Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/349

 the Lord’s  ministers,  shall  weep  and  shall  say:  “Spare,  O Lord, spare Thy  people.”

The prophet  Micheas  is  not  less  terrible  in  his  warning: “Hear, all  ye  peoples,”  he  cries  out,  “and  let  the  earth  give ear. I will make  Samaria  as  a heap  of  stones! I will bring down the  stones  thereof  into  the  valley,  and  will  lay  her  foundations bare. Hear this,  ye  princes  of  the  house  of  Jacob; you that  abhor  judgment,  and  pervert  all  that  is  right;  you who build  up  Sion  with  blood,  and  Jerusalem  with  iniquity. Therefore, on  account  of  you,  Sion  shall  be  ploughed  as  a field, and Jerusalem  shall  be  as  a heap  of  stones;  and  the  mountain of the  Temple  as  the  high  places  of  the  forests. And [=  but]  thou, Bethlehem Ephrata,  art  a little  one  among  the  thousands  of  Juda; out of  thee  shall  He  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  the Ruler in  Israel;  and  His  going  forth  is  from  the  beginning,  from the days  of  eternity.”

These prophecies  have  all  been  literally  fulfilled. The prophecy about  Bethlehem  refers  to  the  Saviour,  so  that  the Jews might  know  that  the  Redeemer  promised  to  Adam,  to Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  to  Juda,  and  to  David  would  be  born in Bethlehem.

Evil passions  are  at  the  root  of  unbelief. It  seems  almost  incredible that, although  God  had  made  Himself  known  to  them  in  such  marvellous ways, so  many  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  of  Juda  should  have  fallen away from  Him. Their apostasy  shows  us  the  enormous  power  of  those human passions  which  obscure  the  reason. The idolatrous  kings  knew the true  God,  but  they  refused  to  acknowledge  Him,  because  His commandments put  a curb  on  their  passions. The worship  of  false  gods, which encouraged  sensuality,  and  was  not  opposed  to  despotism  or extravagance,  was  preferable  to  them,  for  while  practising  it  they  were free to  live  according  to  their  lusts. Therefore, they  turned  their  hearts from God  and  set  up  a senseless  idolatry  which  permitted  them  to  do exactly  as  they  wished.

Bear in  mind  that  the  evil  passions  of  the heart are  to-day,  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  the  kings  of  Juda, the principal  cause  of  unbelief  in  the  eternal  and  true  God.