had any

more Children, but the contrary, nor indeed could _Noah_ have any more

Children, except by his old and perhaps super-annuated Wife, who it was

very likely he had had four or five hundred Year, unless you will

suppose he was allow'd to marry some of his own Progeny, Daughters or

Grandaughters, which we do not suppose was allow'd, no not to _Adam_

himself.

This was certainly a Master-piece of the _Devil_'s Policy, and a fatal

Instance of his unhappy Diligence, (_viz._) that the Door of the Ark was

no sooner open, and the Face of the World hardly dry from the universal

Destruction of Mankind, but he was at work among them; and that not only

to form a general Defection among the Race, upon the Foot of the

original Taint of Nature, but like a bold _Devil_ he strikes at the very

Root, and flies at the next general Representative of Mankind, attacks

the Head of the Family, that in his Miscarriage the Rise and Progress of

a Reformation of the new World should receive an early Check, and should

be at once prevented; I say, like a bold Devil, he strikes at the Root,

and _alas!_ poor unhappy _Noah_, he proved too weak for him, _Satan_

prevail'd in his very first Attempt, and got the Victory over him at

once.

_Noah_ thus overcome, and Satan's Conquest carried on to the utmost of

his own Wishes, the _Devil_ had little more to do in the World for some

Ages, than to carry on an universal Degeneracy among Mankind, and to

finish it by a like diligent Application, in deluding the Generality of

the Race, and them as they came on gradually into Life; this he found

the less difficult, because of the first Defection which spread like a

Contagion upon the Earth immediately after.

The first Evidence we have of his Success in this mischievous Design was

in the Building that great stupendious Stair-case, for such it seems it

was intended, call'd _Babel_, which if the whole World had not been

drunk, or otherwise infatuated, they would never have undertaken; even

Satan himself could never have prevail'd with them to undertake such a

preposterous Piece of Work, for it had neither End or Means, Possibility

or Probability in it.

I must confess I am sometimes apt to vindicate our old Ancestors, in my

Thoughts, from the Charge it self, as we generally understand it,

namely, that they really design'd to build a Tower which should reach up

to Heaven, or that it should secure them in case of another Flood; and

Father _Casaubon_ is of my Opinion, whether I am of his or no, is a

Question by it self; his opinion is that the Confusion was nothing but a

Breach among the Undertakers and Directors of the Work, and that the

Building was design'd chiefly for a Store-house for Provisions, in Case

of a second Deluge; as to their Notion of its reaching up to Heaven, he

takes the Expression to be allegorical rather than little, and only to

mean that it should be exceeding high; perhaps they might not be

Astronomers enough to measure the Distance of Space between the Earth

and Heaven, as we pretend to do now; but as _Noah_ was then alive, and

as we believe all his three Sons were so too, they were able to have

inform'd them how absurd it was to suppose either the one or the other

(_viz_.) (1.) that they could build up to Heaven, or (2.) that they

could build firm enough to resist, or high enough to overtop the Waters,

supposing such another Flood should happen; I would rather think it was

only that they intended to build a most glorious and magnificent City,

where they might all inhabit together; and that this Tower was to be

built for Ornament and also for Strength, or as above, and for a

Store-house to lay up vast Magazines of Provisions, in Case of

extraordinary Floods or other Events, the City being built in a great

Plain, namely, the Plains of _Shimar_ near the River _Euphrates_.

But the Story, as it is recorded, suits better with Satan's Measures at

that Time; and as he was from the Beginning prompting them to every

Thing that was contrary to the Happiness of Man, so the more

preposterous it was, and the more inconsistent with common Sense, the

more to his Purpose; and it shew'd the more what a compleat Conquest he

had gain'd over the Reason as well as the Religion of Mankind at that

Time.

Again, 'tis evident in this Case, they were not only acting contrary to

the Nature of Things, but contrary to the Design and to the Command of

Heaven; for God's Command was that they should replenish the Earth, that

is, that they should spread their Habitations over it, and People the

whole Globe; whereas they were pitching in one Place, as if they were

not to multiply sufficient to take up any more.

But what car'd the Devil for that, or to put it a little handsomer, that

was what _Satan_ aimed at; for it was enough to him, to bring Mankind

to act just contrary to what _Heaven_ had directed or commanded them in

any thing, and if possible in every Thing.

But God himself put a stop to this foolish Piece of Work, and it was

time indeed to do so, for a madder thing the Devil himself never

proposed to them; I say, God himself put a stop to this new Undertaking,

and disappointed the Devil; and how was it done? not in Judgment and

Anger, as perhaps the Devil expected and hop'd for, but as pitying the

Simplicity of that dreaming Creature Man, he confused their Speech, or

as some say, divided and confused their Councils, so that they could not

agree with one another, which would be the same Thing as not to

understand one another; or he put a new Shibboleth upon their Tongues,

thereby separating them into Tribes or Families, for by this every

Family found themselves under a Necessity of keeping together, and this

naturally encreased that Differing Jargons of Language, for at first it

might be no more.

What a Confusion this was to them we all know, by their being oblig'd to

leave off their building, and immediately separating one from another;

but what a Surprize it was to the old Serpent, that remains to be

considered of, for indeed it belongs to his History.

Satan had never met with any Disappointment in all his wicked Attempts

till now; for first, he succeeded even to triumph upon _Eve_, he did the

like upon _Cain_, and in short upon the whole World, _one Man_ (Noah)

_excepted_; when he blended the Sons of God, and the Daughters of Hell,

for so the Word is understood, together, in promiscuous voluptuous

Living as well as Generation.

As to the Deluge, Authors are not agreed whether it was a Disappointment

to the Devil or no, it might be indeed a Surprize to him, for tho'

_Noah_ had preach'd of it for a hundred Year together, yet as he

(_Satan_) daily prompted the People not to heed or believe what that old

Fellow _Noah_ said to them, and to ridicule his whimsical Building a

monstrous Tub to swim or float in, when the said Deluge should come; so

I am of the Opinion he did not believe it himself, and am positive he

could not foresee it, by any insight into Futurity that he was Master

of.

'Tis true the Astronomers tell us, there was a very terrible Comet seen

in the Air, that it appeared for 180 Days before the Flood continually;

and that as it approach'd nearer and nearer every Day all the while, so

that at last it burst and fell down in a continual Spout or Stream of

Water, being of a watry Substance, and the Quantity so great, that it

was forty Days a falling; so that this Comet not only foretold the

Deluge or drowning of the Earth, but actually perform'd it, and drown'd

it from it self.

But to leave this Tale to them that told it, let us consider the Devil,

surpris'd, and a little amaz'd at the Absorption or Inundation, or

whatever we are to call it, of the Earth in the Deluge, not, I say, that

he was much concern'd at it, perhaps just the Contrary; and if God would

drown it again, and as often as he thought fit, I do not see by any

thing I meet with in Satan's History, or in the Nature of him, that he

would be at all disturb'd at it; all that I can see in it, that could

give Satan any Concern, would be that all his Favourites were gone, and

he had his Work to do over again, to lay a Foundation for a new Conquest

in the Generation that was to come; But in this his Prospect was fair

enough, for why should he be discouraged, when he had now eight People

to work upon, who met with such Success when he had but two? and why

should he question breaking in now where Nature was already vitiated and

corrupted, when he had before conquer'd the same Nature, when in its

primitive Rectitude and Purity, just come out of the Hands of its Maker,

and fortify'd with the Awe of his high and solemn Command just given

them, and the threatning of Death also annext to it, if broken?

But I go back to the Affair of _Babel_: This Confusion of Language or of

Councils, take it which way you will, as the first Disappointment that I

find the Devil met with, in all his Attempts and Practices upon Mankind,

or upon the new Creature, which I mentioned above; for now he foresaw

what would follow; namely, that the People would separate and spread

themselves over the whole Surface of the Earth, and a thousand new

Scenes of Actions would appear, in which he therefore prepares himself

to behave as he should see Occasion.

How the Devil learn'd to speak all the Languages that were now to be

used, and how many languages they were, the several ancient Writers of

the _Devil_'s Story have not yet determined; some tell us they were

divided only into fifteen, some into seventy two, others into one

hundred and eighty, and others again into several Thousands.

It also remains a doubt with me, and, I suppose, will be so with others

also, whether Satan has yet found out a Method to converse with Mankind,

without the Help of Language and Words, or not: Seeing Man has no other

Medium of Conversing, no not with himself: This I have not time to enter

upon here; however, this seems plain to me (_viz._) that the _Devil_

soon learn'd to make Mankind understand him, whatever Language he spoke,

and no doubt but he found Ways and Means to understand them, whatever

Language they spoke.

After the Confusion of Languages, the People necessarily sorted

themselves into Families and Tribes, every Family understanding their

own particular Speech, and that only; and these Families multiplying

grew into Nations, and those Nations wanting Room, and seeking out

Habitations wandred some this Way, some that, till they found out

Countries respectively proper for their settling, and there they became

a Kingdom, spreading and possessing still more and more Land as their

People encreased, till at last the whole Earth was scarce big enough for

them: This presented _Satan_ with an Opportunity to break in upon their

Morals at another Door, (_viz._) their Pride; for Men being naturally

Proud and Envious, Nations and Tribes began to jostle with one another

for Room; either one Nation enjoy'd better Accommodations, or had a

better Soil or a more favourable Climate than another; and these being

numerous and strong thrust the other out, and encroach'd upon their

Land; the other liking their Situation, prepare for their Defence, and

so began Oppression, Invasion, War, Battle and Blood, Satan all the

while beating the Drums, and his Attendants clapping their Hands, as Men

do when they set Dogs on upon one another.

The bringing Mankind thus to _War_ and _Confusion_, as it was the first

Game the Devil play'd after the confounding of Languages and Divisions

at _Babel_ so it was a Conquest upon Mankind, purely devilish, born from

Hell, and so exactly tinctured with Satan's original Sin _Ambition_,

that it really transform'd Men into meer Devils; for when is Man

transform'd into the very Image of Satan himself, when is he turn'd into

a meer Devil, if it is not when he is fighting with his fellow

Creatures and dipping his Hands in the Blood of his own Kind? Let his

Picture be consider'd, the Fire of Hell flames or sparkles in his Eyes,

a voracious Grin sits upon his Countenance; Rage and Fury distort the

Muscles of his Face; his Passions agitate his whole Body, and he is

metamorphos'd from a comely Beauteous angelic Creature into a _Fury_, a

_Satyr_, a terrible and frightful Monster, nay, into a _Devil_; for

_Satan_ himself is describ'd by the same Word which on his very Account

is chang'd into a Substantive, and the Devils are call'd _Furies_.

