2 Kings 17.15, 16.

They followed vanity & became vain & went after yethe heathen that were round about them, concerning whom yethe Lord had said that they should not do like them. And they left all yethe commandements of yethe Lord their God, & made them molten images even two Calves, & made a grove & worshipped all yethe host of Heaven & served Baal.

This whole Chapter is spent in describing yethe captivity of the ten Tribes by yethe Assyrians; the abominations of the Israelites for wchwhich they were captivated; & yethe religion of yethe nations wchwhich yethe Assyrians placed in Samaria in the Seats of yethe captivated Israelites; wchwhich religion was that these nations joyned together yryour worship of yethe true Gods in yethe Calves of Ieroboam, & yethe worship of yethe fals Gods of Gentiles round about in their respective several Idols, even as yethe Israelites had joyned them before. But yethe words I have chosen to discourse on are a part of yethe description of yethe abomination of yethe Israelites wchwhich these nations imitated. complaining how they followed vainly & became vain by forsaking yethe commandements of yethe Lord to make molten images even two Calves, & worshipping all yethe host of Heaven & serving Baal. & going after yethe heathen that were round about them. Now this comprehending bothe yethe worship of Ieroboams Calves dedicated (as I shall shew) to yethe trew God, & also yethe worship of other Idols dedicated to yethe Gods of yethe Nations round about: we have here an opportunity to consider Idolatry in its full latitude & to discourse of its nature in general : ffor wchwhich end I shall in the first place propound yethe six following particulars.

ffirst that yethe Israelites acknowledged & worshipped the true God at yethe same time that they worshipped the Gods of yethe Gentiles. Secondly that they & the nations wchwhich succeeded them in the cities Samariaof Samaria worshipped yethe true God 2 in the calves of Ieroboam. Thirdly that this worship was Idolatry notwithstanding that it was performed to yethe true God: & by parity of reason, that yethe worship of yethe true God by any Image wchwhich he has not commanded is Idolatry (as indeed he has commanded none) is Idolatry. ffourthly that generally yethe Israelites & Gentiles worshipped not mere Images as Gods themselves but only as dedicated to their severall gods. ffiftly that those Idolaters who acknowledged yethe true God, did not esteem any of their other Gods equal to him but accounted them only finite beings, & for yethe most part yethe soules of men departed this life deceased who for the eminent passa passage of their life here, they supposed were after death rewarded wthwith power more or less over this world, to do good or hurt therein subordinatly not only to yethe supreme Gods but even to some others of their imagined Gods. Lastly that yethe Glory of yethe true God wchwhich they Idolaters gave unto their Idolas, was not any of his attributes as some are ready to suppose, but only this: To love, fear, trust in, & seek unto those Gods for yethe temporal blessings of this life, for wchwhich yethe true God has appointed us to love fear trust in & seek unto none but himself immediately. To celebrate God for his eternity infinity omnic immensity omnisciency & omnipotency is indeed a very pious lofty & seraphick worship but & the duty of every creature to do it according to his capacity, but yet this part of Gods glory, as it – – – – these as they almost transcends yethe comprehension of man so they it springs not from yethe necessity of freedom of Gods Gods will but from yethe necessity of his nature. And as yethe wisest of men delight not so much to be commended for their height of birth strength of body, bewty, strong memory, large fantasy, or other such gifts of nature as for their wise good & great actions the issues of their will so yethe wisest of beings requires of us to be celebrated not so much for his essence as chiefly to be celebrated for yethe issues of his will which are his actions, the creating preserving & governing all things according to his good will & pleasure.. The wisdome power goodness & justice wchwhich he always exerts in his actions are his glory wchwhich he stands so much upon, & is so jea3lous of. These are that glory wchwhich the Prophets & Apostles from one end of yethe scriptures unto yethe other & especially the Psalmist so much celebrate, yethe only glory by wchwhich God manifests himself to his creatures, yethe reason & wchwhich his Creatures are able to behold in him, the reason why his creatures worship him, & yethe life & soule of all yethe worship we can give him: & therefore no wonder he is so extreamly jealous of his honour in this point even to yethe least tittle. As for his attributes he knows those can scarce be given to any other, because so soon as men do assribeascribe any thing of his attributes to any thing they worship, they doe thereby mean yethe supreme God; though perhaps in other respects they may have a deformed notion of him, as indeed the best notions any of us have of him are imperfect enough: but for his works, many of those may & have been & still are too frequently ascribed to his creatures, the deified Heroes wthwith their Idols among yethe Gentiles, & yethe saints wthwith their reliques & images among too many Christians. And therefore they that think yethe Idolatriesy of yethe Heathens to consist in giving any other part of God's honour & glory ynthan that of his works to their Idols are mistaken, & they that begin to give any of this his glory to angels or saints, or to their images or yethe reliques of martyrs or yethe like, begin to give God's glory to another to whom it belongs not after yethe same manner ytthat the Idolatrous Israelites & those Gentiles did who wpedworshipped yethe true God & falsGods together.

