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Leviticus
Chapter Nineteen
Leviticus 19
Chapter Contents
laws.
There are some ceremonial precepts in this chapter
but
most of these precepts are binding on us
for they are explanations of the ten
commandments. It is required that Israel be a holy people
because the God of
Israel is a holy God
verse 2. To teach real separation from the world
and the flesh
and entire devotedness to God. This is now the law of Christ;
may the Lord bring every thought within us into obedience to it! Children are
to be obedient to their parents
verse 3. The fear here required includes inward
reverence and esteem
outward respect and obedience
care to please them and to
make them easy. God only is to be worshipped
verse 4. Turn not from the true God to false
ones
from the God who will make you holy and happy
to those that will deceive
you
and make you for ever miserable. Turn not your eyes to them
much less
your heart. They should leave the gleanings of their harvest and vintage for
the poor
verse 9. Works of piety must be always attended
with works of charity
according to our ability. We must not be covetous
griping
and greedy of every thing we can lay claim to
nor insist upon our
right in all things. We are to be honest and true in all our dealings
verse 11. Whatever we have in the world
we must
see that we get it honestly
for we cannot be truly rich
or long rich
with
that which is not so. Reverence to the sacred name of God must be shown
verse 12. We must not detain what belongs to
another
particularly the wages of the hireling
verse 13. We must be tender of the credit and
safety of those that cannot help themselves
verse 14. Do no hurt to any
because they are
unwilling or unable to avenge themselves. We ought to take heed of doing any
thing which may occasion our weak brother to fall. The fear of God should keep
us from doing wrong things
though they will not expose us to men's anger.
Judges
and all in authority
are commanded to give judgment without
partiality
verse 15. To be a tale-bearer
and to sow discord
among neighbours
is as bad an office as a man can put himself into. We are to
rebuke our neighbour in love
verse 17. Rather rebuke him than hate him
for
an injury done to thyself. We incur guilt by not reproving; it is hating our
brother. We should say
I will do him the kindness to tell him of his faults.
We are to put off all malice
and to put on brotherly love
verse 18. We often wrong ourselves
but we soon
forgive ourselves those wrongs
and they do not at all lessen our love to
ourselves; in like manner we should love our neighbour. We must in many cases
deny ourselves for the good of our neighbour. Verse 31: For Christians to have their fortunes
told
to use spells and charms
or the like
is a sad affront to God. They must
be grossly ignorant who ask
"What harm is there in these things?"
Here is a charge to young people to show respect to the aged
verse 32. Religion teaches good manners
and
obliges us to honour those to whom honour is due. A charge was given to the
Israelites to be very tender of strangers
verse 33. Strangers
and the widows and
fatherless
are God's particular care. It is at our peril
if we do them any
wrong. Strangers shall be welcome to God's grace; we should do what we can to
recommend religion to them. Justice in weights and measures is commanded
verse 35. We must make conscience of obeying
God's precepts. We are not to pick and choose our duty
but must aim at
standing complete in all the will of God. And the nearer our lives and tempers
are to the precepts of God's law
the happier shall we be
and the happier
shall we make all around us
and the better shall we adorn the gospel.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Leviticus》
Leviticus 19
Verse 2
[2]
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel
and say unto them
Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
Be ye holy —
Separated from all the forementioned defilements
and entirely consecrated to
God and obedient to all his laws.
I am holy —
Both in my essence
and in all my laws
which are holy and just and good.
Verse 3
[3] Ye shall fear every man his mother
and his father
and keep my sabbaths:
I am the LORD your God.
His mother —
The mother is put first
partly because the practice of this duty begins there
mothers
by perpetual converse
being sooner known to their children than their
fathers; and partly because this duty is commonly neglected to the mother
upon
whom children have not so much dependence as they have upon their father. And
this fear includes the two great duties of reverence and obedience.
And keep my sabbaths — This is added
to shew
that
whereas it is enjoined to parents that
they should take care the sabbath be observed both by themselves and their
children
it is the duty of children to fear and obey their parents in this
matter. But that
if parents should neglect their duty herein
or by their
command
counsel
or example
draw them to pollute the sabbath
the children in
that case must keep the sabbath
and prefer the command of God before the
commands of their parents.
Verse 4
[4] Turn
ye not unto idols
nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
Idols —
The word signifies such as are no Gods
or nothings
as they are called
1 Corinthians 8:4
many idols having no being
but in the fancy of their worshippers
and all of them having no virtue or
power to do good or evil
Isaiah 41:23.
Verse 5
[5] And
if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD
ye shall offer it at
your own will.
At your own will —
Or
according to your own pleasure
what you think fit: For though this in
general was required
yet it was left to their choice to determine the
particulars.
Verse 6
[6] It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it
and on the morrow: and if
ought remain until the third day
it shall be burnt in the fire.
On the morrow — He
speaks here of that sort of peace-offerings
which were offered either by vow
or freely for the obtaining of some mercy
for the other sort
which was by way
of gratitude for mercies received
were to be eaten the same day.
Verse 10
[10] And
thou shalt not glean thy vineyard
neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy
vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your
God.
I am the Lord your God — Who gave you all these things with a reservation of my right in them
and with a charge of giving part of them to the poor.
Verse 12
[12] And
ye shall not swear by my name falsely
neither shalt thou profane the name of
thy God: I am the LORD.
Ye shall not swear falsely — This is added
to shew how one sin draws on another
and that when men
will lye for their own advantage
they will easily be induced to perjury.
Profane the name — By
any unholy use of it. So it is an additional precept
thou shalt not abuse my
holy name by swearing either falsely or rashly.
Verse 14
[14] Thou
shalt not curse the deaf
nor put a stumblingblock before the blind
but shalt
fear thy God: I am the LORD.
Before the blind — To
make them fall. Under these two particulars are manifestly forbidden all injuries
done to such as are unable to right or defend themselves; of whom God here
takes the more care
because they are not able to secure themselves.
Fear thy God —
Who both can and will avenge them.
Verse 15
[15] Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of
the poor
nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou
judge thy neighbour.
The poor — So
as through pity to him to give an unrighteous sentence.
Verse 16
[16] Thou
shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou
stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
Stand against the blood — In judgment as a false accuser or false witness
for accusers and
witnesses use to stand
whilst the judges sit in courts of judicature.
Verse 17
[17] Thou
shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy
neighbour
and not suffer sin upon him.
Thou shalt not hate — As
thou dost
in effect
if thou dost not rebuke him.
Thy brother —
The same as thy neighbour
that is
every man. If thy brother hath done wrong
thou shalt neither divulge it to others
nor hate him
and smother that hatred
by sullen silence; nor flatter him therein
but shalt freely and in love
tell
him of his fault.
And not suffer sin upon him — Not suffer him to lie under the guilt of any sin
which thou by rebuking
him
and thereby bringing him to repentance
couldst free him from.
Verse 18
[18] Thou
shalt not avenge
nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people
but
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Thy neighbour —
Every man
as plainly appears
1. By comparing this place with Leviticus 19:34
where this law is applied to
strangers. 2. Because the word neighbour is explained by another man
Leviticus 20:10; Romans 13:8.
As thyself —
With the same sincerity
though not equality of affection.
Verse 19
[19] Ye
shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse
kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment
mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.
Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender — This was prohibited
partly to restrain the curiosity and boldness of
men
who might attempt to amend or change the works of God
partly that by the
restraint here laid even upon brute-creatures men might be taught to abhor all
unnatural lusts
partly to teach the Israelites to avoid mixtures with other
nations
either in marriage or in religion
which also may be signified by the
following prohibitions.
Verse 20
[20] And
whosoever lieth carnally with a woman
that is a bondmaid
betrothed to an
husband
and not at all redeemed
nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged;
they shall not be put to death
because she was not free.
She shall be scourged — Heb. There shall be a scourging
which probably may belong to both of
them
for 1. Both were guilty. 2. It follows
they shall not be punished with
death
which may seem to imply that they were to be punished by some other
common and considerable punishment
which scourging indeed was
but the paying
of a ram was a small penalty and very unsuitable to the greatness of the
offence. And the offering of the ram as a trespass offering for the sin against
God
is not inconsistent with making satisfaction other ways for the injury
done to men
but only added here as farther punishment to the man
either
because he only could do this
and not the woman
who being a bondwoman had
nothing of her own to offer. Or because his sex and his freedom aggravated his
sin.
Not put to death —
Which they should have been
had she been free
Deuteronomy 22:23
24. The reason of this
difference is not from any respect which God gives to persons
for bond and
free are alike to him
but because bond-women were scarce wives
and their
marriages were scarce true-marriages
being neither made by their choice
but
their masters authority
nor continued beyond the year of release
but at her
master's or husband's pleasure.
Verse 23
[23] And
when ye shall come into the land
and shall have planted all manner of trees
for food
then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years
shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
As uncircumcised —
That is
As unclean
not to be eaten but cast away. This precept was
serviceable
1. To the trees themselves
which grew the better and faster
being early stript of those fruits
which otherwise would have drawn away much
more of the strength from the tree. 2. To men
both because the fruit then was
less wholesome
and because hereby men were taught to bridle their appetites; a
lesson of great use and absolute necessity in a holy life.
Verse 24
[24] But
in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD
withal.
Holy — Consecrated
to the Lord
as the first-fruits and tithes were
and therefore given to the
priests and Levites
Numbers 18:12
13 Deuteronomy 18:4 yet so that part of them were
communicated to the poor widows and fatherless and strangers. See Deuteronomy 14:28. To bless the Lord
by whose
power and goodness the trees bring forth fruit to perfection.
Verse 25
[25] And
in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof
that it may yield unto you
the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.