This sowing the Seeds of Strife in the World, and bringing Nations to

fight and make War upon one another, would take up a great Part of the

_Devil_'s History, and abundance of extraordinary Things would occur in

relating the particulars; for there have been very great Conflagrations

kindled in the World, by the Artifice of Hell, under this Head, (_viz._)

of making War; in which it has been the _Devil_'s Master-piece, and he

has indeed shewn himself a Workman in it, that he has wheedled Mankind

into strange unnatural Notions of things, in order to propagate and

support the fighting Principle in the World; such as Laws of War, fair

Fighting, behaving like Men of Honour, fighting at the last Drop, and

the like, by which killing and murdering is understood to be

justifiable. Virtue and a true Greatness in Spirit is rated now by Rules

which God never appointed, and the Standard of Honour is quite different

from that of Reason and of Nature: Bravery is denominated not from a

fearless undaunted Spirit in the just Defence of Life and Liberty, but

from a daring Defiance of God and Man, fighting, killing and treading

under Foot his fellow Creatures, at the ordinary Command of the Officer,

whether it be right or wrong, and whether it be in a just Defence of

Life, and our Country's Life, that is Liberty, or whether it be for the

Support of Injury and Oppression.

A prudent avoiding causeless Quarrels is call'd Cowardice, and to take

an affront Baseness, and Meanness of Spirit; to refuse fighting, and

putting Life at a Cast on the Point of a Sword, a Practice forbid by the

Laws of God and of all good Government, is yet call'd Cowardice; and a

Man is bound to die duelling, or live and be laugh'd at.

This trumping up these imaginary Things call'd Bravery and Gallantry,

naming them Virtue and Honour, is all from the _Devil_'s new Management,

and his subtil influencing the Minds of Men to fly in the Face of God

and Nature, and to act against his Senses; nor but for his Artifice in

the Management, could it be possible that such Inconsistencies could go

down with Mankind, or they could pass such absurd Things among them for

reasoning; for Example, A is found in Bed with B's Wife, B is the Person

injur'd, and therefore offended, and coming into the Chamber with his

Sword in his Hand, A exclaims loudly, _Why Sir, you won't murder me,

will you? as you are a Man of Honour let me rise and take my Sword_.

A very good Story indeed! fit for no body but the Devil to put into any

Man's Head; But so it is, B being put in mind, forsooth, that he is _a

Man of Honour_, starts back and must act the honourable Part; so he lets

A get up, put on his Clothes and take his Sword; then they fight, and B

is kill'd for his Honour; whereas had the Laws of God, of Nature and of

Reason taken Place, the Adulterer and the Adulteress should have been

taken Prisoners and carried before the Judge, and being taken in the

Fact, should have been immediately sentenc'd, he to the Block and she to

the Stake, and the innocent abus'd Husband had no Reason to have run

any Risque of his Life for being made a Cuckold.

But thus has _Satan_ abus'd the Reason of Man; and if a Man does me the

greatest Injury in the World, I must do my self Justice upon him, by

venturing my life upon an even Lay with him, and must fight him upon

equal Hazard, in which the injur'd Person is as often kill'd as the

Person offering the Injury: Suppose now it be in the same Case _as

above_, a Man abuses my Wife, and then to give me Satisfaction, tells

me, he will fight me, which the _French_ call _doing me Reason_; _No

Sir_, say I, _let me lie with your Wife too, and then if you desire it,

I may fight you; then I am upon even Terms with you_; but this indeed is

the Reasoning which the _Devil_ has brought Mankind too at this Day: But

to go back to the Subject, _viz._ the Devil bringing the Nations to fall

out, and to quarrel for Room in the World, and so to fight in order to

dispossess one another of their Settlements: This began at a Time when

certainly there were Places enough in the World for every one to choose

in, and therefore the _Devil_, not the want of Elbow-room, must be the

Occasion of it; and 'tis carried on ever since, as apparently from the

same Interest, and by the same original.

But we shall meet with this Part again very often in the _Devil_'s

Story, and as we bring him farther on in the Management of Mankind, I

therefore lay it by for the Present, and come to the next Steps the

_Devil_ took with Mankind after the Confusion of Languages, and this was

in the Affair of Worship; It does not appear yet that ever the _Devil_

was so bold, as either,

1. To set himself up to be worship'd as a God, or which was still worse,

2. To persuade Man to believe there was no God at all to worship.

Both these are introduc'd since the Deluge, _one_ indeed by the _Devil_,

who soon found Means to set himself up for a God in many Parts of the

World, and holds it to this Day; but the _last_ is brought in by the

Invention of Man, in which it must be confess'd Man has out-sin'd the

Devil; for to do Satan justice, he never thought it could ever pass upon

Mankind, or that any Thing so gross would go down with them; so that,

_in short_, these modern Casuists, in the Reach of our Days, have, _I

say_, out-sin'd the _Devil_.

As then both these are modern Inventions, _Satan_ went on gradually, and

being to work upon human Nature by Stratagem, not by Force, it would

have been too gross to have set himself up as an Object of Worship at

first, it was to be done Step by Step; _for Example_.

1. It was sufficient to bring Mankind to a Neglect of God, to

worship him by halves, and give little or no Regard to his Laws,

and so grow loose and immoral, in direct Contradiction to his

Commands; this would not go down with them at first, so the Devil

went on gradually.

2. From a Negligence in worshiping the true GOD, he by Degrees

introduc'd the worship of false GODs; and to introduce this he

began with the _Sun_, _Moon_, and _Stars_, call'd in the holy Text

the Host of Heaven; these had greater Majesty upon them, and seem'd

fitter to command the Homage of Mankind; so it was not the hardest

Thing in the World, to bring Men, when they had once forgotten the

true God, to embrace the Worship of such Gods as those.

3. Having thus debauch'd their Principles in Worship, and led them

from the true and only Object of Worship to a false, it was the

easier to carry them on; so in a few Gradations more he brought

them to downright Idolatry, and even in that Idolatry he proceeded

gradually too; for he began with awful Names, such as were

venerable in the Thoughts of Men, as BAAL or BELL, which, in

_Chaldaick_ and _Hebrew_, signifies Lord or Sovereign, or Mighty

and Magnificent, and this was therefore a Name ascrib'd at first to

the true God; but afterwards they descended to make Images and

Figures to represent him, and then they were call'd by the same

Name, as _Baal_, _Baalim_, and afterwards _Bell_; from which, by a

hellish Degeneracy, Saturn brought Mankind to adore every Block of

their own hewing, and to worshipping Stocks, Stones, Monsters,

Hobgoblins, and every sordid frightful Thing, and at last the

_Devil_ himself.

What Notions some People may entertain of the Forwardness of the first

Ages of the World, to run into Idolatry, I do not enquire here; I know

they tell us strange Things, of its being the Product of meer Nature,

one remove from its primitive State; but I, who pretend to have so

critically enquir'd into _Satan_'s History, can assure you, and that

from very good Authority, that the _Devil_ did not find it so easy a

task to obliterate the Knowledge of the true God, in the Minds and

Consciences of Men, as those People suggest.

It is true he carried Things a great Length under the Patriarchal

Government of the first Ages, but still he was sixteen hundred Years

bringing it to pass; and tho' we have Reason to believe the old World,

before the Flood was arrived to a very great Height of Wickedness, and

_Ovid_ very nobly describes it by the War of the _Titans_ against

_Jupiter_, yet we do not read that ever Satan was come to such a Length

as to bring them to Idolatry; indeed we do read of Wars carried on among

them, whether it was one Nation against another, or only Personal, we

cannot tell; But the World seem'd to be swallow'd up in a Life of

Wickedness, that is to say, of Luxury and Lewdness, Rapine and Violence,

and there were _Giants_ among them, and Men of Renown, that is to say,

Men fam'd for their mighty Valour, great Actions of War we may suppose,

and their Strength, who personally oppos'd others. We read of no

considerable Wars indeed, but 'tis not to be doubted but there was such

Wars, or else it is to be understood that they liv'd (in common) a Life

somewhat like the Brutes, the Strong devouring the Weak; for the Text

says, _the whole Earth was filled with Violence_, hunting and tearing

one another in Pieces, either for Dominion or for Wealth, either for

Ambition or for Avarice, we know not well which.

Thus far the old Antediluvian World went, and very wicked they were,

there is no doubt of that; but we have Reason to believe that was no

Idolatry, the _Devil_ had not brought them to that Length yet: perhaps

it would soon have follow'd, but the Deluge interven'd.

After the Deluge, _as I have said_, he had all his Work to do over

again, and he went on by the same Steps; _first_ he brought them to

Violence and War, then to Oppression and Tyranny, then to neglect of

true Worship, then to false worship, and then Idolatry by the meer

natural Consequence of the Thing; who were the first Nation or People

that fell from the Worship of the true God, is something hard to

determine; the _Devil_, who certainly of all _God_'s Creatures is best

able to inform us, having left us nothing upon Record upon that

Subject, but we have Reason to believe it was thus introduc'd.

_Nimrod_ was the Grandson of _Ham_, _Noah_'s second Son, the same who

was cursed by his Father for exposing him in his Drunkenness: This

_Nimrod_ was the first who it seems _Satan_ pick'd out for a Hero: Here

he inspir'd him with ambitious Thoughts, dreams of Empire, and having

the Government of all the Rest, _that is to say_, universal Monarchy;

the very same Bait with which he has plaid upon the Frailty of Princes,

and ensnar'd the greatest of them ever since, even from his most August

Imperial Majesty King _Nimrod_ the first, to his most Christian Majesty

_Louis_ the XIV. and many a mighty Monarch between.

