Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 4.djvu/44

38 them in any stead on the other side death, but it shall die and be buried with them; poor glory, which will thus wither! Did they glory in their numbers? Their multitude shall go down to the pit, Ezek. xxxi. 18.—xxxii. 32. Did they glory in the figure they made? Their pomp shall be at an end; their shouts with which they triumphed, and were attended. Did they glory in their mirth? Death will turn it into mourning; he that rejoices and revels, and never knows what it is to be serious, shall go thither where there is weeping and wailing. Thus the mean man and the mighty man meet together in the grave, and under mortifying judgments. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low, ever so mean, death will bring him lower; in the prospect of which, the eyes of the lofty should now be humbled, v. 15. It becomes those to look low, that must shortly be laid low.

3. What the fruit of these judgments shall be.

(1.) God shall be glorified, v. 16. He that is the Lord of hosts, and the holy God, shall be exalted and sanctified in the judgment and righteousness of these dispensations. His justice must be owned, in bringing those low that exalted themselves; and herein he is glorified; [1.] As a God of irresistible power: he will herein be exalted as the Lord of hosts, that is able to break the strongest, humble the proudest, and tame the most unruly. Power is not exalted but in judgment. It is the honour of God, that, though he has a mighty arm, yet judgment and justice are always the habitation of his throne, Ps. lxxxix. 13, 14. [2.] As a God of unspotted purity;. he that is holy, infinitely holy, shall be sanctified, shall be owned and declared to be so in the righteous punishment of proud men. Note, When proud men are humbled, the great God is honoured, and ought to be honoured by us.

(2.) Good people shall be relieved and succoured; (v. 17.) Then shall the lambs feed after their manner; the meek ones of the earth, who follow the Lamb, who were persecuted, and put into fear by those proud oppressors, shall feed quietly, feed in the green pastures, and there shall be none to make them afraid. See Ezek. xxxiv. 14. When the enemies of the church are cut off, then have the churches rest; they shall feed at their pleasure; so some read it. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in abundant peace. They shall feed according to their order or capacity; so others reads it; as they are able to hear the word, that bread of life.

(3.) The country shall be laid waste, and be come a prey to the neighbours; the waste places of the fat ones, the possessions of those rich men that lived at their ease, those shall be eaten by strangers that were nothing akin to them. In the captivity, the poor of the land were left for vinedressers and husbandmen; (2 Kings xxv. 12.) those were the lambs, that feed in the pastures of the fat ones, which were laid in common for strangers to eat. When the church of the Jews, those fat ones, was laid waste, their privileges were transferred to the Gentiles, who had been long strangers; and the lambs of Christ's flock were welcome to them.

18. Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope! 19. That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! 20. Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21. Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22. Wo unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23. Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the of hosts, and despised, the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25. Therefore is the anger of the kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 26. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. 27. None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: 28. Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: 29. Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Here are,

I. Sins described, which will bring judgments upon a people; and this perhaps is not only a charge drawn up against the men of Judah, who lived at that time, and the particular articles of that charge, though it may relate primarily to them; but it is rather intended for warning to all people, in all ages, to take heed to these sins, as destructive both to particular persons and to communities, and exposing men to God's wrath and his righteous judgments.

Those that are here said to be in a woful condition,

1. Who are eagerly set upon sin, and violent in their sinful pursuits; (v. 18.) who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, who take as much pains to sin, as the cattle do, that draw in a team; who put themselves to the stretch for the gratifying of their inordinate appetites, and to humour a base lust, offer violence to nature itself. They think themselves as sure of compassing their wicked projects, as if they were pulling it to them with strong cart-ropes; but they will find themselves disappointed,, for they will prove cords of vanitv, which will break when they come to any stress; for the righteous Lord will cut in sunder the cords of the wicked, Ps. cxxix. 4. Job iv. 8. Prov. xxii. 8. They are by long custom