That it may yield the increase — That God may be pleased to give his blessing
which alone can make them
fruitful.
Verse 26
[26] Ye
shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment
nor
observe times.
Any thing with the blood — Any flesh out of which the blood is poured.
Neither shall ye use enchantments — It was unpardonable in them
to whom were committed the oracles of God
to ask counsel of the devil. And yet worse in Christians
to whom the son of
God is manifested
to destroy the works of the devil. For Christians to have
their nativities cast
or their fortunes told
or to use charms for the cure of
diseases
is an intolerable affront to the Lord Jesus
a support of idolatry
and a reproach both to themselves
and to that worthy name by which they are
called.
Nor observe times —
Superstitiously
esteeming some days lucky
others unlucky.
Verse 27
[27] Ye
shall not round the corners of your heads
neither shalt thou mar the corners
of thy beard.
The corners of your heads — That is your temples
ye shall not cut off the hair of your heads round
about your temples. This the Gentiles did
either for the worship of their
idols
to whom young men used to consecrate their hair
being cut off from
their heads
as Homer
Plutarch and many others write; or in funerals or
immoderate mournings
as appears from Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37. And the like is to be thought
concerning the beard or the hair in the corner
that is
corners of the beard.
The reason then of this prohibition is because God would not have his people
agree with idolaters
neither in their idolatries
nor in their excessive
sorrowing
no nor so much as in the appearances of it.
Verse 28
[28] Ye
shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead
nor print any marks
upon you: I am the LORD.
Cuttings in your flesh — Which the Gentiles commonly did both in the worship of their idols
and
in their solemn mournings
Jeremiah 16:6.
Verse 29
[29] Do
not prostitute thy daughter
to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to
whoredom
and the land become full of wickedness.
Do not prostitute — As
the Gentiles frequently did for the honour of some of their idols
to whom
women were consecrated
and publickly prostituted.
Verse 31
[31]
Regard not them that have familiar spirits
neither seek after wizards
to be
defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
Wizards —
Them that have entered into covenant with the devil
by whose help they foretel
many things to come
and acquaint men with secret things. See Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11; 1 Samuel 28:3
7
9; 2 Kings 21:6.
Verse 32
[32] Thou
shalt rise up before the hoary head
and honour the face of the old man
and
fear thy God: I am the LORD.
Rise up — To
do them reverence when they pass by
for which end they were obliged
as the
Jews say
presently to sit down again when they were past
that it might be
manifest they arose out of respect to them.
Fear thy God —
This respect is due to such
if not for themselves
yet for God's sake
who
requires this reverence
and whose singular blessing old age is.
Verse 33
[33] And
if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land
ye shall not vex him.
Vex him —
Either with opprobrious expressions
or grievous exactions.
Verse 34
[34] But
the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you
and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt:
I am the LORD your God.
As one born among you — Either 1
as to the matters of common right
so it reacheth to all
strangers. Or 2
as to church-privileges
so it concerns only those who were
proselytes.
Ye were strangers —
And therefore are sensible of the fears
distresses
and miseries of such
which call for your pity
and you ought to do to them
as you desired others
should do to you
when you were such.
Verse 35
[35] Ye
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment
in meteyard
in weight
or in measure.
In mete-yard — In
the measuring of lands
or dry things
as cloth
ribband.
In measure — In
the measuring liquid or such dry things as are only contigious
as corn or
wine.
Verse 36
[36] Just
balances
just weights
a just ephah
and a just hin
shall ye have: I am the
LORD your God
which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
A just ephah and a just hin — These two two measures are named as most common
the former for dry
the
latter for moist things
but under them he manifestly comprehends all other
measures.
Verse 37
[37]
Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes
and all my judgments
and do them:
I am the LORD.
Therefore —
Because my blessings and deliverances are not indulgences to sin
but greater
obligations to all duties to God and men.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Leviticus》
19 Chapter 19
Verse 2
Ye shall be holy.
The object of God’s laws
The position of this come mand at the head of the long list of
precepts which follows is most significant and instructive. It sets before us
the object of the whole ceremonial and moral law
and
we may add
the supreme
object of the gospel also
namely
to produce a certain type of moral and
spiritual character
a “holy” manhood; it
moreover
precisely interprets this
term
so universally misunderstood and misapplied among all nations
as
essentially consisting in a spiritual likeness to God: “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your
God am holy.” These words evidently at once define holiness and declare the
supreme motive to the attainment and maintenance of a holy character. This
then
is brought before us as the central thought in which all the diverse
precepts and prohibitions which follow find their unity; and
accordingly
we
find this keynote of the whole law echoing
as it were
all through this
chapter
in the constant refrain
repeated herein no less than fourteen--twice
seven--times; “I am the Lord!” “I am the Lord your God!” (S. H. Kellogg
D.
D.)
A fountain of purity
One summer day
a few years ago
strolling for rest and pleasure
near the mouth of the Columbia river
where there is a large rise and fall of
the tide
I came
at low tide
upon a splendid spring of pure
fresh water
clear as crystal
gushing up from between the rocks that two hours before had
formed a part of the river’s bed. Twice a day the soiled tide rises above that
beautiful fountain and covers it over; but there it is
down deep under the
salt tide
and when the tide has spent its force and gone back again to the
ocean’s depths
it sends out its pure waters fresh and clear as before. So if
the human heart be really a fountain of love to Christ it will send out its
streams of fresh
sweet waters
even into the midst of the salt tides of
politics or business. And the man who carries such a fountain into the day’s
worry and struggle will come again at night
when the world’s tide has spent
its force
with clean hands
sweet spirit
and conscience void of offence
toward God and man. (S. S. Chronicle.)
Holiness silences the profane
Holiness has a mighty influence upon others. It stops the mouths
of the ungodly
who are ready to reproach religion and throw the dirt of
professors’ sins on the face of profession itself. They say frogs will cease
croaking when a light is brought near them; the light of a holy conversation
hangs
as it were
a padlock on profane lips. (W. Gurnall.)
Verse 3
Ye shall fear . . . mother . . . father.
Maternal rule
This is a remarkable
command
given by God to Moses. Not for the matter of it
for it is the same in
substance with the fifth in the Decalogue. But as differing from that and other
parallel passages
it is remarkable on two accounts. In those the father is
always put first. It is
“Honour thy father and thy mother.” “He that smiteth
his father and his mother
shall surely be put to death.” “My son
hear the instruction
of thy father
and forsake not the law of thy mother.” “Hearken unto thy father
that begat thee
and despise not thy mother when she is old.” “Honour thy
father and thy mother
which is the first commandment with promise.” But here
mother is put first--“Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father.” Then
again
the word “fear”--“Thou shalt fear thy mother and thy father
” occurs in
no other passage. There must be a meaning
both in the word “fear
” and the
singular collocation of the sentence. And what is it? Fathers are in general
wont to govern
their children more by authority
and mothers by love. Hence they are more
afraid of offending their fathers than their mothers. This is especially the
case with boys
about the time when they enter their teens. For three or four
years they are more impatient of restraint than ever before or after. They are
then apt to think they know much more than their mothers
and are quite capable
of governing themselves. To guard against this undervaluing of their mother’s
authority seems to have been the special design of the command in question. “Ye
shall fear every man his mother”--detracting nothing from the father’s
authority; hut putting the mother’s in the foreground
because there is danger
of its being despised or overlooked. The word “fear
” in this case
is not
quite synonymous with “honour
” in the fifth commandment. It has rather more
intensity of meaning
if it is not more imperative. There is more of awe in
fear
if not more of reverence. God intended to put both parents on the same
level. Both are to be feared alike. And this purity of governmental control
carries along with it corresponding obligations. Mothers must not shrink from
exercising the authority with which God has clothed them
to “train Up their
children in the way in which they should go
” however crossing it may sometimes
be to their parental yearning. Let them rule by love as much as they can. The
more the better. But restraint
by coercion
where nothing else will do
is one
of the highest forms in which parental love is manifested. It would be wrong
it would be cruel to withhold it from the wayward child. Thousands upon
thousands have been greatly wronged
if not ruined
by overweening motherly
indulgence. The surest way ultimately to win that undying filial love
“which
casteth out fear
” is to restrain and govern the boy just at the age when he is most
restive under parental control. Woe to the child that breaks away from the
authority which God has ordained. Evil is as surely before him as the going
down of the sun (Proverbs 30:17). (Dr. Humphrey.)
Ungrateful children rebuked by birds
The birds can teach ungrateful children their duty towards aged
parents. It is an old tradition with regard to storks
says Mr. Morris in his
“British Birds
” that they take care of and nourish their parents when they are
too old to take care of themselves
from whence the Greek word “pelargicos
”
signifying the duty of children to take care of their parents; and “pelargicoi
nomoi
” signifying the laws relating to that duty
both derived from the Greek
word for a stork; “Pelargos
” from pelas
black; and “argos
” white
alluding
to the prevailing colours of the stork. (Scientific Illustrations.)
A son’s devotion to his mother
I remember just now a young man whom the Lord has blessed on
account of the love
he has shown his mother. Many years ago when her husband died
she was walking
the streets of Glasgow in sore distress
her heart being
as it were
in the
grave with her husband. She was utterly heedless of the great crowd
and almost
forgetful of the kindly little boy
then only three and a half years old
who
was walking by her side. He reminded her that he was there by pulling her hand
earnestly
and when she looked down to him
he said
“Mother
don’t cry!”--for
he saw the tears were stealing down her cheeks--“I will be the father
” and the
whole soul of the child was in his face. As he spoke those words the warmth of
summer and the life of the spring-time of joy came again into the mother’s
heart. God spared him to fulfil his promise
and to receive the blessing that
is annexed to the fifth commandment
and I am glad he is living to-day a
prosperous and honourable merchant. It is some years-since I joined him in
laying his mother’s honoured head in the grave. Shortly before she died she was
able
beautifully and lovingly
to testify that her son had amply redeemed the
promise of his childhood
that what his father would have been
had he been
spared
her son had successfully tried to be to her. (J. G. Cunningham.)