When these mighty Monarchs and Men of Fame went off the Stage, the World

had their Memories in esteem many Ages after; and as their great Actions

were no otherwise recorded than by oral Tradition, and the Tongues and

Memories of fallible Men, Time and the Custom of magnifying the past

Actions of Kings, Men soon fabl'd up their Histories, _Satan assisting_,

into Miracle and Wonder: Hence their Names were had in Veneration more

and more; Statues and Bustoes representing their Persons and great

Actions were set up in public Places, till from Heroes and Champions

they made Gods of them, and thus (_Satan_ prompting) the World was

quickly fill'd with Idols.

This _Nimrod_ is he, who according to the received Opinion, tho' I do

not find Satan's History exactly concurring with it, was first call'd

_Belus_, then _Baal_, and worship'd in most of the eastern Countries

under those Names; sometimes with Additions of Sir-names, according to

the several countries, or People, or Towns where he was particularly

set up, as _Baal Peor_, _Baal Zephon_, _Baal Phegor_, and in other

Places plain _Baal_, as _Jupiter_ in after Times had the like Additions;

as _Jupiter Ammon_, _Jupiter Capitolinus_, _Jupiter Pistor_, _Jupiter

Feretrius_, and about ten or twelve _Jupiters_ more.

I must acknowledge, that I think it was a Master-piece of Hell to bring

the World to Idolatry so soon after they had had such an eminent Example

of the infinite Power of the true God, as was seen in the Deluge, and

particularly in the Escape of _Noah_ in the Ark, to bring them (even

before _Noah_ or his Sons were dead) to forget whose Hand it was, and

give the Homage of the World to a Name, and that a Name of a mortal Man

dead and rotten, who was famous for nothing when he was alive but Blood

and War; I say, to bring the World to set up this Nothing, this meer

Name, nay the very Image and Picture of him for _a God_, it was _first_

a Mark of most prodigious Stupidity in the whole Race of Men, a

monstrous Degeneracy from Nature, and even from common Sense; and in the

next Place 'twas a token of an inexpressible Craft and Subtilty in the

_Devil_, who had now gotten the People into so full and compleat a

Management, that in short, he could have brought them, by the same Rule,

to have worship'd any thing; and in a little while more, did bring many

of them to worship himself, _plain Devil as he was_, and knowing him to

be such.

As to the Antiquity of this horrible Defection of Mankind, tho' we do

not find the beginning of it particularly recorded, yet we are certain

it was not long after the Confusion of _Babel_; for _Nimrod_, as is

said, was no more than _Noah_'s great Grandson and _Noah_ himself, I

suppose, might be alive some Years after _Nimrod_ was born; and as

_Nimrod_ was not long dead, before they forgot that he was a Tyrant and

a Murtherer, and made a _Baal_, that is a Lord or Idol of him, I say, he

was not long dead, for _Nimrod_ was born in the Year of the World 1847,

and built _Babylon_ the Year 1879; and we find _Terah_ the Father of

_Abraham_, who liv'd from the Year 1879 was an Idolater, as was

doubtless _Bethuel_, who was _Terah_'s Grandson; for we find _Laban_,

who was _Bethuel_'s Son, was so, and all this was during the Life of the

first Post-Diluvian Family, for _Terah_ was born within one hundred

ninety three Years after the Flood, and one hundred fifty seven Years

before _Noah_ was dead; and even _Abram_ himself was eight and fifty

Years old before _Noah_ died, and yet Idolatry had been then, in all

probability, above an hundred Years practised in the World.

N. B. It is worth Remark here, what a terrible Advantage the Devil

gain'd by the debauching poor _Noah_, and drawing him into the Sin

of Drunkenness; for by this, as I said, he silenc'd and stop'd the

Mouth of the great Preacher of Righteousness, that Father and

Patriarch of the whole World, who not being able for the Shame of

his own foul Miscarriage, to pretend to instruct or reprove the

World any more, the _Devil_ took hold of them immediately, and for

want of a Prophet to warn and admonish, ran that little of Religion

which there might be left in _Shem_ and _Japhet_, quite out of the

World, and delug'd them all in IDOLATRY.

How long the whole World may be said to be thus overwhelm'd in Ignorance

and Idolatry, we may make some tolerable guess at by the History of

_Abraham_; for it was not till God call'd him from his Father's House,

that any such Thing as a Church was establish'd in the World; nor even

then, except in his own Family and Successors for almost four hundred

Years after that Call; and till God brought the _Israelites_ back out of

_Egypt_, the whole World may be said to be involv'd in Idolatry and

_Devil_ worship.

So absolute a Conquest had the _Devil_ made over Mankind immediately

after the Flood, and all taking its Rise and Beginning at the fatal

Defeat of _Noah_, who had he liv'd untainted and invulnerable, as he had

done for six hundred Years before, would have gone a great way to have

stem'd the Torrent of Wickedness which broke in upon Mankind; and

therefore the _Devil_, I say, was very cunning and very much in the

Right of it, take him as he is a meer _Devil_, to attack _Noah_

personally, and give him a Blow so soon.

It is true, the _Devil_ did not immediately raze out the Notion of

Religion and of a GOD from the Minds of Men, nor could he easily

suppress the Principle of Worship and Homage to be paid to a Sovereign

Being, the Author of Nature and Guide of the World; the _Devil_ saw this

clearly in the first Ages of the new World, and therefore, as I have

said, he proceeded politically and by Degrees: That it was so, is

evident from the Story of _Job_ and his three Friends, who, if we may

take it for a History, not a Fable, and may judge of the Time of it by

the Length of _Job_'s Life, and by the Family of _Eliphaz_ the

_Temanite_, who it is manifest was at least Grandson or Great Grandson

to _Esau Isaac_'s eldest Son, and by the Language of _Abimilech_ King of

_Gerar_ to _Abraham_, and of _Laban_ to _Jacob_, both the Latter being

at the same Time Idolaters; I say, if we may judge of it by all these,

there were still very sound Notions of Religion in the Minds of Men; nor

could Satan with all his Cunning and Policy deface those _Ideas_, and

root them out of the Minds of the People.

And this put him upon taking new Measures to keep up his Interest and

preserve the Hold he got upon Mankind; and his Method was like himself,

subtle and politick to the last Degree, as his whole History makes

appear; for seeing he found they could not but believe the Being of a

God, and that they would needs worship something, it is evident, he had

no Game left him to play but this, namely, to set up wrong Notions of

Worship, and bring them to a false Worship instead of a True, supposing

the Object worship'd to be still the same.

To finish this Stratagem, he first insinuates that the true God was a

terrible, a dreadful, unapproachable Being; that to see him was so

frightful, that it would be present Death; that to worship him

immediately, was a Presumption which would provoke his Wrath; and that

as he was a _consuming Fire_ in himself, so he would burn up those in

his Anger that dar'd to offer up any Sacrifice to him, but by the

Interposition of some Medium which might receive their Adorations in his

Name.

Hence it occur'd presently, that subordinate Gods were to be found out

and set up, to whom the People might pay the Homage due to the supreme

God, and who they might worship in his Name; this I take from the most

ancient Account of Idolatry in the World; nor indeed could the Devil

himself find out any other Reason why Men should Cannonise or rather

Deify their Princes and Men of Fame, and worship them after they were

dead, as if they could save them from Death and Calamity, who were not

able to save themselves when they were alive; much less could _Satan_

bring Men to swallow so gross, so absurd a Thing as the bowing the Knee

to a Stock or a Stone, a Calf, an Ox, a Lion, nay the Image or Figure

of a Calf, such as the _Israelites_ made at Mount _Sinai_, and say,

_These be thy Gods, O_ Israel, _who brought thee out of the Land of_

Egypt.

Having thus, I say, brought them to satisfy themselves that they

worship'd the true God and no other, under the Figures and Appearances

which they made to represent him, it was easy after that to worship any

thing for the true God; and thus in a few Ages they worship'd nothing

but Idols, even throughout the whole World; nor has the _Devil_ lost

this hold in some Parts of the World, nay not in most Parts of the World

to this Day; He holds still all the Eastern Parts of _Asia_, and the

Southern Parts of _Africa_, and the Northern Parts of _Europe_, and in

them the vast Countries of _China_ and _Tartary_, _Persia_ and _India_,

_Guinea_, _Ethiopia_, _Zanquebar_, _Congo_, _Angola_, _Monomotapa_, &c.

in all which, _except Ethiopia_, we find no Vestiges of any other

worship but that of Idols, Monsters, and even the _Devil_ himself; till

after the very coming of our Saviour, and even then, if it be true that

the Gospel was preach'd in the _Indies_ and _China_ by St. _Thomas_, and

in other remote Countries by other of the Apostles; we see that whatever

Ground _Satan_ lost, he seems to have recovered it again; and all _Asia_

and _Africa_ is at present overrun with Paganism or Mahometanism, which

I think of the two is rather the worst; Besides all _America_, a Part of

the World, as some say, equal in Bigness to all the other, in which the

_Devil_'s Kingdom was never interrupted from its first being inhabited,

_whenever it was_, to the first Discovery of it by the _European_

Nations in the sixteenth Century.

In a Word, the _Devil_ got what we may call an entire Victory over

Mankind, and drove the Worship of the true God, in a Manner quite out

of the World, forcing, _as it were_, his Maker in a new kind of

Creation, the old one proving thus ineffectual to recover a certain

Number by Force and meer Omnipotence to return to their Duty, serve him

and worship him; _But of that hereafter_.

CHAP. XI.

_Of God's calling a Church out of the midst of a degenerate World, and of

Satan's new Measures upon that Incident: How he attack'd them

immediately, and his Success in those Attacks._

_Satan_ having, as I have said in the preceding Chapter, made, as it

were, a full Conquest of Mankind, debauch'd them all to Idolatry, and

brought them at least to worshiping the true God by the wretched Medium

of corrupt and idolatrous Representations; God seem'd to have no true

Servants or Worshippers left in the World, but if I may be allow'd to

speak so, was oblig'd, in order to restore the World to their Senses

again, to call a select Number out from among the rest, who he himself

undertook should own his Godhead or supreme Authority, and worship him

as he requir'd to be worship'd; this, _I say_, God was oblig'd to do,

because 'tis evident it has not been done so much by the Choice and

Council of Men, _for Satan would have over-rul'd that Part_, as by the

Power and Energy of some irresistible and invincible Operation, and this

our Divines give high Names to; but be it what they will, it is the

second Defeat or Disappointment that the _Devil_ he met with in his

Progress in the World; the first I have spoken of already.