These are the six heads I intend to discourse of, & When I have run through thesem six heads I intend for a conclusion to lay down out of scripture yethe notion of a fals God, of an Idol, & of Idolatry: To do wchwhich is my chief designe because men are so much wanting in this notion that they scarce know what to apply Idolatry to besides those particular cases of yethe Heathens to wchwhich yethe Prophets themselves applyed it. But before I do this I have thought it not amiss to premise yethe six preceding particulars: wchwhich I do, not as if I intended them for necessary foundations of what4 what I chiefly aim at but only as convenient to prepare yethe way.

The first was that yethe Israelites worshipped yethe true God together wthwith yethe Gods of yethe gGentiles. Now this is very plain by the history of this chapter: for first so soon as yethe Israelites were carried away captive, & yethe other nations placed in their stead in yethe cities of Samaria, it's said that at the beginning of their dwelling there they feared not yethe Lord & therefore yethe Lord sent Lyons among them wchwhich slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to yethe King of Assyria saying The nations wchwhich thou hast removed & placed in the cities of Samaria, know not yethe manner of yethe God of yethe Land: therefore he hath sent Lyons among them & behold they slay them because they know not yethe manner of yethe God of yethe Land. Then yethe king of Assyria commanded saying carry thither one of yethe Priests whome ye brought from thence, & let them go & dwell there & let him teach them yethe way manner of yethe God of yethe Land. Then one of yethe Priests whome they had carried away from Samaria came & dwelt in Bethel & toughttaught them how they should feare yethe Lord. Howbeit every nation made Gods of their own – – – – So they feared yethe Lord & served their own Gods after yethe manner of yethe nations whome they carried away from thence. [Now the Lord which these nations were here taught to fear was most plainly yethe true God: first because yethe name by wchwhich he is called in yethe hebrew is Iehovah a name given to none but yethe true God: ffor in vers 28 it is said that one of yethe Priests whome they carried away from Bethel Samaria came & dwelt in Samaria & taught them how they should fear Iehovah, & in vers 32 So they feared Iehovah & made unto themselves of yethe lowest of them priests, & in vers 33 they feared Iehovah & served their own Gods & lastly in vers 41 So these nations feared Iehovah & served their graven Images5A page appears to be missing at this point. It is not to be found in the other surviving drafts of this text (Babson Ms. 437 and Harry Ransom Research Center Ms. 130). principal places of Idolatry, & yet when they came up to these to perform their Idolatrous worship, they used to swear The word liveth, that is yethe true God of Israel liveth for yethe Hebrew word wchwhich we here translate Lord is Iehova, a word wchwhich never signifies any other then the true God, & wchwhich it seems was hitherto commonly used not only by the Prophets (as we find it in their writings) but now by yethe people, though after yethe Captivity if the Rabbies say true it became so superstitiously reverenced, that it was made death for any to name it but yethe high Priest, & he too did it only in the Temple once a year in a solemn benediction of yethe people: wchwhich supertitionsuperstition seems to me to have might risen from the Prophets reprehending here their using it after a wicked manner interdicting here yethe use of this name as it might seem absolutely, though I suppose he meant only that evil use of it wchwhich Israel then practised. Seing But however, seing Israel used to swear by yethe true God Iehovah when they came up to do their abominations at yethe said cities Gilgal & Bethaven its plain that they acknowledged & respected the true God in the midst of their abominations in yethe time of yethe Prophet Hosea, that is wchwhich was a little before they were captivated by yethe Assyrians, for Hosea wrote about 450 or 560 years before that captivity.