Respect for a mother
Men who have risen from humble life to wealth and high social rank
have often been ashamed of their parents
and shown them little attention or
respect. Such treatment indicates a vulgar mind. True nobility follows a
different method. Richard Hurd
an eminent bishop of the Church of England at
the close of the last century
was a man of courtly manners
of great learning
who moved with distinction in the best society in the kingdom. George III.
pronounced him “the most naturally polite man he had ever known.” He
however
never failed to show the utmost respect for his mother
a farmer’s wife
of no
education
but of sterling character. When he entertained large companies at
the Episcopal Palace
he led her with a stately courtesy to the head of the
table
and paid her the greatest deference. The high-born families who sat at
his table reverenced his conduct
so becoming to a son and a gentleman. (New
Orleans Democrat.)
Sacred to the memory of a mother
“I want
” said the late Emperor of Germany
the last but one
the
great William
“I want a lamp such as Such-and-so has
” naming some
distinguished member of the Court. The lamp was provided according to the very
pattern
but his Majesty complained
on returning to his study after
withdrawment
that he could not bear the savour of the room; the lamp was
emitting smoke
and it was altogether intolerable
One of the secondary
servants knew the reason
but dare not name it to his Majesty. One of the
higher servants learned the cause and brought it under his Majesty’s attention.
“It is because your Majesty turns down the light when you leave the study that
occasions the emission of smoke and vapours
and if you will cease to do that
all will be well.” “Ah
” said the sweet old patriarch of his nation
“I know how that is. I
learned that in the days of our poverty. After the battle of Jena we were very
poor
and my mother never allowed us to leave the room at night without turning
down the light
and I continue to turn down the light in memory of my mother.”
A beautiful example
a tender domestic story that. Here is a man who could have
had a thousand lamps
yet in memory of the days of his poverty
when his mother
taught him the uses of money
he kept turning down the light
saying
“Sacred
to the memory of my mother.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
And keep My Sabbaths.--
The Sabbath kept
During the latter part of his life General Jackson was in the
habit of coming down to New Orleans to see his old friends and comrades in arms
and participate in the celebration of the glorious 8th of January. It happened
on one of these visits that the 8th occurred on Sunday. General Plauche called
upon the old hero and requested him to accompany the military to the battle-ground on
the anniversary of the great day. “I am going to church to-morrow
” mildly
observed the General. The military preparations for the celebration went on
and on Sunday morning at ten o’clock General Plauche called at the St. Charles
and informed General Jackson that the military and civic processions were ready
to accompany him to the scene of his glory. “General Plauche
” responded old
Hickory
turning upon him the glance of his kindling eye
“I told you I was
going to church to-day.” General Plauche withdrew
muttering to himself
“I
might have known better.” The celebration was postponed till the next day.
Verse 4
Turn ye not unto idols.
Folly of idolatry
A Chinese wife was one
day seen by a missionary to enter a temple. In her hands were some humble
offerings
such as a twig
or rice
for propitiating the poor
blind deity.
There he stood
some forty feet high
blackened and begrimed with the smoke of
incense for hundreds of years. She presented her petition; she called upon the
idol to protect and return in safety her husband
then on the sea in a storm. A
few weeks after the missionary was there
and saw the same female enter the
temple in a rage. She stood before the grim idol and cursed it for being so
blind
so deaf
so helpless
as to let her husband perish! Yes
the wailing
widow of heathen life only echoed the sad complaints of millions in Christian
lands. They found their hopes and build their plans on just such baseless
blind
deaf gods as this humble dweller in darkness. The worldling ever prays
to a god that is deaf and blind I (VanDoren
D. D.)
Verse 9-10
Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field.
A sermon to gleaners
The subject of gleaning in the fields may appear to some to
be a very lowly one
and an address delivered exclusively to those who have
been engaged in it
unnecessary: but a little reflection will suffice to remove
such objections
if they ever existed in the mind of any person. Gleaning is
not a humbler employment than that of a fisherman
and if the Lord turned the
latter so as to convey instruction to His followers
there is no reason why the
former should be beneath the notice of His ministers
in their efforts to reach
the consciences of men. The custom of gleaning in the fields is very ancient.
It is probable that it prevailed in the land of Canaan long before it was taken
possession of by the children of Israel
and it is not unlikely that they found
it there and adopted the practice. The nations who dwelt in this land were so
wicked and abandoned that they were marked for destruction by the sword of
Israel and of God. Their fields were fertile far beyond any fertility which now
exists
as it was not an uncommon thing for grain to be reaped a hundred times
beyond what was sown. The vines were so fruitful and the clusters were so large
that the two men who went out as spies from the camp of the Israelites at
Kadesh-Barnea
returned from the valley of Eschol carrying one bunch of grapes
on a staff upon their shoulders as a specimen of what they saw growing in the
vineyards. The gleaning of such fields and of such vineyards must have afforded
no insignificant reward. When the Jews obtained possession of the land
after
they had driven out the nations which were before them
God recognised gleaning
in the Mosaic Law
and laid down rules for its regulation. The text which I
have chosen from the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus contains part of this law;
the rest will be found in Deuteronomy 24:1-22. God sanctioned the
practice
and commanded that some grain and olives and grapes should be left to
be gleaned by the poor
the stranger
the fatherless
and the widow
and thus
He required the Jews to pay to those who are more immediately depending for
support on His bounty
a sort of tribute in acknowledgment of the tenure under
which they held their land. The Jews paid no rent
because God Himself was the
owner
having given it to them without price or reward; and when He commanded
them to leave something for the poor gleaners in harvest
He did so that He
might be able to bless His people in all the work of their hands. The reason
why the Almighty sanctioned the practice of gleaning is very similar to this
notion. He commanded His people to allow their fields to be gleaned
that they
might always be kept in remembrance that they had been bondmen in Egypt. The
recollection of this slavery was also preserved among them by the Sabbath
and
by the command to do strict justice between man and man
as if the Almighty
intended that the people
after they had attained to national power and
prosperity
should be continually reminded of “the rock from whence they were
hewn
and of the hole of the pit from whence they were digged.” The sight of
poor persons gleaning in the fields always reminded the Jews that they had been
in slavery in Egypt
and that like them they had been depending upon others for
a hard and uncertain living. In’ fact
both the gleaners and the owners of the
fields had been bondmen
and both were alike the receivers of God’s bounty
although in different ways and in different degrees. More than three thousand
years have rolled past since this law was enacted
but the principle which it
contains is just as applicable to gleaners now as it was then. The poor Jew
gleaning in the fields of his rich brethren
had been a slave
but after he got
into the Promised Land he became free; and exactly so
every gleaner who now
searches in the fields of the farmers for heads of grain is free. I mean to
tell you that you are politically free
and that you do not owe obedience to
any master
except you bind yourselves to serve him for some payment. You were
never slaves
as the Jews had been in Egypt
when they were forced to serve in
a cruel bondage. But
let me ask you
are you really free? When you were
gleaning in the fields this harvest
could you say with truth that you had once
been slaves
but that you were now free? A person gleaning in the fields in
harvest may be free
but she is a slave
bound hand and foot
if sin have the
dominion over her. A woman gathering heads of grain in the fields may be free
but she is a slave if she spend her hard-won earnings in the public-house
drinking out of the cup which cheers
but swallowing along with the drink
liquid fire and death. That gleaner is free who goes out and comes in without
any to forbid
but she is a slave to the custom of gleaning
which is otherwise
lawful
if
for the sake of the trifle which she may obtain in this way
she
neglects her children
her husband
and her home. Every gleaner is as free as
the air of heaven
but they are all slaves to their own passions if they are
unable to agree together in the same field
and begin to use abusive language
to quarrel about rights which have no existence
except in the goodwill of the
farmer
exhibiting scenes which could only find a parallel in the fields of the
degraded Canaanites before they were driven out by the Jews. There is not a
gleaner in the land who is not absolutely free
but every one of them is bound
in fetters far stronger than fetters of iron or of brass
if
with this
privilege of gleaning in another man’s fields at their command
they have
thankless hearts
and entertain no gratitude to God for His mercy
nor to the
farmers for their benevolence. This brings me in natural consequence to speak
about the persons on whose behalf God made the law about gleaning. They are the
poor
the stranger
the fatherless
and the widow. I do not know whether those
who go out to glean in the fields in these days could be arranged into these four
classes; but they at least furnish a guide as to the persons to whom the
Almighty especially extends His care. He told His people that the poor should
never cease out of the land
therefore He commanded them
saying
“Thou shalt
open thine hand wide unto thy brother
to thy poor and to thy needy in thy
land.” The poor are the objects of God’s special protection
as long as they
lead lives of holiness and humility
contented with their lot
and confident in
the mercy of Heaven. If they are profligate and ungodly
dishonest and
discontented
idle and careless
not one of the promises in Scripture will
apply to them any more than they do to any of God’s open and avowed enemies.
2. The next class of persons who were permitted to glean in the
fields were strangers
from whatever country they might have come
as was Ruth
who was a daughter of Moab. God also made provision for them
knowing how
unhappy is the lot of that man who is an exile from his native land. He
commanded His people not on any account to do them an injury: “Thou shalt
neither vex a stranger nor oppress him
for ye were strangers in the land of
Egypt.” God by His providence watches over strangers
and never fails to reward
those who help them
whether by allowing them to glean in the fields in harvest-time
or in any other manner.