It is true, Satan very well understood what was threatn'd to him in the

original Promise to the Woman, immediately after the Fall, namely, _thou

shalt bruise his Head_, &c. but he did not expect it so suddenly, but

thought himself sure of Mankind, till the Fullness of Time when the

Messiah should come; and therefore it was a great Surprize to him, to

see that _Abraham_ being call'd was so immediately receiv'd and

establish'd, tho' he did not so immediately follow the Voice that

directed him, yet in him, in his Loins was all God's Church at that time

contain'd.

In the calling _Abraham_, it is easy to see that there was no other way

for God to form a Church, that is to say, to single out a People to

himself, as the World was then stated, but by immediate Revelation and a

Voice from Heaven: All Mankind were gone over to the Enemy, overwhelmed

in Idolatry, in a Word, were engag'd to the _Devil_; God Almighty, or as

the Scripture distinguishes him, _the Lord_, the true GOD, was out of

the Question; Mankind knew little or nothing of him, much less did they

know any thing of his Worship, or that there was such a Being in the

World.

Well might it be said the _Lord_ appeared to _Abraham_, Gen. xii. 7. for

if God had not appear'd himself, he must have sent a Messenger from

Heaven, _and perhaps it was so too_, for he had not one true Servant or

Worshiper that we know of then on Earth, to send on that Errand; no

Prophet, no Preacher of Righteousness, _Noah_ was dead, and had been so

above seventeen Year; and if he had not, his preaching, as I observed

after his great Miscarriage, had but little Effect; we are indeed told,

that _Noah_ left behind him certain Rules and Orders for the true

Worship of God, which were call'd the Precepts of _Noah_, and remain'd

in the World for a long Time; tho' how written, when neither any

Letters, much less Writing were known in the World, is a Difficulty

which Remains to be solv'd; and this makes me look upon those Laws

call'd the Precepts of _Noah_ to be a modern Invention, as I do also the

_Alphabetum Noachi_, which _Bochart_ pretends to give an Account of.

But to leave that Fiction, and come back to _Abraham_; God call'd him,

whether at first by Voice without any Vision, whether in a Dream or

Night Vision, which was very Significant in those Days, or whether by

some awful Appearance, we know not; the second Time, 'tis indeed said

expressly GOD appeared to him; Be it which Way it will, GOD himself

call'd him, shew'd him the Land of _Canaan_, gave him the Promise of it

for his Posterity, and withal gave him such a Faith, that the _Devil_

soon found there was no room for him to meddle with _Abraham_. This is

certain, we do not read that the _Devil_ ever so much as attempted

_Abraham_ at all; some will suggest that the Command to _Abraham_ to go

and offer up his Son _Isaac_, was a Temptation of the _Devil_, if

possible to defeat the glorious Work of GOD's calling a holy Seed into

the World; for the _first_, if _Abraham_ had disobey'd that Call, the

new Favourite had been overcome and made a Rebel of, or _secondly_, if

he had _obey'd_, then the promis'd Seed had been cut off, and _Abraham_

defeated; but as the Text is express that GOD himself proposed it to

_Abraham_, I shall not start the Suggestions of the Criticks, in Bar of

the sacred Oracle.

Be it one way or other, _Abraham_ shew'd a Hero-like Faith and Courage,

and if the _Devil_ had been the Author of it, he had seen himself

disappointed in both his Views; (1.) by _Abraham_'s ready and bold

Compliance, as believing it to be GOD's Command; and (2.) by the divine

Countermand of the Execution, just as the fatal Knife was lifted up.

But if the _Devil_ left _Abraham_, and made no attack upon him, seeing

him invulnerable, he made himself amends upon the other Branch of his

Family, his poor _Nephew_ LOT; who, notwithstanding he was so

immediately under the particular Care of Heaven, as that the Angel who

was sent to destroy _Sodom_, could do nothing till he was out of it; and

who, tho' after he had left _Zoar_, and was retir'd into a Cave to

dwell, yet the subtle _Devil_ found him out, deluded his two Daughters,

took an Advantage of the Fright they had been in about _Sodom_ and

_Gomorrah_, made them believe the whole World was burnt too, as well as

those Cities, and that in short, they could never have any _Husbands_,

&c. and so in their abundant Concern to repeople the World, and that the

Race of Mankind might not be destroyed, they go and lie with their own

_Father_; the _Devil_ telling them doubtless how to do it, by

intoxicating his Head with Wine; in all which Story, whether they were

not as drunk as their Father, seems to be a Question, or else they could

not have supposed all the Men in the Earth were consum'd, when they knew

that the little City _Zoar_ had been preserv'd for their Sakes.

This now was the third Conquest _Satan_ obtain'd by the Gust of humane

Appetite; that is to say, once by Eating and twice by Drinking, or

Drunkenness, and still the last was the worst and most shameful; for

_Lot_, however his Daughters manag'd him, could not pretend he did not

understand what the Strength of Wine was; and one would have thought

after so terrible a Judgment as that of _Sodom_ was, which was, as we

may say, executed before his Face, his Thoughts should have been too

solemnly engag'd in praising God for sparing his Life, to be made drunk,

and that two Nights together.

But the _Devil_ play'd his Game sure, he set his two Daughters to work,

and as the _Devil_'s Instruments seldom fail, so he secur'd his by that

hellish Stratagem of deluding the Daughters, to think all the World was

consum'd but they two and their Father: To be sure the old Man could not

suspect that his Daughters Design was so wicked as indeed it was, or

that they intended to debauch him with Wine, and make him drink till he

knew not what he did.

Now the _Devil_ having carried his Game here, gain'd a great Point; for

as there were but two religious Families in the World before, from

whence a twofold Generation might be supposed to rise religious and

righteous like their Parents, (_viz._) that of _Abraham_ and this of

_Lot_; this Crime ruin'd the Hopes of one of them; it could no more be

said that just _Lot_ was in Being, who vex'd his _righteous Soul_ from

Day to Day with the wicked Behaviour of the People of _Sodom_; righteous

_Lot_ was degenerated into drunken incestuous _Lot_, LOT fallen from

what he was, to be a wicked and unrighteous Man; no pattern of Virtue,

no Reprover of the Age, but a poor fallen Degenerate Patriarch, who

could now no more reprove or exhort, but look down and be asham'd, and

nothing to do but to repent; and see the poor mean Excuses of all the

three.

Eve says, _The Serpent beguil'd me, and I did eat_.

Noah says, ---- _My Grandson beguil'd me, or the Wine beguil'd me,

and I did drink_.

Lot says, _My Daughters beguil'd me, and I also did drink_.

It is observable, that as I said above, _Noah_ was silenc'd, and his

Preaching at an End, after that one Action, so the like may be said of

_Lot_; and in short, you never hear one Word more of either of them

after it; as for Mankind, both were useless to them, and as to

themselves, we never read of any of their Repentance, nor have we much

Reason to believe they did repent.

From this Attack of the _Devil_ upon _Lot_, we hear no more of the

_Devil_ being so busily employ'd as he had been before in the World; he

had indeed but little to do, for all the rest of the World was his own,

lull'd asleep under the Witchcraft of Idolatry, and are so still.

But it could not be long that the _Devil_ lay idle; as soon as God

call'd himself a People, the _Devil_ could not be at Rest; till he

attack'd them.

'Wherever God sets up a House of Prayer,

'The Devil always builds a Chapel there.

_Abraham_ indeed went off the Stage free, and so did _Isaac_ too, they

were a Kind of first Rate Saints; we do not so much as read of any

failing they had, or of any Thing the _Devil_ had ever the Face to offer

to them; no, or with _Jacob_ either, if you will excuse him for

beguiling his Brother _Esau_, of both his Birthright and his Blessing,

but he was busy enough with all his Children; for Example,

* * * * *

He sent _Judah_ to his Sheep-shearing, and placed a Whore (_Tamar_)

in his Way, in the Posture of Temptation, so made him commit

Incest and Whoredom both together.

He sent incestuous _Reuben_ to lie with his Father's Concubine

_Billah_.

He sent _Dinah_ to the Ball, to dance with the _Sichemite_ Ladies,

and play the Whore with their Master.

He enrag'd _Simeon_ and _Levi_, at the supposed Injury, and then

prompted them to Revenge, for which their Father heartily cursed

them.

He set them all together to fall upon poor _Joseph_, first to

murther him intentionally, and then actually sell him to the

_Midianites_.

He made them shew the Party-colour'd Coat, and tell a lie to their

Father, to make the poor old Man believe _Joseph_ was kill'd by a

Lion, _&c._

He sent _Potiphar_'s Wife to attack _Joseph_'s Chastity, and fill'd

her with Rage at the Disappointment.

He taught _Joseph_ to swear by the Life of _Pharoah_.

* * * * *

In a Word, he debauch'd the whole Race, except _Benjamin_, and never Man

had such a Set of Sons, so wicked and so notorious, after so good an

Introduction into the World as they all of them had, _to be sure_; for

_Jacob_, no doubt, gave them as good Instruction as the Circumstances of

his wandring Condition would allow him to do.

We must now consider the _Devil_ and his Affairs in a quite differing

Situation: When the World first appeared peopled by the creating Power

of God, he had only _Adam_ and _Eve_ to take care of, and I think he

ply'd his Time with them to purpose enough: After the Deluge he had

_Noah_ only to pitch upon, and he quickly conquer'd him by the

Instigation of his _Grandson_.

At the Building of _Babel_ he guided them by their acting all in a Body

as one Man; so that in short he manag'd them with ease, taking them as a

Body politic; and we find they came into his Snare as one Man; but Now,

the Children of _Israel_ multiplying in the Land of their Bondage, and

God seeming to shew a particular Concern for them, the _Devil_ was

oblig'd to new Measures, stand at a Distance, and look on for some Time.

The _Egyptians_ were plagued even without his Help, nor tho' the cunning

Artist, as I said, stood and looked on, yet he durst not meddle; nor

could he make a few Lice, the least and meanest of the Armies of Insects

raised to afflict the _Egyptians_.