Now because God is so much offended at their swearing Iehova liveth as to mention it emphatically as a grand crime wchwhich Israel committed when she went up to her cities of worship, & to forbid Iudah to do the like, & yet they were not interdicted under yethe law to make solemn oaths or vows in his name, but only to break them once made: one may presume there was some further grand mystery in these oaths, & what that was will I conceive appear by comparing this place of Osea wthwith Isaer 44.25, 26, where a hand6 hand of Egyptians Iews Comp See wthwith Ier 42.20 & 43.2 wchwhich in the time of Nebuchadnezzars captivity fled into Egypt vowed in the name of yethe Lord to worship the Queen of heaven. The words run thus. Hear yethe word of yethe Lord all Iudah that are in the Land of Egypt Thus saith the Lord of hosts yethe God of Israel, saying, Ye & your wives have both spoken wthwith your mouth & fulfilled wthwith your hands, saying, We will surely perform orour vows ytthat we have vowed to burn incense to yethe QeenQueen of heaven & to pour out drink offrings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows & surely perform yoryour vows. Therefore hear ye yethe word of yethe Lord all Iudah that dwell in yethe Land of Egypt, Behold I have sworn by my great name saith yethe Lord that my name shall be no more named in yethe mouth of any man of Iudah in all yethe Land of Egypt, saying, yethe Lord God liveth. Now concerning this place you may note first that these Iews when they were in yethe Land of Egypt worshippers of yethe Queen of heaven, they used the same manner to invoke & sweare by the true God as yethe Israelites did before at Gilgal & Bethaven saying yethe Lord God liveth: And therefore in the midst of their abominations in Egypt retained a memory of & respect unto yethe true God. And so we have here an example of yethe Iews falling into gross Idolatry wthwithout forsaking yethe true God as we had before of yethe Israelites. And such an example too as makes it probable that Iudah never forsook yethe true God seing these men lived when Idolatry was grown to yethe height, & quoted the practices of their forefathers for twhat they did, & seeme to have been as degenerate as any, obstinately refusing to obey Ieremiah whom God sent unto them, & not desisting till God cut them off in Egypt as he had newly done their idolatrous brethren at Ierusalem of whom they were an escaped remnant7nant. Secondly it is to be noted that yethe vowes here made were not extemporary oaths or protestations but solemn vows: for upon being reproved for their Idolatry they said, surely we will perform orour vows wchwhich we have vowed to burn incense to yethe Queen of heaven. Thirdly by Gods threatning that his name should be no more named by any man of Iudah in all Egypt is not meant a withdrawing of yethe remembrance of his name from them but a cutting them off for their abominable prophaning his name, for in yethe next vers he adds yethe manner of it saying Behold I will watch over them for evil & not for good, & all yethe men of Iudah that are in yethe land of Egypt shall be consumed by yethe sword & by the famin untill there be an end of them. Fourthly it is to be noted that yethe reason why God thus threatned that his name should be no more thus named in Egypt by them was because they vowed to burn incense to yethe QeenQueen of heaven. Because they while they sware by his name they made such exerable vows as these, therefore God threatens they should swear by his name no longer but be cut off. Their swearing by Gods name has here a special relation to their vows to commit wickednes: for God does not say in general: Because ye worship yethe Queen of heaven therefore I will be no longer your god; but because ye have made such wicked vows as these are therefore ye shall be cut of that ye may use my name no longer to swear by. This therefore was their sin of swearing by his name that they sware solemnly by it to commit their abominations: when it is evident that they accounted him their proper & principal God. See Micah 23.9, 11 &