3. The next class who were allowed to glean were the fatherless
whose parent was dead. If the Jew drove off from his fields in harvest a poor
fatherless child
who wanted to glean some heads of corn
I have no doubt that
he was guilty of a sin and a crime. There is no obligation upon any Christian
man to allow such a one to search over his fields at this season of the year
but when he does permit the fatherless to glean up what the reapers have left
behind
I make no doubt that he does that which is pleasing in the sight of
God
and he will be able to understand
from the description of the judgment in
the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew
that the reward will far outbalance
the kindness.
4. The only other class whom God allowed to be gleaners were widows.
Like the poor
the stranger
and the fatherless
God always remembers them. Let
them always remember
that
whether they may be in a cornfield among other
gleaners
like Ruth in the field of Boaz
or
like the woman of Sidon
alone in
a cottage with scarce enough food to eat
or
like the widow of Nain
following
in tears an only son to the grave
God watches over them
and commands His
angels to give them an invisible but effectual protection. There is little more
to be said on this subject of gleaning
beyond one other consideration
which
we shall do well to lay seriously to heart. We reflected upon the great harvest
of men
which is to be gathered in by the angelic reapers at the end of this
dispensation. That will be a harvest after which there will be no gleaning. (O.
B. Courtenay
M. A.)
Harvest gleanings
How notable are the provisions made in the Mosaic Law for the
poor.
1. The Sabbatical year (Exodus 23:10-11; cf. Deuteronomy 15:12; Deuteronomy 15:15).
2. The equalisation of the atonement money for poor and rich
thus
establishing the value of the poor as equal to the rich (Exodus 30:12).
3. The same minute directions for the poor man’s offerings
showing
God’s equal interest in his sacrifice (chap. 2. &c.)
4. And here the command that the harvest and vintage gleanings should
be left (Leviticus 19:9-10). Notice--
I. That the humane
laws of modern times
respecting gleaning privileges
are all based upon this
Mosaic command. Everywhere there is a popular feeling that the farmer should
allow
and was not entitled to prevent the poor from gathering what the reaper
left behind. In England the custom of gleaning had very nearly passed into a
legal right
for there is an extra judicial dictum of Lord Hall
in which he
says that those who enter a field for this purpose are not guilty of trespass;
and Blackstone (3:12) seems to adopt his opinion. But that has since been twice
tried
and decided in the negative in the Court of Common Pleas; the Court
finding it to be a practice incompatible with the exclusive enjoyment of
property
and productive of vagrancy and many mischievous consequences. “It is
still
however
the custom all over England to allow the poor to glean
at
least after the harvest is carried” (Chambers).
II. That a
benevolent helpfulness in respect of the poor is a special obligation of those
who enjoy plenty.
1. With God in thought the rich will spare of their abundance that
the poor may be
fed. You owe all to Him
especially in harvest; and
therefore
share with the
needy His gifts to you.
2. Amid harvest rejoicings
gratitude should incite to generosity.
“As ye have received
give!” Seek occasion to gladden others--those in need.
God is lavish; let your “hands be open” also (Psalms 145:16).
3. Kindness to the poor has especial assurances of Divine approval (Psalms 9:18; Psalms 12:5).
III. That this
generous consideration for the poor is a token of god’s regard for the lowly.
1. Their maintenance engaged the Divine attention. For them “the
corner” of the field was claimed from the reapers
and to them was assigned the
right to clear the ground. It was their part in the national soil
the poor had
this heritage in the land. And God enjoins on His Church now to “care for the
poor.” They are Christ’s bequeathment to His disciples. “The poor always ye
have with you.”
2. Their salvation is prominently sought in the gospel. “To the poor
the gospel is preached.” And “God hath chosen the poor rich in faith.” He who
showed concern for their physical supply and maintenance
as emphatically manifests
His desire that they be “blessed with all spiritual blessings” in Christ.
Therefore--
A margin for the benefit of the poor
I think one of the most beautiful traits in the provision
and economy of God in the Old Testament Scriptures is the constant reference to
the poor. The permanency of the rich and the poor is what Christ Himself has
declared; there will be rich and poor as long as this dispensation lasts
and
any attempt to break down the distinction entails calamity on the nation that makes it. The distinction
does exist
and will exist as long
as men live and intellectual energies differ in degree--for the fact is
men
are not all equal
they may talk as they will that all men are equal. In one
sense
before God
all men are equal; but in another respect they are not. One
man has more physical energy or more mental energy than another. One man has
more skill than another
one man more activity than another; and several things
are constantly keeping up that broad and palpable distinction between them that
have and them that have not. But just as the Israelite reaper left some ears of
corn for the poor and for the stranger
so you
in estimating your labours
which are to you for all practical purposes your cornfields
in arranging your
profits
your gains
your losses
ought to have a balance or a margin for the
benefit of the poor
the destitute
and the needy. God especially blessed a
nation that took care of the poor; and God still provides for and pronounces
blessed those that consider the poor. I know that what are called “poor’s
rates” are extremely objectionable
because
when you pay your poor’s rates you
give a tax
and when the poor get in the workhouse
the bread that it buys they
take as a right
and the consequence is
all benevolence on your part is
quenched
and all gratitude on the part of the poor is ruined also. But then
such is the hardness of the human heart in so many cases
that a wise and
merciful Government is bound to make the law
and to compel that as a right
which many would much rather give as the act of benevolence and kindness. But
because you do pay poor’s rates you still must leave a margin to give
something; for those rates are not yet intolerable
and on all occasions we
should be delighted that we have an opportunity of making the heart of the
widow rejoice and the orphan sing for joy. (J. Cumming
D. D.)
Verse 11
Ye shall not steal.
Stealing discouraged
The illustrious Joseph Priestley tells us in his Memoir
that he was influenced in his very earliest life by an act of his mother
who
died when he was seven years old. He had returned from visiting his cousins
and had brought home a pin. “Where did you get that pin from
Joseph?” said his
mother. “I brought it from my cousins’.” “Then
” she said
“it is not
yours--take it back”; and he was gently and lovingly
yet firmly
made to take
it back. So great was the impression made on his mind that afterwards not the
smallest detail of wrong could he ever think of without being influenced by the
recollection of that simple admonition. Such is the influence upon the young
life of all that it sees. It is the tabula rasa on which you write your
words and thoughts in the deeds that are yet to come. (Dr. Richardson.)
Neither lie one to another.
Discredit gained by falsehood
When Aristotle was asked what a man could gain by telling a
falsehood
he replied
“Never to be credited when he tells the truth.”
Truth-telling
I remember some years ago
when living in a country town in
Kent
the superintendent of our Sunday School saying: “We are to have an
address this afternoon. Mr. Waters has asked to say a few words to us.” True to
hit promise he soon came into the chapel
and all eyes were on him. “My dear
teachers
you often think you labour in vain
but it is not so; I want to
encourage you this afternoon. This last week I have met with two circumstances
which have pleased me much. One day I was in my shop
when a stone came through
the window. I went to the door; there were a good many boys in the road; I
called out
‘Who broke my window?’ No answer. I then asked several of them
but
all said
‘No
not me.’ Just then a little lad stepped up and said
‘I am very
sorry
sir
but I did it.’ ‘But how is it
my lad
that you own to it? Come in
and tell me.’ ‘Sir
I go to the Sunday School
and I can’t tell a lie.’ Well
done
John Rolfe
I have come here this afternoon to give you a shilling--not
for breaking my window
no
no
but for speaking the truth
and practising what
you hear.” (Mrs. Spurgeon.)
Truth a handle to lying
A lie always needs a truth for a handle to it
else the hand would
cut itself which sought to drive it home upon another. The worst lies
therefore
are those whose blade is false
but whose handle is true. (H. W.
Beecher.)
Prolific lying
One sin entertained fetcheth in another; a lie especially
which
being a tinkerly
blushful sin
is either denied by the liar
who is ashamed to
be taken with it
or else covered by another and another lie
as we see in
Jacob
who
being once over shoes will be over boots too but he will persuade
his father that he is his very son Esau. (J. Trapp.)
Verse 12
Ye shall not swear by My name falsely.
False swearing
All nations have severely punished perjury. The Egyptians with
dentil or mutilation; the Greeks with heavy fines and ultimate loss of all
civil rights; the Romans visited it with the penalty of death. These ancient
nations all held that the gods were especially incensed by this crime
and that
a Divine Nemesis pursued the perjurer.
I. What swearing
by God’s name entails.
1. Acknowledgment of His Omniscience. It calls Him to witness
and
imprecates Him as the avenger of falsehood.
2. Acknowledgment of His righteousness. He is to be the umpire and
arbitrator. We call in as a witness to our fidelity only such a one as is
himself faithful and true
and will act a right part. Such is God. Man’s use of
His name is an appeal to the certainty that He will judge aright.
II. What perjury in
god’s name entails.
1. An insolent affront upon God’s character. It is infamy
daring
insolence
the degradation of His most holy name for unholy ends. It invokes
Him to act as a witness that a lie is true. Yet He loathes falsity. It is
defiant trifling
an affront to the God of truth. It “profanes His name.”
2. A certain visitation of judgment. He “will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). Certainly
therefore
He
will punish lying and profanity. Having been called in as a witness to a lie
He will prove that He witnessed it. Thus to insult His love of truth and defy
His power to vindicate it
and trail the purity of His character in the
mire--before whom the very angels veil their faces as they adore Him--will
ensure a just requital (Hebrews 10:30). And “there shall in no
wise enter the heavenly city any who loveth and maketh a lie” (Revelation 21:27). (W. H. Jellie.)
Perjury
I. What perjury
is
and how many ways it is committed.
1. Perjury is a swearing by God’s name falsely
a calling God to
witness for the confirmation of a lie.