However, when he perceiv'd that God resolved to bring the _Israelites_

out, he prepar'd to attend them, to watch them, and be at Hand upon all

the wicked Occasions that might offer, as if he had been fully satisfied

such Occasions would offer, and that he should not fail to have an

Opportunity to draw them into some Snare or another, and that therefore

it was his Business not to be out of the Way, but to be ready (as we

say) to make his Market of them in the best Manner he could: How many

Ways he attempted them, nay, how many Times he conquer'd them in their

Journey, we shall see presently.

First he put them in a fright at _Baal-Zephon_, where he thought he had

drawn them into a Noose, and where he sent _Pharoah_ and his Army to

block them up between the Mountains of _Piahiroth_ and the _Red Sea_;

but there indeed _Satan_ was outwitted by _Moses_, so far as it appeared

to be a humane Action, for he little thought of their going dry footed

_thro' the Sea_, but depended upon having them all cut in Pieces the

next Morning by the _Egyptians_; an eminent Proof, _by the Way_, that

the _Devil_ has _no Knowledge of Events_, or any Insight into Futurity;

nay that he has not so much as a second Sight, or knows to Day what his

Maker intends to do to Morrow; for had _Satan_ known that God intended

to Ford them over the Sea, if he had not been able to have prevented the

Miracle, he would certainly have prevented the Escape, by sending out

_Pharoah_ and his Army time enough to have taken the Strand before them,

and so have driven them to the Necessity of travelling on Foot round the

North Point of that Sea, by the Wilderness of _Etan_, where he would

have pursu'd and harrass'd them with his Cavalry, and in all Probability

have destroy'd them: But the blind short-sighted Devil, perfectly in the

Dark, and unacquainted with Futurity, knew nothing of the Matter, was as

much deceiv'd as _Pharoah_ himself, stood still flattering himself with

the Hopes of his Booty, and the Revenge he should take upon them the

next Morning; till he saw the frighted Waves in an Uproar, and to his

utter Astonishment and Confusion saw the Passage laid open, and _Moses_

leading his vast Army in full March over the dry Space; nay even then

'tis very propable Satan did not know that if the _Egyptians_ follow'd

them, the Sea would return upon and overwhelm them; for I can hardly

think so hard of the _Devil_ himself, that if he had, he would have

suffer'd, much less prompted _Pharoah_ to follow the Chase at such an

Expence; so that either he must be an ignorant unforeseeing Devil, or a

very ungrateful false _Devil_ to his Friends the _Egyptians_.

I am enclin'd also to the more charitable Opinion of Satan too, because

the Escape of the _Israelites_ was really a Triumph over himself; for

the War was certainly his, or at least he was auxiliary to _Pharoah_,

it was a Victory over _Hell_ and _Egypt_ together, and he would never

have suffer'd the Disgrace, if he had known it beforehand; that is to

say, tho' he could not have prevented the Escape of _Israel_, or the

dividing the Water, yet he might have warn'd the _Egyptians_, and

cautioned them not to venture in after them.

But we shall see a great many weak Steps taken by the Devil in the

Affair of this very People and their forty Years Wandring in the

Wilderness; and tho' he was in some things successful, and wheedled them

into many foolish and miserable Murmurings and Wranglings against God,

and Mutinies against poor _Moses_, yet the _Devil_ was oftentimes

baulk'd and disappointed; and 'tis for this Reason that I choose to

finish the first Part of his History with the particular Relation of his

Behaviour among the _Jews_, because also, we do not find any

extraordinary Things happening any where else in the World for above one

thousand five hundred Years, no Variety, no Revolutions; all the Rest of

Mankind lay still under his Yoke, quietly submitted to his Government,

did just as he bad them, worship'd every Idol he set up, and in a Word,

he had no Difficulty with any Body but the _Jews_, and for this Reason,

I say, this Part of his Story will be the more useful and instructing.

To return therefore to _Moses_ and his dividing the _Red Sea_; that the

People went over or thro' it, that we have the sacred History for; but

how the Devil behav'd, that you must come to me for, or I know not where

you will find a true Account of it, at least not in Print.

1. It was in the Night they march'd thro', whether the _Devil_ saw it in

the Dark or no, that's not my Business.

But when he had Day-Light for it, and view'd the next Day's Work, I make

no Question but _all Hell felt the Surprise_, the Prey being thus

snatch'd out of their Hands unexpectedly. 'Tis true the _Egyptians_ Host

was sent to him in their Room, but that was not what he aim'd at; for he

was sure enough of them his own Way, and if it was not _just at that

Time_, yet he knew what and who they were; but as he had devour'd the

whole _Israelitish_ Host in his Imagination, to the Tune of at least a

Million and a half of Souls; Men, Women and Children; it was, no doubt,

a great Disappointment to the Devil to miss of his Prey, and to see them

all triumphing on the other Side in Safety.

It is true, _Satan_'s Annals do not mention this Defeat, for Historians

are generally backward to register their own Misfortunes; but as we have

an Account of the Fact from other Hands, so as we cannot question the

Truth of it; the Nature of the Thing will tell us it was a

Disappointment to the _Devil_, and a very great one too.

I cannot but observe here, that I think this Part of the _Devil_'s Story

very entertaining, because of the great Variety of Incidents which

appear in every Part of it; sometimes he is like a hunted Fox,

curvetting and counter-running to avoid his being pursued and found out,

while at the same time he is carrying on his secret Designs to draw the

People he pretends to manage, into some Snare or other to their Hurt; at

another time, tho' the Comparison is a little too low for his Dignity,

like a Monkey that has done Mischief, and who making his own Escape sits

and chatters at a Distance, as if he had triump'd in what he had done;

so Satan, when he had drawn them in to worship a Calf, to offer strange

Fire, to set up a Schism, and the like; and so to bring the Divine

Vengeance upon themselves, leaving them in their Distress, kept at a

Distance, as if he look'd on with Satisfaction to see them Burnt,

swallow'd up, swept away, and the like; as the several Stories relate.

His indefatigable Vigilance is, on the other hand, a useful Caveat, as

well as an improving View to us; no sooner is he routed and expos'd,

defeated and disappointed in one Enterprize, but he begins another, and,

like a cunning Gladiator, warily defends himself, and boldly attacks his

Enemy at the same time. Thus we see him, up and down, conquering and

conquered, thro' this whole Part of his Story, till at last he receives

a total Defeat; of which you shall hear in its place: In the mean time,

let us take up his Story again at the _Red Sea_, where he receiv'd a

great Blow, instead of which he expected a compleat Victory; for

doubtless the Devil and the King of _AEgypt_ too, thought of nothing but

Conquest at _Piahiroth_.

However, tho' the Triumph of the _Israelites_ over the _Egyptians_ must

needs be a great Mortification to the _Devil_, and exasperated him very

much, yet the Consequence was only this, _viz._ that _Satan_, like an

Enemy who is baulk'd and defeated, but not overcome, redoubles his Rage,

and reinforces his Army, and what the _Egyptians_ could not do for him,

he resolves to do for himself; in order then to take his Opportunity for

what Mischief might offer, being defeated, and provok'd, I say, at the

Slur that was put upon him, he resolves to follow them into the

Wilderness, and many a vile Prank he plaid them there; as first, he

straitens them for Water, and makes them murmur against GOD, and against

_Moses_, within a very few Days, nay, Hours, of their great Deliverance

of all.

Nor was this all, but in less than one Year more we find them, (at his

Instigation too) setting up a _golden Calf_, and making all the People

dance about it at Mount _Sinai_; even when God himself had but just

before appear'd to them in the Terrors of a burning Fire upon the Top of

the Mountain; _and what was the Pretence?_ Truly, nothing but that they

had lost _Moses_, who used to be their Guide, and he had hid himself in

the Mount, and had not been seen in forty Days, so that they could not

tell what was become of him. This put them all into Confusion; a poor

Pretence indeed, to turn them all back to Idolatry! but the _watchful

Devil_ took the Hint, push'd the Advantage, and insinuated that they

should never see _Moses_ again, that he was certainly devour'd by

venturing too near the Flashes of Fire in the Mount, and presuming upon

the Liberty he had taken before; in a word, that God had destroyed

_Moses_, or he was starved to Death for want of Food, having been forty

Days and forty Nights absent.

All these were, it's true, in themselves most foolish Suggestions,

considering _Moses_ was admitted to the Vision of God, and that God had

been pleased to appear to him in the most intimate manner; that as they

might depend God would not destroy his faithful Servant, so they might

have concluded he was able to support his Being without Food as long as

he thought fit; but to a People so easy to believe any thing, what could

be too gross for the _Devil_ to persuade them to?

A People who could dance round a Calf, and call it their God, might do

any thing; that could say to one another, that this was the Great

JEHOVAH, _that brought them out of the Land of Egypt_; and that within

so few Days after God's miraculous Appearance to them, and for them; I

say, such a People were really fitted to be imposed upon, nothing could

be too gross for them.

This was indeed his first considerable Experiment upon them as _a

People_, or as _a Body_; and the Truth is, his Affairs requir'd it, for

_Satan_, who had been a Successful Devil in most of his Attempts upon

Mankind, could hardly doubt of Success in any thing after he had carried

his Point at Mount _Sinai_: To bring them to Idolatry in the very Face

of their Deliverer, and just after their Deliverance! It was more

astonishing in the main than even their passing _the Red Sea_: In a

Word, the _Devil_'s whole History does not furnish us with a Story

equally surprising.

And how was poor _Aaron_ bewilder'd in it too? He that was _Moses_'s

Partner in all the great Things that _Moses_ did in _Pharaoh_'s Sight,

and that was appointed to be his Assistant and Oracle, _or Orator

rather_, upon all public Occasions; that he, above all the rest, should

come into this absurd and ridiculous Proposal, he that was singled out

for the sacred Priesthood, for him to defile his holy Hands with a

polluted abominable Sacrifice, and with making the Idol for them too,

(for 'tis plain that he made it,) how monstrous it was!

And see what an Answer he gives to his Brother _Moses_, how weak! how

simple! _I did so and so, indeed_, I bad them bring the Ear-rings, _&c._

and I cast the Gold into the Fire, and _it came out this Calf_.

