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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, and that G.o.d had been pleased to appear to him in the most intimate manner; that as they might depend G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d'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 pa.s.sing _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 a.s.sistant 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 Pa.s.sions 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 G.o.d, and misrepresents G.o.d 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 Circ.u.mstances; 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 s.n.a.t.c.h'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 Const.i.tution, 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 G.o.d, we scarce know in what manner they did it; they had no Law given them, nothing but the Covenant of Circ.u.mcision, 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 Pa.s.sover 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, that he might be provok'd to destroy them; and how near he went to bring it to pa.s.s, 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 G.o.d) 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 Bra.s.s 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 Carca.s.ses 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 l.u.s.ting 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 G.o.d 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 Carca.s.ses 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 Pa.s.sion 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 G.o.d, 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 Wh.o.r.e, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d 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 Uncirc.u.mcised; as if _Self-Murther_ was not half so bad, either for Sin against G.o.d, 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 _G.o.d_ 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 G.o.d'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_.