2. It is committed several ways.
II. The heinousness
of this sin of perjury.
1. It is an affront to God
and to all those glorious attributes that
shine forth and display themselves in the government of the world.
2. It is also most injurious and mischievous to man.
III. The occasions
of
or temptations to this sin.
1. Atheism. A denying of God and Providence. This indeed were a
rational account of
and excuse for
perjury
if atheism itself were rational.
An atheist should he swear falsely every hour
upon every occasion
would do
like an atheist
and act
consistently to his principles. For what should hinder him from complying with
our forms and customs of calling of God to witness when it is for his
advantage? He knows of no God to come at his call to look on and be a witness
of his words
and the
searcher of his heart. He believes no judgment to come
no future state.
2. Lying
and treachery
and customary swearing. These things do
qualify and dispose a man to forswear himself upon any convenience or
temptation. Because hereby men throw off that reverence and respect to
religion
that fear of God’s power and justice
which would restrain them.
3. To these I might add the usual occasions and common temptations to
this sin. Such are poverty and necessity; covetousness
and hope of reward;
also fear
whether of shame or of punishment
or of both. In some
ambition and
popularity
a desire and thirst after honour and greatness. In others
or
perhaps in the same
revenge and malice; or else favour
affection and
partiality. Or
lastly
faction
sedition
and designs against the government.
As to all of which it may be enough to remark
that when these furious passions
and violent desires are able to overmaster and run down the fear of God
and
the reverence of an oath in the hearts of men
then is perjury the most easy and
compendious
the most secure
the most proper way to relieve their wants
or
satisfy their covetous desires
or to rid them of their fears
or to gratify
their ambition
or to pleasure their friends
or despatch their enemies
or to
compass and complete their seditious designs.
IV. The punishments
of perjury
and these are severe and dreadful in proportion to the guilt of
this great sin. It is a good rule. Men ought to weigh well the damages and
mischievous consequences of their false-witnessing and perfidiousness
not to
others only
but to themselves; that if conscience and the sense of their duty
cannot prevail with them
they may be restrained by the fear of suffering. (John
Allen
M. A.)
Of the nature and manner of an oath
and when to be taken
1. An oath is a constant and serious asseveration of the truth of a
thing
whereunto the Divine Majesty is called to witness.
2. The use of an oath is common to God
who sweareth by Himself
having not a greater to swear by
to angels and to men.
3. Things affirmed by oath are either uncertain in themselves--as to
swear touching things to come; or are certain
but seem uncertain to us
and
therefore an oath is required; or they are not only certain but necessary
as
are all God’s promises
which depend upon His immutable word
yet in regard of
our weakness are confirmed by the Lord’s oath.
4. As God is the author and institutor of an oath
so His name only
is to be used therein
because He alone knows the heart
is everywhere present
to hear
and of omnipotent power
able to take revenge both of soul and body.
5. Three things are to be considered in a lawful oath--the necessity
the truth
and the manner. (A Willet
D. D.)
The nature and obligation of an oath; the guilt and danger of
perjury
The necessity of oaths is almost universally admitted among
men. It arises out of the unavoidable condition of human affairs
and is so
essential to the peace and order of society that they could scarcely subsist
without it. It is not only in places of trust
and in cases of evidence
that
it is necessary to have recourse to this sacred obligation. It is frequently
requisite
for the final decision of disputes
to refer to the oath of one of
the parties. Not that an oath is always a true and infallible decision; but it
is the highest credit which a human being can give to his own declaration; it
is the utmost security which a man can give to the public in doubtful cases; it
is the last effort of truth and confidence among mankind. After this we can go
no farther; for if the religion of an oath will not oblige a man to speak the
truth
there is nothing which will oblige him. It must rest till that awful day
of retribution come
when God will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness
and judge the secrets of men’s hearts by Christ Jesus. One would be
almost tempted to conclude that no man who believes in a future state could be
guilty of false swearing. But there is no arguing against fact
and fact is
decidedly against this conclusion. The generality of men who swear falsely
do it
either to procure some worldly advantage
or to save themselves from some
necessary expense; and there have been some so abandoned as to take the wages
of iniquity
and to sell themselves to prostitute the name of God. What is the
reason that these temptations prevail
and drive men to this wickedness and sin
against God? It is either because they are ignorant or inconsiderate. If men
distinctly understood the force of this sacred obligation
and considered the
guilt and danger of violating it
there is scarcely any earthly consideration
which could tempt them to perjury.
I. There are two
lights in which an oath principally regards God
that of an omniscient witness
and that of a righteous judge. So help me God
is one of the ordinary
expressions in it. So protect me from evil
or abandon me to misery
as I now
use Thy name to support truth or to cover falsehood. So help in the hour of
solemn devotion
when Thou hearest the prayer of the upright man
and rejectest
him who has sworn deceitfully. So help me amidst the dangers and evils of life
through which I have to pass
and from which no man can deliver me. So help me
in the awful hour of dissolution
when I must walk through the valley of the
shadow of death
when all human help is vain
and our only hope is in God. To
swear falsely is to renounce that hope
and to forfeit all title to the Divine
protection.
II. Such is the
nature of an oath; and from this account it will be easy to ascertain the guilt
of false swearing
which was the second thing we proposed to consider. In
whatever light you view perjury
whether in respect of God or man
you will
find it to be a sin of the most enormous nature. Consider the impiety of it
towards God
and it will appear to be the grossest indignity which man can
offer to his Maker.
1. It is not a sin of ignorance or infirmity
into which he may fall
through the weakness of human nature. It is a presumptuous transgression
against God. The guilt of perjury is deliberate
which is one of the greatest
aggravations of sin. Other sins generally proceed from a forgetfulness of God
a want of due sense of His presence; but to swear falsely by the name of God is
at once to remember God and to disobey Him. Other sins are nothing more than
acts of disobedience to God; but perjury is much more than disobedience
it is
a direct insult offered to the Supreme Being. To call solemnly on God to
witness a falsehood
in order to cover our own guilt
and to impose on the
ignorance of mankind--what does it imply? It is to invoke the Supreme Being to
be present at an unrighteous action; it is to summon in the Almighty to be a
spectator of wickedness. Awful as this is
it is not the worst. To call on God
to countenance falsehood
and to sanction a lie by His sacred name
contains a
still grosser impiety
which I shudder to mention. It is an attempt to draw God
Himself into sin
to make the great Creator a party in vice
to make the Holy
One and the Just an accomplice in villainy.
2. The guilt of perjury farther appears from its effect on society-.
It is not only an act of the grossest indignity to God
but of the greatest
injury to mankind. There are some individuals who suffer by every act of false
swearing. Consider what loss of property
what hurt of character
or what
vexation and distress of mind it frequently brings on an innocent man. Ask the
person who has suffered by perjury
and he will describe
from his feelings
what a heinous crime it is. Put yourself in his place
enter into his feelings
listen to the language of your own heart
and you will see clearly the guilt of
false swearing. But the mischievous effects of perjury are not confined to the
persons who more immediately suffer by it. It is of much more extensive
influence; it militates against mankind in general; it is an act of treason
against human society. It is an attempt to subvert the foundation of public
order
and of private security. It is an attempt to defeat the last method
which the wisdom of man has devised in order to maintain the peace and order of
society
and to decide doubtful matters. The man who can be guilty of this sin
must be void of all reverence for his Sinker
and of all regard for the
interests of his fellow creatures. He is not only a reprobate in the sight of
God
but also a traitor against mankind.
III. Need I now
proceed to the last head of discourse
to point out the danger of false
swearing? A vice of so uncommon a magnitude
every man’s conscience must tell
him
deserves to be punished both by God and man. Among all nations with which
we are acquainted
false swearing has been punished as a triune which
strikes at the root of society; and in many places of the world the perjurer
as well as the murderer
has been thought worthy of death. But though the
perjurer should escape the scourge of the law
there is another punishment from
men which generally awaits him. He forfeits his character
the most precious
thing in the world
and is consigned to infamy. But what are all the
punishments from men in comparison of the judgments of God
which await the
perjurer? This is a degree of guilt which God will certainly punish with more
than ordinary vengeance. I will come near to you in judgment
says God Himself
by the prophet.
and be a swift witness against the swearer. The curse
says
another inspired writer
goeth over the face of the whole earth; and God shall
bring it forth
and it shall enter into the house of him that sweareth falsely
by the name of God
and shall remain in the midst of his house
and shall
consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. It shall remain in
the midst of his house
and shall consume it. But the external judgments of God
are not the only punishment to which the perjurer becomes liable. He destroys
the foundation of the peace of his own mind
and exposes himself to the greatest
of all terrors
to the dread of the great Creator. But what are all the
sufferings of this life in comparison to that of everlasting misery which
awaits the false swearer in the life to come? With what tremblings of heart
with what confusion of face
will he appear before the Judge of all the earth
whose authority he contain
el
and whose name he prostituted? The whole scene
of his iniquity will then be disclosed
in the presence of an assembled world
in the presence of Christ and the holy angels. He must then lie down in shame
and everlasting contempt. (Andrew Donnan.)
Neither shalt thou profane
the name of thy God.
Against profaning the name of God
I. The
signification of the terms.
II. The nature of
the several vices included in this prohibition.
1. The highest and most presumptuous degree is perjury; when a man
solemnly calls God to witness to the truth of that which he either knows to be
false or does not know to be true.
2. The next degree is that indecent
as well as wicked
custom of
rash swearing in common conversation.
3. Scoffing
blaspheming
or speaking reproachfully of religion. This
is what the Psalmist reckons in the highest degree of sins
where he
distinguishes offenders into three several ranks (Psalms 1:1).