Ridiculous! as if the Calf came out by meer fortuitous Adventure,

without a Mould to cast it in; which could not be supposed: And if it

had not come out so without a Mould, _Moses_ would certainly have known

of it; had _Aaron_ been innocent, he would have answered after quite

another manner, and told _Moses_ honestly that the whole Body of the

People came to him in a Fright, that they forced him to make them an

Idol; which he did, by making first a proper Mould to cast it in, and

then taking the proper Metal to cast it from: That indeed he had sinn'd

in so doing, but that he was mobb'd into it, and the People terrified

him, perhaps they threatned to kill him; and if he had added, that the

_Devil_ prompting his Fear beguil'd him, he had said nothing but what

was certainly true; for if it was in Satan's Power to make the People

insolent and outrageous enough to threaten and bully the old venerable

Prophet (_for he was not yet a Priest_) who was the Brother of their

Oracle _Moses_, and had been Partner with him in so many of his

Commissions; I say, if he cou'd bring up the Passions of the People to a

Height to be rude and unmannerly to him (_Aaron_) and perhaps to

threaten and insult him, he may be easily suppos'd to be able to

intimidate _Aaron_, and terrify him into a Compliance.

See this cunning Agent, when he has Man's Destruction in his View, how

securely he acts! he never wants a handle; the best of Men have one weak

place or other, and he always finds it out, takes the Advantage of it,

and conquers them by one Artifice or another; only take it with you as

you go, 'tis always _by Stratagem_, never _by Force_; a Proof that he is

not empower'd to use Violence: He may tempt, and he does prevail; but

'tis all _Legerdemain_, 'tis all Craft and Artifice, he is still Diabole,

the _Calumniator_ and Deceiver, that is, the Misrepresenter; he

misrepresents _Man_ to GOD, and misrepresents GOD to _Man_, also he

misrepresents Things; he puts false Colours, and then manages the Eye to

see them with an imperfect View, raising Clouds and Fogs to intercept

our Sight; in short, he deceives all our Senses, and imposes upon us in

Things which otherwise would be the easiest to discern and judge of.

This indeed is in part the Benefit of the _Devil_'s History, to let us

see that he has used the same Method all along; and that ever since he

has had any thing to do with Mankind, he has practis'd upon them with

Stratagem and Cunning; also 'tis observable that he has carried his

Point better that way than he would have done by Fury and Violence, if

he had been allowed to make use of it; for by his Power indeed he might

have laid the World desolate, and made a Heap of Rubbish of it long ago;

but, as I have observed before, that would not have answered his Ends

half so well, for by destroying Men he would have made Martyrs, and sent

abundance of good Men to Heaven, who would much rather have died, than

yielded to serve him, and, as he aimed to have it, to fall down and

worship him; I say, he would have made Martyrs, and that not a few: But

this was none of _Satan_'s Business; his Design lies quite another Way;

his Business is to make Men _sin_, not to make them _suffer_; to make

_Devils_ of them, not _Saints_; to delude them, and draw them away from

their Maker, not send them away to him; and therefore he works by

Stratagem, not by Force.

We are now come to his Story, as it relates to the _Jewish_ Church in

the Wilderness, and to the Children of _Israel_ in their travelling

Circumstances; and this was the first Scene of publick Management that

the Devil had upon his Hands in the World; for, as I have said, _till

now_, he dealt with Mankind either in their separate Condition, one by

one, or else carried all before him, engrossing whole Nations in his

Systems of Idolatry, and overwhelming them in an ignorant Destruction.

But having now a whole People as it were snatch'd away from him, taken

out of his Government, and, which was still worse, having a View of a

Kingdom being set up independent of him, and superior to his Authority,

it is not to be wondred at if he endeavour'd to overthrow them in the

Infancy of their Constitution, and tried all possible Arts to bring them

back into his own Hands again.

He found them not only carried away from the Country where they were

even in his Clutches, surrounded with Idols, and where we have Reason to

believe the greatest part of them were polluted with the Idolatry of the

_Egyptians_; for we do not read of any stated Worship which they had of

their own, or if they did worship the true God, we scarce know in what

manner they did it; they had no Law given them, nothing but the Covenant

of Circumcision, and even _Moses_ himself had not strictly observ'd

that, till he was frighted into it; we read of no Sacrifices among them,

no Feasts were ordain'd, no solemn Worship appointed, and how, or in

what manner they perform'd their Homage, we know not; the Passover was

not ordain'd till just at their coming away; so that there was not much

Religion among them, at least that we have any Account of; and we may

suppose the _Devil_ was pretty easy with them all the while they were in

the House of their Bondage.

But now, to have a Million of People fetch'd out of his Hands, as it

were all at once, and to have the immediate Power of Heaven engaged in

it, and that _Satan_ saw evidently God had singled them out in a

miraculous manner to favour them, and call them _his own_; this allarm'd

him at once, and therefore he resolves to follow them, lay close Siege

to them, and take all the Measures possible to bring them to rebel

against, and disobey GOD, that he might be provok'd to destroy them; and

how near he went to bring it to pass, we shall see presently.

This making a Calf, and paying an idolatrous Worship to it (for they

acted the Heathens and Idolaters, not in the setting up the Calf only,

but in the manner of their Worshiping, _viz._ _Dancing_ and _Musick_,

Things they had not been acquainted with in the Worship of the true God)

I mention here, to observe how the Devil not only imposed upon their

Principles, but upon their Senses too; as if the awful Majesty of

Heaven, whose Glory they had seen in Mount _Sinai_, where they stood,

and whose Pillar of Cloud and Fire was their Guide and Protection, would

be worship'd by dancing round a Calf! and that not a living Creature, or

a real Calf, but the mere Image of a _Calf_ cast in Gold, or, as some

think, in Brass gilded over.

But this was the _Devil_'s Way with Mankind, namely, to impose upon

their Senses, and bring them into the grossest Follies and Absurdities;

and then, having first made them Fools, it was much the easier to make

them Offenders.

In this very manner he acted with them thro' all the Course of their

Wilderness Travels; for as they were led by the Hand like Children,

defended by Omnipotence, fed by Miracles, instructed immediately from

Heaven, and in all things had _Moses_ for their Guide; they had no room

to miscarry, but by acting the greatest Absurdities, and committing the

greatest Follies in Nature; and even these, the _Devil_ brought them to

be guilty of, in a surprising manner: 1. As GOD himself reliev'd them in

every Exigence, and supply'd them in every Want, one would think 'twas

impossible they should be ever brought to question either his

Willingness or his Ability, and yet they really objected against both;

which was indeed very provoking, and I doubt not, that when the _Devil_

had brought them to act in such a preposterous Manner, he really hoped

and believed God would be provok'd effectually: The Testimonies of his

Care of them, and Ability to supply them, were miraculous and

undeniable; he gave them Water from the Rock, Bread from the Air, sent

the Fowls to feed them with Flesh, and supported them all the Way by

Miracles; their Health was preserv'd, none were sick among them, their

clothes did not wear out, nor their Shoes grow old upon their Feet;

could any thing be more absurd, than to doubt whether he could provide

for them who had never let them want for so many Years?

But the _Devil_ managed them in spight of Miracles; nor did he ever give

them over till he had brought six hundred thousand of them to provoke

God so highly that he would not suffer above two of them to go into the

Land of Promise; so that in short, Satan gained his Point as to that

Generation, for all their Carcasses fell in the Wilderness. Let us take

but a short View to what a Height he brought 'em, and in what a rude,

absurd Manner they acted; how he set them upon murmuring upon every

Occasion, now for Water, then for Bread; nay, they murmured _at their

Bread_ when they had it; _Our Soul loaths this light Bread._

He sow'd the Seeds of Church-Rebellion in the Sons of _Aaron_, and made

_Nadab_ and _Abihu_ offer strange Fire till they were strangely consumed

by Fire for the doing it.

He set them a complaining at _Taberah_, and a lusting for Flesh at the

first three Days Journey from Mount _Sinai_.

He planted Envy in the Hearts of _Miriam_ and _Aaron_, against the

Authority of _Moses_, to pretend GOD had spoke by them as well as by

him, till he humbled the Father, and made a Leper of the Daughter.

He debauch'd ten of the Spies, frighted them with sham Appearances of

Things, when they went out to search the Land; and made them fright the

whole People out of their Understanding as well as Duty, for which six

hundred thousand of their Carcasses fell in the Wilderness.

He rais'd the Rebellion of _Korah_, and the two hundred and fifty

Princes, till he brought them to be swallowed up alive.

He put _Moses_ into a Passion at _Meribah_, and ruffled the Temper of

the meekest Man upon Earth, by which he made both him and _Aaron_

forfeit their Share of the Promise, and be shut out from the _Holy

Land_.

He rais'd a Mutiny among them when they travelled from Mount _Hor_, till

they brought fiery Serpents among them to destroy them.

He tried to make _Baalim_ the Prophet curse them, but there the _Devil_

was disappointed: However, he brought the _Midianites_ to debauch them

with Women, as in the Case of _Zimri_ and _Cosbi_.

He tempted _Achan_ with the Wedge of Gold, and the _Babylonish_ Garment,

that he might take of the accursed thing, and be destroy'd.

He tempted the whole People, not effectually to drive out the cursed

Inhabitants of the Land of Promise, that they might remain, and be Goads

in their Sides, till at last they often oppress'd them for their

Idolatry; and, which was worse, debauched them to Idolatry.

He prompted the _Benjamites_ to refuse Satisfaction to the People, in

the Case of the Wickedness of the Men of _Gibeah_, to the Destruction of

the whole Tribe, four hundred Men excepted in the Rock _Rimmon_.

At last he tempted them to reject the Theocracy of their Maker, and call

upon _Samuel_ to make them a King; and most of those Kings he made

Plagues and Sorrows to them in their time, as you shall hear in their

Order.

Thus he plagued the whole Body of the People continually, making them

sin against God, and bring Judgments upon themselves, to the consuming

some Millions of them, first and last, by the Vengeance of their Maker.

As he did with the whole Congregation, so he did with their Rulers, and

several of the Judges, who were made Instruments to deliver the People,

yet were drawn into snares by this _subtil Serpent_, to ruin themselves

or the People they had delivered.