To proceed now on to some further considerations: the truth of the assertion that Israel worshipped the true God &8 & fals Gods together may appear by considering yethe designe of Ieroboams proceeding when he set up the calves to be worshipped. for yethe worship wchwhich he instituted continued till yethe time of yethe Captivity, that short persecution of Iezebel perhaps only excepted, & therefore was the same wthwith that exercised next before yethe persecution, only wthwith this difference that they were then become more abominable by adding forreign Gods to yethe calves. For in yethe history of their Captivity it is said that the Children of Israel walked in all yethe sins of Ieroboam wchwhich he did, they departed not from them till he removed Israel out of his sight. Now I would have you consider that when Ieroboam made this change in religion he had no further design in it then to confirm yethe kingdom to himself & for that end to keep yethe people from going up to Ierusalem to worship there least their hearts should turn again toward their brethren there & so they should slay him & return again to Rehoboam. This is yethe reason set down in yethe history, & therefore it is not likely that he should go about to make any further change in religion then was requisite to stay yethe people from going up to Ierusalem it being against all rules of policy for a king to make any unnecessary changes in his kingdom. But the fundamental change of their God was no way requisite for this, & therefore it is not at all likely that he should go about to attempt that, especially, since that being yethe greatest change that could be made in religion, it could not but havehave been a very dangerous & scarce feasible attempt to do it so on a suddein, as we may easily apprehend by the obstinacy wthwith wchwhich all nations adhere to their perswasions. To have attempted it by force might have put all into confusion & rebellion, especially in a nation so unsetled, & to have attempted it by perswasive arguing against their God, would more probably have made them stone yethe disputers for blasphemers of their God then convinced9vinced them. It is not likely therefore that he went about to change any more than the place & so much of yethe mode of their worship as might make them disaffected to yethe way of wpworship at Ierusalem & so confirm their worship to other places. And this he might do by sophistry causing it to be put into their heads, that to worship at Ierusalem was but an innovation seeing their forefathers worshipped in other places, & Iacob in particular at Bethel where he put one of yethe calves. That theire Temple also was a but a new device of Solomon, & that the calves might be yethe place of Gods special residence presence as well as yethe Cherubins over the Ark at Ierusalem whoselower parts had yethe same figure & ytthat there was as much reason why God might be worshipped before yethe one as before yethe other. With some such sophistry as this I am the more apt to think that they maintained all along their worship against yethe Iews because I find the woman of Samaria (one of yethe posterity either of them & of yethe nations wchwhich succeeding them continued their worship) I find I say this woman arguing after yethe this manner wthwith our Saviour: Our fathers worshipped in this mountain & ye say that in Ierusalem is yethe place where men ought to worship.

Further as it is improbable on yethe account of policy ytthat Ieroboam should change their God, so also by this circumstance of the history that God reccons it among his crimes that to these Calves he made Priests of yethe lowest of yethe people wchwhich were not of yethe sons of Levi: for (as I have said of yethe like Priests wchwhich the heathen successors of yethe Israelites made to yethe true God in Samaria) had these Priests been dedicated to any other God then yethe true one in the calves, the crime would have been to make Priests of yethe highest of yethe people & of yethe tribe of Levi because the first would have been a giving yethe greater honour to a fals God, yethe last a sacrilegious prophanation violation of Gods special institution & privilege to have that Tribe Priests to himself.

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Much after the same manner one may argue from these Amos 4.4 where their worship is reprehended for deviating in some things from yethe ceremonies of yethe law. Come to Bethel, & saith yethe Lord & transgress, at Gilgal multiply trangession, & bring your sacrifices every morning, & your tiths after three years, & offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving wthwith leaven & proclaim & publish the free offerings: for this liketh you o ye children of Israel saith yethe Lord God Here you may see that Israel retained yethe worship of yethe Law at Bethel & Gilgal, the chief places of their transgression, but not exactly: for they offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving wthwith leaven, wchwhich was instituted to be wthwithout Leaven as you may see in Levit. 7.12. Now whereas God upbraids them for this, certainly he would never have upbraided them for not observing yethe circumstances of his law towards any other God then himself.