4. Careless and inconsiderate vows. When the matter of them is
unjust
as in the case of the Corban among the Jews
who hypocritically
dedicated that to the service of God and for the use of the Temple
which they
ought to have employed in relieving the necessities of their destitute parents
(Mark 7:2). Or when the matter of a vow is
impossible or unreasonable
or the thing vowed be unprofitable and of no
tendency to promote true religion
or the manner of making the vow be rash and
irreligious.
5. Too frequent familiar and irreverent mention of God in ordinary
conversation
without an habitual sense and just awe of Him upon our minds; men
are very apt to run into some degree of the fault forbidden here.
III. The argument
brought to enforce the prohibition. “I am the Lord.” The Lord
that is
he
whose sovereignty and supreme dominion or authority over us gives Him a right
to demand
and whose continual mercy and goodness towards us gives Him reason
to expect that we should
in an equal sense both of duty and gratitude
pay all
possible obedience to Him. The Lord
who made and governs all things
whose
power is irresistible
and His kingdom infinite and eternal
who will not be
mocked
nor hold them guiltless that take His name in vain. Will not hold them
guiltless; that is
will certainly and severely punish them. (S. Clarke
D.
D.)
On profaning the name of God
I. An oath is an
appeal to the supreme being
as Judge of the truth of what we assert
whose
omniscience knows the secrets of our hearts
knows whether what we declare be
correspondent or not to the conviction of our minds
and whose justice will
accordingly either favour or be avenged of us; it is the submitting to God
the
invisible Judge
and imploring His protection
or imprecating His vengeance
according to the truth or falsehood of what we affirm.
II. Let us next
observe what it is to profane the name of God.
1. This is done when we use it without due consideration and
reverence
or when we use it in an unlawful action. We are directed to sanctify
the Lord our God
i.e.
to form such holy conceptions of His great and
adorable nature as may lead us to a suitable return of reverential homage. And
yet how common is it
on the most slight and unimportant occasions
to hear men
utter inconsiderately the name of God when neither the subject of their
thoughts is so weighty
nor the temper of their minds so serious
as to justify
the use of it.
2. But further
the name of God is in a peculiar manner profaned when
we invoke His presence to an unlawful action
and summon Him
as it were
to be
a spectator of our guilt. This is a sin of more than common magnitude; it is an
open defiance to the power and justice of the Almighty
and an insult on almost
all the perfections of the Divine nature.
III. I proceed to
offer some considerations on the guilt of habitually profaning the name of God
in conversation. No one instructed
in the first rudiments of religion can be ignorant of the flagitious nature of
this sin (Exodus 20:7). In the New Testament our
Saviour says
“Swear not at all.” And by the vehemence expressed by St. James we
may reasonably judge that he considered this sin of habitually profaning the
name of God as a sin of no small weight. “Above all things
my brethren
” says
he
“swear not.” But why “above all things
” if not because it is a sin in a
peculiar manner hateful and offensive in the sight of God? The passionate man
may plead the fire of a warm disposition; the gloomy sullenness of the morose
may urge the power of an unhappy complexion; but the profaner of the name of
God has no such plea. Common reason teaches us to reverence the majesty of the
Supreme Being; and no corruption of our nature tempts us to profane that name
which we all know it is our duty to adore. But further
besides the guilt of
this practice in itself
it unhappily leads to a sin of a still more enormous
magnitude--to that of perjury. This should incline all to contribute their
endeavours by advice
by example
by reproof
or any other method
to suppress
the common practice of profaning the name of God; since the pernicious sin of
perjury
by which the character
property
or life of any person whatever may
be endangered--a sin which has a tendency to destroy all mutual confidence
and
to subvert all civil society--is in a great degree owing to it. I shall
conclude with some short admonitions
in order to prevent the growth or
continuance of this sin.
1. He who would avoid the habit or custom must beware of the first
step or tendency to it. It is a maxim in spiritual as well as bodily disorders
to check the first appearance of a disease
lest it should grow inveterate
and
at length incurable. And
therefore
we should do well to avoid all vehemence
of assertion
all violence of passion
as dangerous approaches to this sin.
2. We may observe the danger of yielding to the first impulses of
passion
since even an apostle
in a short space of time
was led on from a
bare denial to bitter and violent imprecations. When the mind is hurried on by
the impetuosity of violent passion
oaths are often found the readiest way to
discharge the heat of resentment; and the mind
not under the conduct of
reason
vents a sinful passion by a more sinful execration.
3. Let us possess our minds with the most respectful and awful
sentiments of the greatness and goodness and majesty of the Supreme Being. This
is the most rational and effectual means to prevent us from prostituting and
profaning His sacred name. Let us ever preserve an awful and reverential regard
for the majesty of Heaven; let us not speak or think of God but with
veneration; let the words of our mouth
as well as the meditations of our
heart
be ever acceptable in His sight; let us ever consult His honour
and
“Hallowed be His name.” (G. Carr
B. A.)
A just rebuke
After Dr. Scudder’s return from India
he was on a steamboat with
his son
when he heard a person using profane language. Accosting him
he said
“This boy was born and brought up in a heathen country and a land of idolatry;
but in all his life he never heard a man blaspheme his Maker until now.” The
man apologised and moved away ashamed.
Profanity
Profanity is the tribute which the devil’s servants pay to their
master as token of allegiance. (New Handbook of Illustration.)
Verse 13
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour.
Against fraud
I. The purchaser
is guilty of fraud when he makes use of falsehood or low cunning to diminish
the value of any commodity in the estimation of its proprietor. He likewise
defrauds his neighbour when he takes advantage of his ignorance to obtain
anything for less than its real value; when he receives any part of his
property and applies it to his own use
without being careful to make him the
equitable return
at the
time when he may reasonably expect it; and lastly
when he makes that wise and
merciful institution of the legislature
which was only intended for the
security of those whom misfortune hath rendered incapable of answering the
demands of equity
a protection for extravagance and knavery.
2. The seller defrauds his neighbour when he takes advantage of the
ignorance or mistakes of the purchaser
or makes use of arts to impose upon his
judgment.
3. The master
or he who employs labourers under him for hire
acts a
dishonest part when he lays upon them burdens too heavy to be borne; when he
requires harder or longer labour from them than was at first agreed upon
without making them a proportionable acknowledgment; or when he deprives them
of their wages
or withholds them beyond a reasonable time.
4. The labourer
or servant
acts contrary to the rules of equity
and defrauds his neighbour when
without good reason
he quits the business he
hath undertaken and leaves his master in difficulty; when he performs his
engagements in a negligent and defective manner; or when he takes advantage of
the confidence which his master hath placed in him
to embezzle or injure his
property. I proceed to lay before you the principal argument
to guard you
against all the low arts of fraud and deceit
and to enforce the observance of
the strictest honour and most perfect equity in your dealings.
I. And
in the
first place
let it be considered that the observance of the injunction of the
text is of the highest importance to the welfare of society. What would be the
consequence if injustice and knavery were daily to gain ground in the world
and at last to become universally prevalent? surely nothing less than universal
confusion and wretchedness. On the contrary
were all unrighteousness and
deceit banished from the earth
what a long train of evils would take their
flight with them I what uninterrupted peace and harmony
what perfect
satisfaction and happiness would ensue!
II. But it may be
observed
farther
that the virtue of honesty is of essential importance to the
happiness of individuals. The honest man is most secure from disappointment in business
and has the fairest prospect of success in his undertakings. It often happens
that the artful and designing knave is discovered
and his schemes of iniquity
are blasted
before he hath accomplished his purpose. After much care and
labour
and many fears and anxieties
he may very possibly betray himself and
frustrate his own designs. But the honest man pursues the plain and beaten path
of diligence
prudence and integrity
till he gradually obtains a competence
which he can behold with satisfaction and enjoy with pleasure. Honesty is
likewise the best guard of our reputation. Let two men be in every other
respect equal; if the one have the character of an upright and good man
and
the other be deemed treacherous and fraudulent
it will be no difficult thing
to determine which will be generally espoused
employed and assisted
and which
will be treated with neglect and contempt. The honest man likewise enjoys the
continual happiness of being satisfied from himself. If he enjoys an abundance
of the good things of life
he hath the happiness to reflect that it is the
fruit of his honest industry and the blessing of heaven. Or if he meets with
disappointment and trouble
he hath this for his consolation
that “they have
not befallen him for any iniquity in his hands”; and can triumph
if not in the
success of his undertakings
in the innocence of his life. Let it be
remembered
in the last place
that all injustice and fraud are highly
displeasing to the Almighty
and that uprightness and honour will always be
acceptable in His sight. (W. Enfield.)
Unjust dealing repudiated
A customer of Messrs. Thomas Adams and Co.
of Nottingham
from whom they were in the habit of receiving considerable orders
requested
that besides Thomas Adams and Co’s ticket
the firm would affix the ticket of
this customer
marked with a larger number of yards than was really in the
piece. Pressure having been put on some of the salesmen
the thing had actually
been done a few times
when it was brought under the notice of Mr. Adams. At
that period trade was exceedingly bad
and orders scarce
yet
as soon as he
was apprised of the facts
he holdly declared to his customer that he could be
no party to a transaction so unjust
and that such misleading tickets could not
again be affixed to goods going forth from his warehouse. The customer was
exceedingly angry at this practical rebuke of his injustice
and withdrew all
his orders immediately. After a time
however
he reopened the account on a
scale as large as ever
and was content to deal with Mr. Adams on his own
terms. (H. A. Page.)