He tempted _Gideon_ to make an _Ephod_, contrary to the Law of the

Tabernacle, and made the Children of _Israel_ go a whoring (that is, a

worshiping) after it.

He tempted _Sampson_ to debauch himself with a Harlot, and betray his

own happy Secret to a Whore, at the Expence of both his Eyes, and at

last of his Life.

He tempted _Eli_'s Sons to lie with the Women, in the very Doors of the

Tabernacle, when they came to bring their Offerings to the Priest; and

he tempted poor _Eli_ to connive at them, or not sufficiently reprove

them.

He tempted the People to carry the Ark of God into the Camp, that it

might fall into the Hands of the _Philistines_. And

He tempted _Uzzi_ to reach out his Hand to hold it up; as if he that had

preserved it in the House of _Dagon_ the Idol of the _Philistines_,

could not keep it from falling out of the Cart.

When the People had gotten a King, he immediately set to work in diverse

Ways to bring that King to load them with Plagues and Calamities not a

few.

He tempted _Saul_ to spare the King of _Amaliek_, contrary to God's

express Command.

He not tempted _Saul_ only, but possessed him with an evil Spirit, by

which he was left to wayward Dispositions, and was forced to have it

fiddl'd out of him with a Minstrel.

He tempted _Saul_ with a Spirit of Discontent, and with a Spirit of Envy

at poor _David_, to hunt him like a Partridge upon the Mountains.

He tempted _Saul_ with a Spirit of Divination, and sent him to a Witch

to enquire of _Samuel_ for him; as if God would help him when he was

dead, that had forsaken him when he was alive.

After that, he tempted him to kill himself, on a Pretence that he might

not fall into the Hands of the Uncircumcised; as if _Self-Murther_ was

not half so bad, either for Sin against God, or Disgrace among Men, as

being taken Prisoner by _a Philistine_! A Piece of Madness none but the

_Devil_ could have brought Mankind to submit to, tho' some Ages after

that, he made it a Fashion among the _Romans_.

After _Saul_ was dead, and _David_ came to the Throne, by how much he

was a Man chosen and particularly savoured by Heaven, the _Devil_ fell

upon him with the more Vigour, attack'd him so many Ways, and conquer'd

him so very often, that as no Man was so good a King, so hardly any good

King was ever a worse Man; in many Cases one would have almost thought

the _Devil_ had made Sport with _David_, to shew how easily he could

overthrow the best Man _God_ could choose of the whole Congregation.

He made him distrust his Benefactor so much as to feign himself mad

before the King of _Gath_, when he had fled to him for Shelter.

He made him march with his four hundred Cut-throats, to cut off poor

_Nabal_, and all his Houshold, only because he would not send him the

good Chear he had provided for his honest Sheep-shearers.

He made him, for his Word's sake, give _Ziba_ half his Master's Estate

for his Treachery, after he knew he had been the Traitor, and betray'd

poor _Mephibosheth_ for the sake of it; in which

'The good old King, it seems, was very loth

'To break his Word, and therefore broke his Oath.

Then he tempted him to the ridiculous Project of numbring the People,

tho' against God's express Command; a Thing _Joab_ himself was not

wicked enough to do, till _David_ and the _Devil_ forc'd him to it.

And to make him compleatly wicked, he carried him to the Top of his

House, and shew'd him a naked Lady bathing her self in her Garden, in

which it appear'd that the _Devil_ knew _David_ too well, and what was

the particular Sin of his Inclination; and so took him by the Right

Handle; drawing him at once into the Sins of _Murther_ and _Adultery_.

Then, that he might not quite give him over, (tho' _David_'s Repentance

for the last Sin kept the _Devil_ off for a while) when he could attack

him no farther personally he fell upon him in his Family, and made him

as miserable as he could desire him to be, in his Children, three of

whom he brought to Destruction before his Face, and another after his

Death.

First, he tempted _Ammon_ to ravish his Sister _Tamar_; so, there was an

End of her (_poor Girl!_) as to this World, for we never hear any more

of her.

Then he tempted _Absalom_ to murther his Brother _Amnon_, in Revenge for

_Tamar_'s Maidenhead.

Then he made _Joab_ run _Absalom_ thro' the Body, contrary to _David_'s

Command.

And after _David_'s Death he brought _Adonija_ (weak Man!) to the Block,

for usurping King _Solomon_'s Throne.

As to _Absalom_, he tempted him to Rebellion, and raising War against

his Father, to the turning him shamefully out of _Jerusalem_, and almost

out of the Kingdom.

He tempted him, for _David_'s farther Mortification, to lie with his

Father's Wives, in the Face of the whole City; and had _Achitophel_'s

honest Council been follow'd, he had certainly sent him to Sleep with

his Fathers, long before his time--But there _Satan_ and _Achitophel_

were both out-witted together.

Thro' all the Reigns of the several Successors of _David_, the _Devil_

took care to carry on his own Game, to the continual insulting the

Measures which God himself had taken for the establishing his People in

the World, and especially as a Church; till at last he so effectually

debauch'd them to Idolatry; that Crime which of all others was most

provoking to GOD, as it was carrying the People away from their

Allegiance, and transposing the Homage they ow'd God their Maker, to a

contemptible Block of Wood, or an Image of a brute Beast; and this how

sordid and brutish soever it was in it self, yet so did his Artifice

prevail among them, that, first or last, he brought them all into it,

the ten Tribes as well as the two Tribes; till at last God himself was

provoked to unchurch them, gave them up to their Enemies, and the few

that were left of them, after incredible Slaughters and Desolation,

were hurried away, some into _Tartary_, and others into _Babylon_, from

whence very few, of that few that were carried away, ever found their

Way Home again; and some, when they might have come, would not accept of

it, but continued there to the very coming of the Messiah. See Epistles

of St. _James_ and of St. _Peter_, at the Beginning.

But to look a little back upon this Part (for it cannot be omitted, it

makes so considerable a Part of the _Devil_'s History) I mean his

drawing God's People, Kings and all, into all the Sins and Mischiefs

which gradually contributed to their Destruction.

First, (_for he began immediately with the very best and wisest of the

Race_) he drew in King _Solomon_, in the midst of all his Zeal for the

building God's House, and for the making the most glorious and

magnificent Appearance for God's Worship that ever the World saw; I say,

in the middle of all this, he drew him into such immoderate and

insatiable an Appetite for Women, as to set up the first, and perhaps

the greatest _Seraglio_ of Whores that ever any Prince in the World had,

or pretended to before; nay, and to bring whoring so much into

Reputation, that, as the Text says, seven hundred of them were

Princesses; that is to say, Ladies of Quality: Not as the Grand

Seigniors, and Great Moguls, (other Princes of the Eastern World) have

since practised, namely, to pick up their most beautiful Slaves; but

these, it seems, were Women of Rank, King's Daughters, as _Pharaoh_'s

Daughter, and the Daughters of the Princes and prime Men among the

_Moabites_, _Ammonites_, _Zidonians_, _Hittites_, &c. 1 _Kings_ xi. 1.

Nor was this all; but as he drew him into the Love of these forbidden

Women (_for such they were, as to their Nation, as well as Number_) so

he ensnar'd him by those Women to a Familiarity with their Worship; and

by degrees brought that famous Prince (famous for his Wisdom) to be the

greatest and most-impos'd-upon old Fool in the World; Bowing down to

those Idols by the Inticing of his Whores, whom he had abhorr'd and

detested in his Youth, as dishonouring that God for whom, and for whose

Worship he had finish'd and dedicated the most magnificent Building and

Temple in the World: Nothing but the invincible Subtlety of this _Arch

Devil_ could ever have brought such a Man as _Solomon_ to such a

Degeneracy of Manners, and to such Meannesses; no, not the _Devil_

himself, without the Assistance of his Whores, nor the Whores

themselves, without the _Devil_ to help them.

As to _Solomon_, _Satan_ had made Conquest enough there, we need hear no

more of him; the next Advance he made, was in the Person of his Son

_Rehoboam_; had not the _Devil_ prompted his Pride and tyrannical

Humour, he would never have given the People such an Answer as he did;

and when he saw a Fellow at the Head of them too whom he knew wanted and

waited for an Occasion to raise a Rebellion, and had ripened up the

People's Humour to the Occasion: Well might the Text call it _listening

to the Council of the young Heads_; that it was indeed with a Vengeance!

but those young Heads too were acted by an old _Devil_, who for his

Craft is called, as I have observ'd, the _Old Serpent_.

Having thus pav'd the Way, _Jeroboam_ revolts. So far God had directed

him; for the Text says expressly, speaking in the first Person of GOD

himself, _This Thing is of Me_.

But tho' God might appoint _Jeroboam_ to be King, (that is to say, of

ten Tribes,) yet GOD did not appoint him to set up the _two Calves_ in

the two extreme Parts of the Land, _viz._ in _Dan_, and in _Bethel_;

that was _Jeroboam_'s own doing, and done on purpose to keep the People

from falling back to _Rehoboam_, by being obliged to go to _Jerusalem_

to the publick Worship: And the Text adds, _Jeroboam made Israel to

sin_. This was indeed a Master-piece of the _Devil_'s Policy, and it was

effectual to answer the End, nothing could have been more to the

Purpose; what Reason he had to expect the People would so universally

come into it, and be so well satisfied with a couple of Calves, instead

of the true Worship of GOD at _Jerusalem_; or what Arts and Management

he (_Satan_) made use of afterwards, to bring the People in, to join

with such a Delusion, that we find but little of in all the Annals of

_Satan_; not is it much to the Case: 'Tis certain the _Devil_ found a

strange kind of Propensity to worshiping Idols rooted in the Temper of

that whole People, even from their first breaking away from the

_Egyptian_ Bondage; so that he had nothing to do but to work upon the

old Stock, and propagate the Crime that he found was so natural to them.

And this is _Satan_'s general Way of working, not with them only, but

with us also, and with all the World, even then, and ever since.