But to make the buisinesbusiness yet more plain, there is in the next chapter an express declaration of their performing this their worship to the true God & his refusal to accept of it. Tis yethe 5t Ch. of Amos yethe 21th vers, wchwhich I pray you mind. The words run thus. I hate, I despise your feast days & I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings & your meat offerings I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fatt beasts. Take thou away from me yethe noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. This respects yethe national worship of the ten Tribes during the standing of before the calves: for the discourse begins wthwith a threatning lamentation against Israel for what they did at Bethel Gilgal & Beersheba, & ends wthwith a threatning them yethe captivity by the Assyrians wchwhich happened about three or four score years after

To all these things things I might yet add more were it necessary See Hosea 8.13. Ezek 14.7. Ier 14. As yethe great number of the Lords Prophets that were in Is11rael. For in Ahabs reign besides yethe many Prophets wchwhich Iezebel slew, there were 100an hundred saved in a cave: & it notit's not at all likely that Prophets should abound so very much in a kingdom in wchwhich yethe name of yethe Lord by wchwhich they prophesied was not acknowledged. The comparison of yethe greatnes of yethe sin of worshipping the calves wthwith that of worshipping yethe Gods of yethe Gentiles might be also considered. ffor yethe sin of yethe calves though great enough is yet worshipped represented less then that of worshipping Baal. ffor of Ahab, (the first king of Israel that added the Idolatries of yethe Heathens to yethe sin of Ieroboam) it is said that he did evil above all before him, & as if it had been a light thing to walk in yethe sins of Ieroboam, he went & served Baal & worshipped him. And afterward of Iehoram yethe son of Ieroboam Ahab, for abolishing Baal it is said that he wrought evil in yethe sight of yethe Lord but not like his ffather, for he put away yethe Image of Baal that his ffather had made, nevertheless he cleaved to yethe sin of Ieroboam. Tell me now on what account the sin of Ieroboam should be thus esteemed less then that of worshipping Baal, unless it be this that in yethe former case yethe Idols was dedicated to yethe true God, in the latter to a fals one? ffor certainly the sins are equal, to worship any of yethe Gentile Gods.

Again yethe history of Iehu is very remarkable. for this king destroyed Baal out of Israel, & that in vindication of yethe worship against Baal. ffor when he had gathered yethe Priests of Baal together to slay them he caused a search to be made to see if any of yethe Priests of yethe Lord were among them, for fear they should perish wthwith the rest,& for this his zeale in God's cause, & for destroying also the house of Ahab for their worshipping Baal, God was so well pleased with him, that he said, Because thou hast done well in executing that wchwhich is right in mine eyes, – – thy12 thy children of yethe fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel: And yet for all this while Iehu continued all this in the sins of Ieroboam like yethe rest of yethe Kings of Israel. as 'tis expresly testified of him.

Thus much may suffice to manifest yethe first particular That Israel worshipped yethe true God together wthwith their fals ones. The next particular was that they worshipped the true God was worshipped in the Calves of Ieroboam And of this I have occasionally said something already in arguing from Ieroboam's policy in yethe institution, from yethe reprehension of his making Priests to these calves out of yethe lowest of the people wchwhich were not Levites, from their observing these legal ceremonies in their worship at Bethel where the calf was, & being upbraided by God for not observing them fully, & from yethe sin of yethe Calves being less then that of worshipping yethe Gods of yethe Gentiles.

13A page appears to be missing at this point.