Sad result of an unpaid bill
A wealthy banker
who is noted for his large subscriptions to
charities
and for his kindly habits of private benevolence
was called on by
his pastor
one evening
and asked to go with him to the help of a man who had
attempted suicide. They found the man in a wretched house
in an alley not far
from the banker’s dwelling. The front room was a cobbler’s shop; behind it
on
a miserable bed
in the kitchen
lay the poor shoemaker
with a gaping gash in
his throat
while his wife and children were gathered about him. “We have been
without food for days
” said the woman
when he returned. “It is not my
husband’s fault. He is a hard-working
sober man. But he could neither get
work
nor pay for that which he had done. To-day he went for the last time to
collect a debt due to him by a rich family
but the gentleman was not at home.
My husband was weak from fasting
and seeing us starving drove him mad. So it
ended that way
” turning to the fainting
motionless figure on the bed. The
banker
having fed and warmed the family
hurried home
opened his desk and
took out a file of little bills. All his large debts were promptly met
but he
was apt to be careless about the accounts of milk
bread
&c.
because they
were so petty. He found there a bill of Michael Goodlow’s for repairing
children’s shoes
£2.
Michael Goodlow was the suicide. It was the banker’s unpaid debt which had
brought these people to the verge of the grave
and driven this man to
desperation
while
at the very time
the banker had given away hundreds in
charity. The cobbler recovered
and will never want a friend while the banker
lives
nor will a small unpaid bill ever again be found on the banker’s table.
No man has a right to be generous until his debts are paid; and the most efficient use
of money is not alone in almsgiving
but to pay liberally and promptly the
people whom we employ.
The wages of him that is
hired.
Fairness to hired labourers
I. Work is a just
basis for an equitable claim. Therefore it should be paid for
not
patronisingly
nor grudgingly
but as a due. The labourer has given you his
time
strength
ability
and ingenuity; he has a right to an equivalent from
you
and should not be treated ignominiously
but respectfully
in asking a
just return.
II. Wages cannot
righteously re deferred after work is done. During a day of toil the labourer
has put his capital into your service
spent his life for that period for your
advantage and gain. You are to that extent his debtor; to detain his wages is
to make yourself more his debtor
and delay in payment should be compensated
with increment. “Short reckonings make long friends.”
III. Masters should
study the position and comfort of those they employ. A poor man has no capital
wants prompt settlement; he lives day by day upon his hard earnings. His
strength--expended by the day’s toil--must be replenished for the morrow’s
work. To hold back the means for his nourishment is to rob him of the morrow’s
capital
his replenished energy. And he may have dependants in his lowly home
waiting to share in the earnings of the day. Hold not back his dues “all night
until the morning
” lest your inconsiderateness inflict privation and embitter
poverty (Deuteronomy 24:14-15; Jeremiah 32:13; Malachi 3:5; James 5:4). (W. H. Jellie.)
God’s consideration for hired labourers
What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One that inhabiteth
eternity can take knowledge of the thoughts and feelings that spring up in the
heart of a poor labourer. He knows and takes into account the expectations of
such an one in reference to the fruit of his day’s toil. The wages will
naturally
be looked for. The labourer’s heart counts upon them; the family
meal depends upon them. Oh I let them not be held back. Send not the labourer
home with a heavy heart
to make the heart of his wife and family heavy
likewise. By all means give him that for which he has wrought
to which he has
a right
and on which his heart is set. Thus does our God take notice of the
very throbbings of the labourer’s heart
and make provision for his rising
expectations. Precious grace! Most tender
thoughtful
touching
condescending
love! The bare contemplation of such statutes is sufficient to throw one into a
flood of tenderness. Could any one read them and thoughtlessly dismiss a poor
labourer
not knowing whether he and his family have wherewithal to meet the
cravings of hunger? (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Debt forbidden
Far from defrauding
or withholding what is due to thy neighbour
thou shalt not even delay giving him what he is entitled to. This precept is
directly pointed against incurring debt. Fraudulent bankruptcies
and pretexts
for withholding payments
are condemned by it; but remaining in debt to any one
is also pointedly condemned. “Owe no man anything
but to love one another.” In
James 5:4
this is spoken of as a sin of
the last days. (A. A. Bonar)
.
Verse 14
Thou shalt not curse the deaf.
The weak protected
I. The meanness of
the conduct here rebuked. Dishonourable dealing
commercial sharp-practice
trading upon the defects of others
issuing delusive prospectuses to entrap the
unwary
traducing our fellows behind their backs so that they cannot learn and
answer the charges brought against them--all such action deserves our
reprobation and avoidance. The natural ills of humanity call for commiseration
and help
rather than for ridicule and maltreatment. Where weakness has been
self-incurred
where ignorance is wilful
there is less need of sympathy. Let
our young people be early imbued with the feeling that it is wrong to trample
upon the defenceless.
II. The way to
guard against invasion of the rights of others. “But shalt fear thy God.”
1. Reverence for Jehovah is the best security against violation of
His statutes. Remember
that to transgress is to grieve our heavenly Father
to
show ourselves unmindful of His claims.
2. The omniscience of Jehovah should restrain from the commission of
unfair deeds. He hears every word and sees every act
though the deaf and the
blind cannot. Let not mean
cowardly performances expect to pass unnoticed
unpunished.
III. The comfort the
weak may derive from the knowledge that they are under the protection of god.
He is seen to cherish them
to make provision for their need; He puts His
strong right arm around them
shelters them under His wing. We cannot believe
that His fostering care is denied to any class of the infirm
in body
mind
or
spirit. (S. R. Aldridge
B. A.)
Protection of the infirm
Persons stricken with some defect which renders them helpless
stand under God’s special protection; it would be heartless and impious to
“curse the deaf
” who is unaware of the attacks made upon him
which may
involve calumnies
and which he is unable to rebut; and it would be cruel
indeed to “put a stumbling-block before the blind
” to whom every right-minded
man should be eager to “serve as eyes”; a crime like the latter was publicly
cursed on Mount Ebal; and in both eases the law warns the offender
“Thou shalt
fear thy God
” who hears if there is no other ear to listen
who sees if there
is no other eye to see
and who
to punish thy wickedness
can strike thee with
the same afflictions: hence the same menace
“Thou shalt fear thy God
” is
repeated with respect to the treatment
of old and infirm men
of poor persons
of dependents
and servants. Philo
inveighs vehemently against the inhumanity here forbidden
and observes that
those who are guilty of it
“would not spare even the dead
in the excess of
their cruelty
but according to a common proverb
would slay the slain again.”
Jewish tradition applies the second command of our verse figuratively to
insidious advice or false information given to a man who is in ignorance or
perplexity
whether on some question of learning or on some matter of business.
The law of Man inflicts a pecuniary fine upon any one who taunts a person with
being one-eyed or lame or deformed. (M. M. Kalisch
Ph. D.)
No advantage to be taken of incapacity
This base action of reviling or cursing a deaf person is here condemned.
But that is not all; there is something more forbidden by this law; for it
seems to be of a proverbial nature
and the general meaning is
Thou shalt not
take the sordid advantage of a man’s incapacity to defend himself
and hurt him
either in his body
his fortunes
or his reputation. To abuse an absent person
to calumniate people in secret
to attack another’s reputation in the dark and
in disguise
to defame those who are dead
to hurt in any manner those who are
unable to help and redress themselves
all this may be called
To curse the
deaf. (J. Jortin
D. D.)
The absent not to be slandered
So did St. Augustine
that worthy father
abhor this vice
that
over his table where he dined he wrote two verses
to tell all them that sat
with him
if they carped at any person absent
that table was not for them
nor
the guests welcome to him. (Bp. Babington.)
Verse 15
In righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
On judging our neighbour in righteousness
To judge our neighbour in righteousness
it is our duty to
consider those motives which may corrupt our judgment. When we set ourselves to
reflect how far we have cultivated this species of justice
we deceive ourselves
by quoting the examples of those who have become dear to us from particular
circumstances; by citing the judgments we have made of friends
of kindred
of
men who have embarked with us in common designs
and been actuated by the same
principles. Doubtless
we are just enough in all these instances; here we feel
real sorrow at the faults of others
and do all
and even more than the most
righteous judges ought to do; but if we really
and faithfully
wish to fulfil
this great duty
we are to examine how far we have righteously judged those to
whom we never have been connected in friendship; those whom chance has
separated from us by rank
and wealth; nature by talents; education by
opinions; those who have been opposed to us in questions which try the
passions; those from whom we have suffered disrespect
injury
and contempt.
If
in the awful moments of self-judgment
we can satisfy ourselves that we
never wished that calumny to be
true which accorded with our warmest passions; that we have never been
disappointed by that innocence which baffled our resentment
that the
infirmities of our nature have rarely stifled this tenderness for the good fame
of others; then
and not till
then
are we entitled to conceive that we have obeyed this precept of the Scriptures
and judged
our fellow creatures in righteousness. (S. Smith
M. A.)
Just judgment to be administered
There must be in us no affectation of kindness to the poor
any
more than fawning flattery of the great. Especially in matters of judgment the
judge must be impartial. The eye of God is on him; and as He is a just God
and
without iniquity
He delights to see His own attributes shadowed forth in the
strict integrity of an earthly judge. If these are God’s holy principles
ah!
then the misery and oppression and suffering of the lower classes will in no
way serve as a reason for their acquittal at His bar
if they be found guilty.
Suffering in this world is no blotting out of sin. Hence
we find at Christ’s
appearing “the great men and the mighty men
and every bondman
” cried to the
rocks
“Fall on us
and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the
throne” (Revelation 7:15). (A. A. Bonar.)
Righteous judgment
The power of the court of Areopagus at Athens was very
great; and it is said to have been the first court that ever determined upon
questions of life and death. It was customary to bold its sittings in the night
only
and without light. The reason of this singular practice is said to have
been
that the members might not be prejudiced for or against any accused
person
by seeing his gestures and looks. Truth only was regarded
and no
attempt to warp the opinion of the judges was permitted. (Univ. Hist.)