When he had thus secur'd _Jeroboam_'s Revolt, we need not trace him

among his Successors; for the same Reason of State that held for the

setting up the Calves at _Bethel_ and _Dan_, held good for the keeping

them up, to all _Jeroboam_'s Posterity; nor had they one good King ever

after; even _Jehu_, who call'd his Friends to come and see his _Zeal for

the Lord_, and who fulfill'd the Threatnings of God upon _Ahab_ and his

Family, and upon Queen _Jezabel_ and her Offspring, and knew all the

while that he was executing the Judgment of the true God upon an

idolatrous Race; yet he would not part with his Calves, but would have

thought it to have been parting with his Kingdom, and that as the People

would have gone up to _Jerusalem_ to worship, so they would at the same

Time have transfer'd their civil Obedience to the King of _Judah_,

(whose Right it really was, as far as they could claim by Birth and

right Line); so that by the way, _Satan_ any more than other

Politicians, is not for the _jus divinum_ of lineal Succession, or what

we call hereditary Right, any farther than serves for his Purpose.

Thus Satan ridded his Hands of ten of the twelve Tribes; let us now see

how he went on with the rest, for his Work was now brought into a

narrower Compass; the Church of God was now reduc'd to two Tribes,

except a few religious People, who separated from the Schism of

_Jeroboam_, and came and planted themselves among the Tribes of _Judah_

and _Benjamin_: The first thing the Devil did after this, was to foment

a War between the two Kings, while _Judah_ was governed by a Boy or

Youth, _Abija_ by Name, and he none of the best neither; but God's Time

was not come, and the Devil receiv'd a great Disappointment; when

_Jeroboam_ was so entirely overthrown; that if the Records of those Ages

do not mistake, no less than 500000 Men of _Israel_ were kill'd, such a

Slaughter, that one would think the Army of _Judah_, had they known how

to improve as well as gain a Victory, might have brought all the rest

back again, and have intirely reduc'd the House of _Jeroboam_ and the

ten Tribes that follow'd him to their Obedience; nay they did take a

great deal of the Country from them, and among the rest _Bethel_ it

self; and yet so cunningly did _Satan_ manage, that the King of _Judah_,

who was himself a wicked King, and perhaps an Idolater in his Heart, did

not take down the golden Calf that _Jeroboam_ had there, no nor destroy

the Idolatry it self, so that in short, his Victory signified nothing.

From hence to the Captivity, we find the _Devil_ busy with the Kings of

_Judah_, especially the best of them; as for such as _Manasseth_, and

those who transgress'd by the general Tenor of their Lives, those he had

no great trouble with.

But such as _Asa_, _Jehoshaphat_, _Hezekiah_, and _Josiah_, he hung

about them and their Courts, till he brought every one of them into some

Mischief or another.

As first, good King _Asa_, of whom the Scripture says, his Heart was

perfect all his Days, yet this subtle Spirit, that could break in upon

him no where else, tempted him when the King of _Israel_ came out

against him, to send to hire _Benhadad_ the King of _Syria_ to help him;

as if GOD who had before enabled him to conquer the _Ethiopians_, with

an Army of ten hundred thousand Men, could not have saved him from the

King of the ten Tribes.

In the same manner he tempted _Jehoshaphat_ to join with that wicked

King _Ahab_ against the King of _Syria_, and also to marry his Son to

_Ahab_'s Daughter, which was fatal to _Jehoshaphat_, and to his

Posterity.

_Again_, He tempted _Hezekiah_ to shew all his Riches to the King of

_Babylon_'s Messengers; and who can doubt, but that he (_Satan_) is to

be understood by the wicked Spirit which stood before the Lord, 2

_Chron._ xviii. 20. and offered his Service to entice _Ahab_ the King of

_Israel_ to come out to Battle to his Ruin, by being a lying Spirit in

the Mouths of all his Prophets; and who for that Time had a special

Commission, as he had another Time in the Case of _Job_? and indeed it

was a Commission fit for no body but the _Devil_: _Thou shalt entice_

him, _and thou shalt_ also _prevail: Go out and do_ even _so_, ver. 21.

Even good _Josiah_ himself, of whom it is recorded, that _like him there

was no King before him_, _neither after him arose there any like him_, 2

Kings xxiii. 26. yet the _Devil_ never left him with his Machinations,

till finding he could not tempt him to any Thing wicked in his

Government, he tempted or mov'd him to a needless War with the King of

_Egypt_, in which he lost his Life.

From the Death of this good King, the _Devil_ prevail'd so with the

whole Nation of the _Jews_, and brought them to such an incorrigible

Pitch of Wickedness, that _God_ gave them up, forsook his Habitation of

Glory, the Temple, which he suffer'd to be spoil'd first, then burnt and

demolish'd; destroying the whole Nation of the _Jews_, except a small

Number that were left, and those the Enemy carried away into Captivity.

Nor was he satisfied with this general Destruction of the whole People

of _Israel_, for the ten Tribes were gone before; but he follow'd them

even into their Captivity; those that fled away to _Egypt_, which they

tell us were seventy thousand, he first corrupted, and then they were

destroyed there upon the Overthrow of _Egypt_, by the same King of

_Babylon_.

Also he went very near to have them rooted out, young and old, Man,

Woman and Child, who were in Captivity in _Babylon_, by the Ministry of

that true Agent of Hell, _Haman_ the _Agagite_; but there _Satan_ met

with a Disappointment too, as in the Story of _Hester_, which was but

the fourth that he had met with, in all his Management since the

Creation; I say, there he was disappointed, and his prime Minister

_Haman_ was exalted, as he deserv'd.

Having thus far traced the Government and Dominion of the _Devil_, from

the Creation of Man to the Captivity; I think I may call upon him to set

up his Standard of universal Empire, at that Period; it seem'd just then

as if God had really forsaken the Earth, and given the entire Dominion

of Mankind up to his outrageous Enemy the _Devil_; for excepting the few

_Israelites_ which were left in the Territories of the King of

_Babylon_, and they were but a few; I say, except among them, there was

not one Corner of the World left where the true God was call'd upon, or

his Dominion so much as acknowledg'd; all the World was buried in

Idolatry, and that of so many horrid Kinds, that one would think, the

Light of Reason should have convinc'd Mankind, that he who exacted such

bloody Sacrifices as that of _Moloch_, and such a bloody cutting

themselves with Knives, as the Priests of _Baal_ did, could not be a

GOD, a good and beneficent Being, but must be a cruel, voracious and

devouring Devil, whose End was not the Good, but the Destruction of his

Creatures: But to such a Height was the blind demented World arriv'd to

at that Time, that in these sordid and corrupt Ways, they went on

worshiping dumb Idols, and offering human Sacrifices to them, and in a

Word, committing all the most horrid and absurd Abominations that they

were capable of, or that the _Devil_ could prompt them to, till Heaven

was again put, as it were, to the Necessity of bringing about a

Revolution, in favour of his own forsaken People, by Miracle and

Surprize, as he had done before.

We come therefore to the Restoration or Return of the Captivity: Had

_Satan_ been able to have acted any thing by Force, _as I have observ'd

before_, all the Princes and Powers of the World, having been, as they

really were, at his Devotion, he might easily have made use of them,

arm'd all the World against the _Jews_, and prevented the Rebuilding the

Temple, and even the Return of the Captivity.

But now the _Devil_'s Power manifestly received a Check, and the Hand of

God appear'd in it, and that he was resolv'd to reestablish his People

the _Jews_, and to have a second Temple built: the _Devil_, who knew the

Extent of his own Power too well, and what Limitations were laid upon

him, stood still as it were looking on, and not daring to oppose the

Return of the Captivity, which he very well knew had been prophesied,

and would come to pass.

He did indeed make some little Opposition to the Building, and to the

fortifying the City, but as it was to no Purpose, so he was soon oblig'd

to give it over; and thus the Captivity being return'd, and the Temple

rebuilt, the People of the _Jews_ encreased and multiplied to an infinite

Number and Strength; and from this Time we may say, the Power of the

_Devil_ rather declin'd and decreas'd, than went on with Success, as it

had done before; It is true the _Jews_ fell into Sects and Errors, and

Divisions of many Kinds, after the Return from the Captivity, and no

doubt the _Devil_ had a great Hand in those Divisions; but he could

never bring them back to Idolatry, and his not being able to do that,

made him turn his Hand so many Ways to plague and oppress them; as

particularly by _Antiochus_ the Great, who brought the Abomination of

Desolation into the holy Place; and there the Devil triumph'd over them

for some Time; but they were deliver'd many Ways, till at last they came

peaceably under the Protection rather than the Dominion of the _Roman_

Empire: When _Herod_ the Great govern'd them as a King, and reedified,

nay almost rebuilt their Temple, with so great an Expence and

Magnificence, that he made it, as some say, greater and more glorious

than that of _Solomon_'s, tho' that I take to be a great ---- Fable, to

say no worse of it.

In this Condition the _Jewish_ Church stood, when the Fullness of Time,

as 'tis call'd in Scripture, was come; and the _Devil_ was kept at Bay,

tho' he had made some Encroachments upon them as above; for there was a

glorious Remnant of Saints among _them_, such as old _Zacharias_ the

Father of _John_ the Baptist, and old _Simeon_, who waited for the

Salvation of _Israel_; I say, in this Condition the _Jewish_ Church

stood when the _Messiah_ came into the World, which was such another

mortal Stab to the Thrones and Principalities infernal, as that of which

I have spoken already in Chap. III. at the Creation of Man; and

therefore with this I break off the Antiquities of the _Devil_'s

History, or the antient Part of his Kingdom; for from hence downward we

shall find his Empire has declin'd gradually; and tho' by his wonderful

Address, his prodigious Application, and the Vigilance and Fidelity of

his Instruments, as well human as infernal and diabolical, and of the

Human as well the Ecclesiastick as the Secular; he has many Times

retriev'd what he has lost, and sometimes bid fair for recovering the

universal Empire he once possess'd over Mankind; yet he has been still

defeated again, repulst and beaten back, and his Kingdom has greatly

declin'd in many Parts of the World; and especially in the Northern

Parts, except _Great Britain_; and how he has politically maintain'd his

Interest and encreased his Dominion among the wise and righteous

Generation that we cohabit with and among, will be the Subject of the

_modern_ Part of _Satan_'s _History_, and of which we are next to give

an Account.