I say rather pas on to say a word or on my second & 3d Proposition that I maymay not leave my discourse altogether imperfect The second was that tr the true God was worshipped in yethe calves. Now I And of this I have occasionally said something already in discoursin arguing from Ieroboam's policy in the institution from yethe Priests reprehension of his making Priests to these calves out of yethe lowest of yethe people wchwhich were not Levites, from their worshipp observing yethe legal ceremonies in their worship at Bethel where yethe calf was, & being reprehended by God upbraided by God for not observing ynthenthem fully; from yethe sin of yethe calves being less then that of wpingworshipping yethe Gods of yethe Gentiles. I may add that yethe worship of the calves was their national religion & consequently yethe same wthwith yethe wpworship of yethe true God wchwhich was also their national religion. But the proclamation of Ieroboam Behold thy Gods o Israel wchwhich brought the up out of yethe land of Egypt makes it plain. For hereby it's certain that they worshipped none other for yethe true God then him whom they worshipped in these calves. The expression indeed runs as if they meant yethe very calves to be that God. but this was but according to a mode of speaking familiar among them ffor as they used to call every all Images Baal wchwhich were dedicated to Baal & all other Images Chemosh wchwhich were by yethe names of yethe Gods to wchwhich they were dedicated, so they called these Calves by yethe name title of yethe their own God because dedicated to him. Thus you may see in yethe 17 chapter of Iudges though Micah's Mother (as tis expresly said) dedicated eleven hundred sheckels of silver to make a molten Image & a graven Image to Iehovah for her son Micah & accordingly made two images thereof & placed them in the house of her son & Micah & Micah worshipped Iehovah in them getting a Levite to be his Priest & saying Now I know Iehovah will do me good seeing I have a Levite to be my Priest: yet these Images history calls these Images his Gods saying that he had a house of Gods: And Micah himself also calls them his Gods saying to the Danites who took them away, Ye have taken away my Gods wchwhich I made. I conceive I the ground of their The case is much like one famili familiar wthwith all yethe world. When We say behold this or that man who did such any action, nothing can be beheld but his body & yet we speak it wthwith reference to his soule the principle of yethe action: And so when they said Behold thy God wchwhich broughbrought thee out of yethe Land of Egypt though nothing could be beheld but yethe Calf, yet their calling it a god must refer to yethe special invisible presence of yethe God wchwhich they supposed in it by whose presence or influence yethe on yethe account of wchwhich they esteemed it of more value then a mere of God who especially seeing all Israell knew that their God brought them out of yethe Land of Egypt long before yethe Calf was made.

The third Proposition was that the worship of those calves was Idolatry notwithstanding that it was per yethe true God was worshipped in them, though not so heighnous Idolatry. as the wpingworshipping Baal & other Gods of the Gentiles. Now for manife this will sufficiently appeare out of these two or theseree places. Hosea 8.4 Of their silver & their Gold they have made them Idols that they may be cut of. Thy calf o Samaria hath cast the off. the workman made it therefore it is not God. But the Calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces Here God first acuses tells them first in general that they made Idols to cut them of & then instances in yethe Calf telling them it was not a fals God. So Hosea 13.2 They have made them molten images of their molten images of their silver & Idols according to their own understanding, all of it yethe work of yethe craftsmen, they say of them let yethe men that sacrifice kiss yethe Calves; they say of them of them that is of yethe Idols they made let yethe sacrifices kiss yethe Calves. So that here you see calves wthwith other images altogether called Idolatrys. wchwhich is all one as to call their wpworship Idolatry. Again in Hosea 4.15 Though thou Israel play yethe Harlot yet let not Israel offend come not ye unto Gilgal neither go ye up to Bethaven. Here Israel is called a Harlot wchwhich is as much much as to say a committer of Idolatry & the places where she did it are Gilgal & Bethaven whereof Bethaven I told shewed you was Bethel yethe city where called Bethaven that is the house of the Idols because Ieroboam had placed one of yethe Calves. there ✝ vers. pag. ✝ there. And so in Hos. 10.8 when the Prophet had newly mentioned the calves of Bethaven or Bethel, he subjoynes The altars of the Idol the sin of Isr high places of Aven the sin of Israel shal be destroyed that is yethe high places or Altars of yethe Idols. For Aven is one of yethe usual names for for an Idol & so yethe vulgar translation hath translates. Lastly in 1 Kings 14.9 God tells Ieroboam that he had Thou hast done evil above all that were before the, for thou hast gone & made thee other Gods even molten Images to provoke me to anger & hast cast me behind 14 thy back God tells them here that yethe Gods they wor here calls these calves here other Gods wchwhich is all one as to call their wpworship Idolatry, & good reason. For though they Israel supposed Gods special presence in them to heare their prayers & accept their wpworship th yet they were deceived, God was not there, they were mere unprofitable vanities, to wchwhich God was a stranger to; they were not filled wthwith his presence as Israel supposed out other Gods, mere vanities, & their worship vain & idolatrous. Had God commanded it then w such an Image & promised that he would place his place his special be presencet in such an Image it & accept of their worship done beforebefore it as done to him, such worship would have been pro necessary profitable & pious, but since it was they made of it of their own heads & twas another thing an & a strange and an empty thing another God wchwhich he had nothing to do with, & the worship of it disobedience vanity & idolatry the wpworship of another God disobedience f vanity & Idolatry.

