ftances, as Jofephus does that of the Jewish wars, eSpecially the fiege and deftruction of Jerufalem.

5. That the providence of God may appear the more remarkable in this hiftory, which is the only punctual one that hath been preferved down to us of this great action, it will be worth our obfervation to confider, how remarkably this perfon was preferved for the writing of this hiftory.

When Vefpafian made war upon Galilee, Jofephus was chief commander there, and was befieged there by Vefpafian, in the city Jotapatah, which after sa long and ftout refiftance being taken by the Romans, he with forty more hid themselves in a cave, where at last they were difcovered by the Romans; which Vefpafian hearing of, fent and offered them life; and Jofephus would have accepted of their offer, but the reft would not permit him to yield himfelf, but threatened to kill him; and when by no perfuafions he could take them off from this obftinate refolution, he was glad to propound this to them, that they fhould caft lots, two by two, who fhould dy firft, and he that had the second lot should kill the first, and the next him, and so on, and the last fhould kill himself. The providence of God preferved Jofephus and another to the last lot; and when all the reft were killed, Jofephus perfuaded him to yield himfelf up to the Romans, and fo they two efcaped with their lives, by which remarkable providence he was preferved to write this history.

III. It feems very plain from this relation which Jofephus gives, that the Jewish nation were remarkably devoted by God to deftruction, and most fatally hardened and blinded to their own ruin. This Jofephus every where takes notice of, that there was a fad and black fate hung over the nation, and God feemed to have determined their ruin. And after the deftruction of Jerufalem, when the caftle of Mafada was besieged by the Romans, Eleazar the Governor in his fpeech to the foldiers, reckons up the fad fymptoms of God's difpleafure against them; and tells them, that from the beginning of the war it was eafy for any one to conjecture that God in great wrath

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wrath had devoted the nation, which he formerly loved, to deftruction.

And indeed all along the hand of God was very visible against them; for when in the beginning of their rebellion, Ceftius Gallus the Roman commander had an opportunity to have taken Jerufalem, and to have put an end to the war, Jofephus tells us, that God being angry with them, would not permit it, but did referve them for a greater and fadder destruction. And afterward, when Vefpafian renewed the war against them, Jofephus tells us, that he used all kind of earnest perfuafion with his countrymen to prevent their ruin, by fubmitting to the Roman government; but they were obftinate, and would not hearken to any moderate counfels. And when the fedition of the zealots began in Jerufalem, Jofephus takes notice that all the wifeft men among them, and those who were most likely, by their intereft and moderation, to have faved the city, were first of all cut off by the zealots, fo that there were none left to perfuade the people to moderate things.

They provoked the Romans against them all manner of ways; their feditions among themselves continued when the enemy was before their walls; and when in probability they might have held out fo long as to have wearied the Romans, by their own feditions they burnt all their granaries, and provifions of corn, and magazines of arms, as if they had confulted the advantage of the Romans against themfelves; and which was very remarkable, Jofephus tells us, that before the fiege the fountain of Siloam was almoft dried up, and all the fprings about Jerufalem, fo that water bore a great price; but as foon as Titus came before Jerufalem, the fprings brake out again, and there was never greater plenty; which if it had not happened, the Roman armies could very hardly have fubfifted. And after the temple was deftroyed, when Titus would have given John and Simon, and the reft of the zealots their lives, they would not fubmit, but were all deftroyed by their own obftinacy. At Mafada, rather than yield to the Romans, 900 men, women, and chil

dren

dren, killed one another; fo that when the Romans entered the caftle, they found them all dead, except one woman and a child, that had hid themselves.

