[previous CHAPTER]CHAPTER XII. Of the Judgment and Curse Attending No Rule, or an Evil Ruler. 1. The evil of anarchy, where no rule is. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes, Judg. 17:6. And behold the Lord doth take away the staff and the stay, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the prudent and the ancient, &c. And give children to be their princes, and babes to rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed every one by another, and every one by his neighbour; the child shall behave himself proudly against he ancient, and the base against the honourable, Isa. 3:1-5. The wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he; and thou makest man as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler, Hab. 1:13.
2. The evil and judgment of weak rulers. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes to rule over them, Isa. 3:4. Wo unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning, Eccl. 10:16. Better is a poor and wise child, than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished, Eccl. 4:13. For out of prison he cometh to reign, whereas he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor, verse 14. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them, Isa. 3:12.
3. The evil and curse of wicked rulers; who instead of suppressing unrighteousness, and executing vengeance upon the evil doer, are found themselves, either
1. Drunkards, unclean, deceitful, profane, idolaters, oppressing, bloody, and blasphemous persons. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and their princes with their lies, Hos. 7:3. In the day of our king, the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine, verse 5. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? they gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood, Psal. 94:20,21. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves, ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy soul, to get dishonest gain, Ezek. 22:27. That have turned judgment to gall, and the fruit of right into hemlock, Amos 6:12. Hear this ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mount of Samaria, which oppress the poor and crush the needy, Amos 4:1. They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blasphemed, Isa. 52:5. Thy princes are rebellious, companions of thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come before them, Isa. 1:23. That sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek, Amos 2:6.
2. Or protectors, encouragers, or favourers of such. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted, Psal. 12:8. If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked, Prov. 29:12. Not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them, Rom. 1:32. Who instead of being like fathers, shepherds, &c. are compared by the Holy Spirit to the unclean ravenous beasts and creatures following, viz.
1. To lions. As a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people, Prov. 28:15. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, 2 Tim. 4:17. Her princes within her are roaring lions, Zeph. 3:3.
2. To bears. As a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler, Prov. 28:15. And behold another, a second like to a bear, Dan. 7:5 with [verse] 17.
3. To bulls. Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me, Psal. 22:12. Hear this word ye kine of Bashan, in the mount of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, &c. Amos 4:1.
4. To dragons. Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon, Isa. 51:9, viz. Pharaoh, Ezek. 29:3,4. He hath swallowed me up like a dragon, viz. Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. 51:34. And behold a great red dragon, Rev. 12:3.
5. To serpents. In that day, the Lord with his great, sore, and strong sword, shall punish leviathan, that piercing serpent, even leviathan, that crooked serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea, Isa. 27:1.
6. To leopards. And lo another like a leopard, with four wings on his back, Dan. 7:6. And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard, Rev. 13:2.
7. To wolves. Her princes in the midst of her, are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain, Ezek. 22:27. Her princes within her are roaring lions, her judges evening wolves, &c. Zeph. 3:3.
8. To foxes. And he said unto him, go and tell that fox, Luke 13:32.
9. To dogs. For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked enclosed me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog, Psal. 22:16,20.
10. To fishers and hunters. And I will send for many fishers, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them, Jer. 16:16. And makest men as the fishes of the sea, &c. They take up all of them with the angle; they catch them in the net, and gather them in their drag, Hab. 1:14,15.
11. To briers, and thorns, and brambles. The prince and judge asketh for reward, &c. The best of them is a brier, the most upright, sharper than a thorn hedge, Mic. 7:3,4. And the bramble said unto the trees, if indeed you make me king, &c. Judg. 9:15.
12. To thieves and robbers. Who gave Jacob to the spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Isa. 42:24. Companions of thieves, chap. 1:23.
13. To a rod, staff, ax, saw, plague. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? Isa. Isa. 10:5,15. Thou art my battle-ax and weapons of war, Jer. 51:20.
14. To devils. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried.—And where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is, Rev. 2:10,13. The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war against them, chap. 11:7. And the great red dragon, called the devil and Satan, was cast out, chap. 12:9. [next CHAPTER]
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