Now seing if it be Idolatry to make an image to wpworship yethe true God by this you may see the great extent of yethe second commandement by an Image you may hence learn these two things first that Idolatry according to oldthe old meaning of yethe word comprehends not only yethe worshipping given to yethe an Idol absolutely ultimately but also that given through an Idol to yethe God to wchwhich yethe Idol is dedicated, ytthat is not only worship. by of an Idol but also wpworship by an Idol is Idolatry, Or that an image becomes an Idol so far as we worship either it or any thing by it. And secondly you may learn hence yethe unive great extent of yethe 2d Commandement ffor if it interdict yethe making of an image to God him self, much more to must it to any thing els. So that comparing both these two things I see not how any image wpworship can be excused. Lastly they that think to excuse of some is hereby cut of ffor if pleading they are Christians & terminate their wpworship on God, is hereby cut of. ffor if this would yethe Israelites if this would not excuse yethe Israelites who were Gods people & directed their wpworship ultimately to him as well much as they do, how can it excuse them. Of the two they are yethe more guilty for they go a step futher out of the way, & double the crime by transmitting their worship first through images to yethe soules of dead men & then through yethe soules of dead men to God

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By this history it is easy to collect ytthat yethe Lord God of yethe Land wchwhich yethe new nations were toughttaught to worship in yethe cities of Samaria was yethe true God, & that this same God had been worshipped before by yethe kingdom of Israel, even amidst the worst of their idolatries, as yethe God of yethetheir Land, till yethe very time of yethe captivity. But this though it be plain enough of it self yet I intend yethe next time to point at yethe particular marks by wchwhich it is put beyond all cavil; & not only so but to shew out of sacred history by examples in ages before Ieroboam's time that yethe Israelites & their forefathers used not to forsake yethe true God when they fell into Idolatry but only to joyne to his worship the adoration of yethe Gods of yethe Gentiles as these did since Ieroboam. And this I shall do that it may appear that Israel during all her abominations from first to last scarce ever forsook yethe true God but only any further then by forsaking his laws in absolutely but only corrupted his wpworship by mingling their own inventions wthwith it as too many of orour neighbouring christians dayly do. Which corruptions if they be at any time called a forsaking of God, no more need be understood by that but a forsaking of his laws.

T. g. o. o. L. I. C. & t. l. o. G. & t. f. o. t. H G.I.e. 'The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost'. be wthwith us all evermore. Amen.

The first of yethe six Propositions wchwhich I laid down from hence was that yethe Idolatrous Israelites worshipped yethe true God together wthwith yethe Gods of yethe Gentiles. And this I told you was plain by yethe history of the chapter captivity registred in this chapter ffor – – –

There is a place also in Ier (ch 44. v. 27) where certain of yethe Idolatrous Iews being fled from yethe taking of Ierusalem into Ægypt are reprehended for making solemn vows to perform sacrifices to yethe Queen of heaven, & threatned that since they did make such vows they should be suffered to swear no longer to swear by the name of yethe Lord God liveth, but be utterly destroyed out of Egypt by yethe arms of Nebuchadnezzar. And by comparing this place wthwith yethe former of Hosea one may easily learn that yethe reason why their swearing the Lord God liveth their vows by wchwhich they ingaged to perform sacrifices or other duties to their Idols & fals Gods, used to be done in yethe name of yethe Lord God saying yethe Lord liveth. And no wonder therefore yethe Lord was so much offended at this oath as to reccon it among their greatstgreatest sins, though without doubt they thought they did it piously. honoured yethe Lord thereby.