Philoftratus tells us, that when fome of the nearer nations would have crowned Titus for his victories over the Jews, he refused it, faying, That he deferved nothing upon that account, for it was not his work, but God had made him the inftrument of his wrath against that people. So that there were never greater acknowledgments of a divine hand against any people, than at this time against the Jews. Never was there greater courage and contempt of death in any people; and yet they were conquered by numbers much inferior them. Never was any foldier fo merciful as Titus was, and fo folicitous to have spared the effufion of blood; and yet he was neceffitated against his nature to exercife great cruelties toward them. Many times he endeavoured by the moft fevere inhibitions to reftrain the cruelties of the foldiers towards them; and when he found that they ript open the bowels of the Jews who fled out of Jerufalem, in hopes to find gold which they had fwallowed, he was much enraged against the foldiers, and would have put all to death that were engaged in that cruelty, but that he found them fo many; and notwithstanding this, when he forbad the like cruelty to be exercised for the future, under the most fevere penalties, yet Jofephus fays, that the foldiers did not forbear privately to do it; and though in other cafes fuch a fevere prohibition would have taken place, yet, fays he, because God had devoted that people to ruin, all the ways which Titus used for the faving of them, turned to their deftruction, lib. 6. cap. 15. Nay, there was as much blood fhed by the diffenfions among themselves, between those who defired peace with the Romans, and those that would not hearken to it, as by the Romans. So much reason was there for that paffionate wish of our Saviour's concerning Jerufalem, O that thou badft known, in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. Never was any nation fo infatuated; never

were

were the things that tended to peace fo ftrangely hid from any people, as from the Jews.

IV. It muft needs be, that it was for fome very great fin that God fent thofe dreadful calamities upon that nation. Jofephus fays, That it was fure for fome greater impiety than that nation were guilty of, when they were carried away captive to Babylon. Nay, he fays, that the fins of Sodom and Gomorrha were but finall in comparison of those the Jew's were guilty of; fo that he says, that they were fo ripe for deftruction, that if the Roman army had not come when it did, he did verily believe, that either an earthquake would have fwallowed up the city, or a deluge overflown them, or fire from heaven have confumed them; which is very much the fame with that the Apostle fays of them, I Theff. ii. 16. that they were filling up the measure of their fins, that wrath might come upon them to the uttermost.

Now what can we imagine their great fin fhould be at that time? All along the hiftory of the Old Teftament, ufually the great fin whereby they provoked God, was their idolatry, for which God fent many judgments upon them, and at laft fold them into captivity. But when this defolation came upon them, and for a long time before, even ever after the captivity, they had been free from that great tranfgreffion, and were mightily bent against idolatry, so that they would rather dy than commit that fin.

The account which Jofephus gives of their fin, was their inteftine feditions, and the cruelties and profanations of the temple that were confequent upon them. But that this could not be the original provocation is plain, becaufe by the acknowledgment of Jofephus and the Jews themselves, this was the greateft judgment and calamity that came upon them; yea, much greater than any thing which they fuffered by the Romans; yea, fo great, that it rendered them the pity of their very enemies; and when the Romans would have granted peace to them, and gladly have put an end to thofe miferies they faw them involved in, yet they continued their inteftine feditions,

feditions, and would not be taken off from deftroying one another.

Let them then give us any probable account, for what great fin it was that God first gave them up to this great judgment of an induftrious endeavour to destroy one another; or if they cannot, let them believe the account which the hiftory of the New Teftament gives of it, and the truth whereof was so remarkably confirmed by the fulfilling of our Saviour's predictions against them. The Apoftle gives a clear account of their fin, in the forementioned place, 1 Theff. ii. 15, 16. that it was because they had killed the Lord Jefus, and their own Prophets, and perfecuted the Apostles: by thefe fteps they filled up their fins, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost.

V. The punishment that was inflicted upon them hath very fhrewd marks and fignatures upon it, from which it is eafy to conjecture for what fin it was that they were thus punished. Titus laid his fiege to Jerufalem at the very fame time and feason that the Jews crucified Chrift, namely, at the time of the paffover; and the very day that he began his fiege, he crucified one before their walls, and afterwards. almoft the only cruelty that the Romans exercised toward them by the command and permiffion of Titus, was crucifixion; infomuch that fometimes five hundred were crucified in a day, till they wanted wood for croffes. So that they who earnestly cried out against our Saviour, Crucify, crucify, had at laft enough, God made them eat the fruit of their own ways, and filled them with their own devices; and they who had bought Chrift for thirty pieces of fil ver, were afterward themfelves fold at a lower rate.

VI. Their religion was remarkably ftruck at, and affronted, as if God intended to put an end to that difpenfation, and to abrogate their law. Most of their great calamities happened to them upon the fabbath-day, and upon their great festivals. Ceftius Gallus fat down with his army before Jerufalem on the fabbath. Titus befieged them at the time of the paffover. And Jerufalem was taken (as Dio in his

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