573 _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._
574 _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.
575 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.
576 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.
577 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.
578 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.
579 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.
580 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.
581 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.
582 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.
583 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.
584 Eve says, _The Serpent beguil'd me, and I did eat_.
585 Noah says, ---- _My Grandson beguil'd me, or the Wine beguil'd me, and I did drink_.
586 Lot says, _My Daughters beguil'd me, and I also did drink_.
587 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.
588 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.
589 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.
590 'Wherever God sets up a House of Prayer, 'The Devil always builds a Chapel there.
591 _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,
592 * * * * *
593 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.
594 He sent incestuous _Reuben_ to lie with his Father's Concubine _Billah_.
595 He sent _Dinah_ to the Ball, to dance with the _Sichemite_ Ladies, and play the Whore with their Master.
596 He enrag'd _Simeon_ and _Levi_, at the supposed Injury, and then prompted them to Revenge, for which their Father heartily cursed them.
597 He set them all together to fall upon poor _Joseph_, first to murther him intentionally, and then actually sell him to the _Midianites_.
598 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._
599 He sent _Potiphar_'s Wife to attack _Joseph_'s Chastity, and fill'd her with Rage at the Disappointment.
600 He taught _Joseph_ to swear by the Life of _Pharoah_.
601 * * * * *
602 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.
603 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_.
604 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.
605 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_.
606 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.
607 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_.
608 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.
609 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.
610 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.
611 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.
612 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.
613 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.
614 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.
615 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 _Ægypt_ too, thought of nothing but Conquest at _Piahiroth_.
616 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.
617 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.
618 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?
619 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.
620 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.
621 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!
622 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.
623 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 Diabolè, 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.
624 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.
625 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.
626 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.
627 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.
628 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.
629 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.
630 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.
631 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?
632 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._
633 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.
634 He set them a complaining at _Taberah_, and a lusting for Flesh at the first three Days Journey from Mount _Sinai_.
635 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.
636 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.
637 He rais'd the Rebellion of _Korah_, and the two hundred and fifty Princes, till he brought them to be swallowed up alive.
638 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_.
639 He rais'd a Mutiny among them when they travelled from Mount _Hor_, till they brought fiery Serpents among them to destroy them.
640 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_.
641 He tempted _Achan_ with the Wedge of Gold, and the _Babylonish_ Garment, that he might take of the accursed thing, and be destroy'd.
642 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.
643 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_.
644 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.
645 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.
646 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.
647 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.
648 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.
649 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.
650 He tempted the People to carry the Ark of God into the Camp, that it might fall into the Hands of the _Philistines_. And
651 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.
652 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.
653 He tempted _Saul_ to spare the King of _Amaliek_, contrary to God's express Command.
654 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.
655 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.
656 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.
657 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_.
658 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.
659 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.
660 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.
661 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
662 'The good old King, it seems, was very loth 'To break his Word, and therefore broke his Oath.
663 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.
664 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_.
665 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.
666 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.
667 Then he tempted _Absalom_ to murther his Brother _Amnon_, in Revenge for _Tamar_'s Maidenhead.
668 Then he made _Joab_ run _Absalom_ thro' the Body, contrary to _David_'s Command.
669 And after _David_'s Death he brought _Adonija_ (weak Man!) to the Block, for usurping King _Solomon_'s Throne.
670 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.
671 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.
672 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.
673 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.
674 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.
675 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.
676 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_.
677 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_.
678 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.
679 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.
680 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.
681 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.
682 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.
683 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.
684 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.
685 _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.
686 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.
687 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.
688 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_.
689 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.
690 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.
691 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.
692 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.
693 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.
694 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.
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