John Trapp on Esther 9:1

CHAP. IX. Verſe. 1. Now in the twelfth moneth, &c.]

TThat lucky time, as Haman had deemed it, but was deluded by the devil, (the Authour of all ſuch Arts and lots of divination,Buchole. to foretel future arbitrary events) qui etſi ſemel videatur verax, millies eſt mendax, & ſemper fallax; who, if he ſometimes hit upon the truth, yet uſually cozeneth thoſe that truſt to him; Thus he ſerved Balaam the Sorcerer ſlain by the ſword of Iſrael; Craeſus taken priſoner by Cyrus: Ahab ſlain at Ramoth-Gilead: Julian the Apoſtate going againſt the Perſians: Walter Earle of Athol, who murthered his Maſter James the firſt King of Scots, in hope to attain to the Crown. Crowned indeed he was, but not as his witches and ſorcerers had ambiguouſly inſinuated with the Crown of that Realme,Hector. Boet[illegible: 1 letter]. but with a crown of red hot iron clap't upon his head, being one of the tortures wherewith he ended at once his wicked dayes and deſires. The Pope to honour and encourage the Leaguers in France, ſent them conſecrated pictures and medals! promiſing them thereby good ſucceſſe againſt the Huguenots, but God confuted and defeated them all: as he did likewiſe Tyrone in Ireland, to whom,Cárlt. Rem. among other trinkets, the Pope had ſent a Plume of Phoenix feathers; a meer colluſion.

When the Kings commandment and decree drew near, &c.] Both that for the Jewes, and the other againſt them. This latter was not reverſed, though the former were publiſhed. The King, it ſeemeth, greatly cared not for the lives of his ſubjects; ſith he would not ſo much as privately hint to them to be quiet, and to let the Jewes alone: Such an intimation as this might have ſaved the lives of ſeventy five thouſand of them. But God had an holy hand in it, for the juſt puniſhment of thoſe blood-thirſty Perſians, confident in the good ſucceſſe of their ſorceries; having made hell their refuge, but it failed them.

In thi day, that the enemies of the Jewes hoped, &c.] But their hope ran aſtope, as they ſay; their lucky day deceived them. Wicked mens hope, when they moſt need it, will be as the giving up of the ghoſt, and thats but cold comfort, Job. 11. ult. and as the ſpiders web, Job 18.13, 14. who gets to the top of the window, as high as ſhe can, and then when ſhe falls ſhe falls to the bottom, for nothing ſtayes her. From ſuch high hopes fell our Engliſh Papiſts, firſt,Act. & Mon. fol. 1871 when Queen Mary died▪ You hope and hope (ſaid Dale the Promoter to Julian Lining, whom he had apprehended) but your hope ſhall end in a rope; for though the Queen faile, ſhe that you hope for ſhall never come at it: for there is my Lord Cardinals grace, and many more between her and it. Secondly, at Queen Elizabeths death, that long-look'd-for day, as they called it, triumphing before the victory, and ſelling the hide before they had taken the beaſt. This they had done before in eighty eight, when in aſſurance of victory, they had ſtiled their forces the Invincible Armado: and alſo afterwards at the Powder-plot, when they had preſumptuouſly diſpoſed of the chief offices, holds and revenues of the land; like as before the Pharſalian field was fought, the Pompeians were in ſuch miſerable ſecurity, that ſome of them contended for the Prieſthood, which was Caeſars office:Heyl. Geo[illegible: 1 letter]. 407. others diſpoſed of the Conſulſhips and Offices in Rome: So at the batte[illegible: 1 letter] of Agin[illegible: 1 letter]court in France, where our Henry the fifth won the day, the French were ſo confident of a victory, that they ſent to King Henry, Speed. 745. to know what ranſome he would give. A preſumptuous confidence goes commonly bleeding home, when an humble fear returnes in triumph.

Though it was turned to the contrary] By a ſweet and gracious Providence of God, whoſe glory it is to help at a pinch, to alter the Scene all on the ſudden, to begin where we have given over, and to cauſe a ſtrange turne of things, according to that of the Pſalmiſt; God ſhall ſend from heaven and ſave me (when it might ſeem to ſome that ſalvation it ſelf could not ſave me) he ſhall ſend forth his mercy and his truth, Pſal. 57.3. and then what ſhould hinder the Churches happineſſe.

That the Jewes had rule over them that hated them] They dominered over their enemies as ſo many Sultans. So true is that of the Preacher, Man knoweth not his time: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. but as the fiſhes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the ſnare, ſo are the ſonnes of men ſnared in an evil time, when it falleth ſuddenly upon them, Eccl. 9.12. Security is the certain uſher of deſtruction, and God delighteth, by turning the ſcale, to retaliate, as he did upon the Egyptians at the red ſea; the Philiſtines at Mizpeh: theſe Hamaniſts, and our powder-Papiſts. See. Pſal. 7.16.