Impartiality in judgment
The Grecians placed justice betwixt Leo and Libra
thereby
signifying that there must not be only courage in executing
but also
indifferency in determining. The Egyptians express the same by the
hieroglyphical figure of man without hands
winking with his eyes; whereby is
meant an uncorrupt judge
who hath no hands to receive bribes
no eyes to
behold the person of the poor
or respect the person of the rich. And before
our tribunals
we commonly have the picture of a man holding a balance in one hand
and a sword in the other
signfying by the balance
just judgment; by the
sword
execution of judgment. For as the balance putteth no difference between
gold and lead
but giveth an equal or unequal poise to them both
not giving a
greater weight to the gold for the excellency of the metal because it is gold
nor a less to the lead for the baseness of it because it is lead: so they were
with an even hand to weigh the poor man’s cause as well as the rich. But it is
most notably set out by the throne of the house of David (Psalms 122:5)
which was placed in the
gate of the city toward the sun rising; in the gate
to signify that all which
came in and out by the gate of the city might indifferently be heard
the poor
as well as the rich
and might have free access and regress to and from the
judgment-seat; and toward the rising of the sun
in token that their judgment
should be as clear from corruption as the sun is clear in his chiefest
brightness. (J. Spencer.)
Verse 16
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer.
Talebearing and slander
I. Character is in
the keeping
and therefore at the mercy of acquaintances.
1. Therefore supremely value each other’s good name.
2. Jealously defend a worthy reputation.
3. Scornfully silence the unproved rumours of evils.
II. Character may
be ruthlessly shattered by sinister whisperings.
1. For listeners are ready to entertain and repeat slander. “Man’s
inhumanity to man!”
2. Aspersions feed on the inventiveness of malice.
3. Reputation is easily damaged. That which only a lifetime can build
an hour may defame.
III. Character is so
precious that its traducers should be loathed.
1. Dread a talebearer as a destroying pestilence.
2. He who wrongs another’s reputation may next wrong yours. By
heeding his slanders you” encourage his vile trade
and slander must find new
victims!
3. Put to shame all talebearers with ruthless severity.
Note--
1. There is enough of woe abroad without increasing it.
2. As we need our many evils to be pitied by man and pardoned by God
let us with “charity hide sins
” not expose them.
3. There is grace in Christ
and energy in the Holy Spirit
by which
to perfect a good life and win a good name
which even enemies of religion
shall be unable to defame or destroy.
4. The light of the final judgment will refute all slander
and bring
every secret thing to the open gaze of the world. (W. H. Jellie.)
Mischief of talebearing
The carrying of a tale
and reporting what such an one said or
such an one did
is the way to sow such grudges
to kindle such heart-burnings
between persons
as oftentimes break forth and flame to the consumption of
families
courts
and perhaps at length of cities and kingdoms. The mischief
such incendiaries do is incredible
as being indeed for the most part
inevitable. And a vine or a rose-tree may as well flourish when there is a
secret worm lurking and gnawing at the root of them
as the peace of those
societies thrive that have such concealed plagues wrapt up in their hearts and
bowels. (R. South.)
Scandal rebuked
One day
in the presence of a pious tanner
at Elberfield
some people were tearing their neighbours’ characters to pieces. Diedrich
the
tanner
was silent. “You say nothing
” said they. “You see
” replied he
“I am
a little like a bankrupt. He may be engaged in a most animated conversation
but I have always remarked
when the subject turns upon bankruptcy
he is
suddenly dumb. I
too
am a bankrupt; the defects you are just reproaching your
neighbours with I find in myself
and that shuts my mouth.” (Pastor
Krummacher.)
Talebearing condemned
The following is related of the late J. J. Gurney
by one
who
as a child
was often of his family circle:--One night--I remember it
well--I received a severe lesson on the sin of evil speaking. Severe I thought
it then
and my heart rose in childish anger against him who gave it; but I had
not lived long enough in this world to know how much mischief a child’s
thoughtless talk may do
and how often it happens that great talkers run off
from the straight line of truth. I was talking very fast about some female
relative
who did not stand very high in my esteem
and was about to speak
further of her failings of temper. In a few moments my eyes caught a look of
such calm and steady displeasure
that I stopped short. There was no mistaking
the meaning of that dark
speaking eye; it brought the colour to my face
and
confusion and shame to my heart. I was silent for a few moments
when Joseph
John Gurney asked
very gravely
“Dost thou not know any good thing to tell us
of her?” I did not answer. The question
was more seriously asked
“Think; is there nothing good thou canst tell us of
her?” “Oh yes
I know some good things
certainly
but--” “Would it not have
been better
then
to relate these good things than to have told us that which
must lower her in our esteem? Since there is good to relate
would it not be
kinder to be silent on the evil? Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity
thou knowest.” (Great Thoughts.)
The talebearer
One celebrated nation of antiquity used to express this
man’s character by a very significant figure. They called a talebearer a “seed
picker.” They gave him the same name which they used for a bird which goes
about everywhere picking up seeds. There are men in the world who live by their
seed collecting; by going about here and there from house to house
and
gathering together all the little stories which can be told or made about the
neighbours who are dwelling all the time securely by them and ignorant of the
calumnies by which they are assailed. Yes
the “seed collector
” the man who
goes about gathering anecdotes
great and small
about his neighbours
and
retailing them again as he goes
is a common character everywhere. I wish that
I could hold up the mirror to him for his own conviction. I am sure he would be
ashamed
I believe he would be sorry if he saw himself faithfully pourtrayed. (Dean
Vaughan.)
Verse 17
Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy brother.
Am I my brother’s keeper
I. The ill-conduct
of a neighbour demands a personal rebuke.
1. This injunction supposes cognisance of another’s actions. Man was
made for society
and its value consists greatly in taking an affectionate
interest in those about us.
2. It is often easier for a bystander to detect a fault than for the
one actively concerned in the deed. Our friend may be in ignorance of his
guilt
and a word of reproof may open his eyes. What we imagined way done with
intent may prove to have been thoughtlessly wrought.
3. The text inculcates what is acknowledged to be a hard duty
one
which most are willing to relegate to others. We may fear some cutting retort
“Who made thee a judge over us?” We know that our neighbour’s vanity may be
wounded
and he may inflict some blow in return. Perhaps the duty is most
difficult when the wrong has been perpetrated upon ourselves. Pride urges us to
keep silence
and we nourish a sentiment of undeserved injury which rather
flatters our conception of ourselves. Yet Jesus Christ re-enforced the law.
4. Regard for God demands the observance of the text. Every
transgression is sin against Him.
5. The welfare of our neighbour requires it.
II. To rebuke a
neighbour is the
surest method to prevent our hating him for his evil action.
1. Hatred proceeds from the perception of something repugnant to our
feelings
and
in the case
supposed
of something that is distasteful to our moral sentiments. An outrage
upon good taste is committed--a deed that is offensive to our judgment of what
is congruous to
the relationship and circumstances under consideration. This just resentment
will be soothed by the recantation and improvement of the transgressor
consequent on the reproof administered. We learn to distinguish between the
sinner and the sin.
2. Our perception of wrong is clearer and more intense when the
injury is done to ourselves
and the hatred threatens to become stronger. The
picture is directed towards ourselves
and we get a good front view of it. It
is the more necessary
therefore
to take steps to abate ensuing enmity. We
shall relieve our burdened breasts by expressing our sense of the
unrighteousness of our neighbour’s behaviour
the utterance of resentment being
a sentence of condemnation that satisfies to a certain extent our love of
justice. Holy indignation will have been vented
and to that degree appeased.
3. On the other hand
the repression of reproof aggravates hatred.
The concealment of our knowledge genders a sore that spreads till our every
sight and thought of the man is one of utter dislike. By the sin of a brother
we ourselves are thus betrayed into dire sin against the very purport of the
Decalogue. We do not love
but hate our neighbour
and “he that hateth his
brother is a murderer.” Whereas “if he hear thee
thou hast gained thy
brother.” Thy reproof may be “an excellent oil
which shall not break his
head.”
III. The reproof
will discharge us from all guilt of tacit participation in our neighbour’s sin.
The marginal rendering is preferable
“that thou bear not sin for him” or “on
his account.” To witness a crime and not make an endeavour to stop it is to be
an abettor of it. (S. R. Aldridge
B. A.)
On reproving sin in others
I. The Christian
duty of reproving sin in others.
1. Duty to God.
Now from these three principles arises the duty of the Christian
to reprove sin in his brother
for he may say
“I cannot sincerely love God if
I do not aim to please Him;
I cannot be a child of God and suffer sin in my brother; I cannot be conformed
to the example of Christ without aiming to counteract sin; I cannot but aim to
destroy all that is opposed to the mind and will of God
and that is contrary
to His glory.” Here are three principles
then
to guide us
better than any
especial rule. If it be asked
Shall I do good? or
How shall I do it? or
Will
it be prudent to do it now? or
May not others do it better than I?--to all
these inquiries the Christian may present these three principles as an answer.
The God I love is displeased by sin; He is insulted--He is dishonoured.
2. Duty to neighbour. Love him as self. No outward act of what is
called “good fellowship
” no degree of goodwill or social intercourse can
possibly make up for neglect of the soul. Now the exhortation in the text comes
enforced by our duty to our neighbour. For what is it which is most injurious
to our brother? It is sin. And shall I suffer sin on him? I should grieve
if I
were to see him on the brink of a precipice or surrounded with devouring
flames; if I saw that in his bosom was concealed a venomous serpent
or that he
was about to lift a cup of deadly poison to his lips! And how
then
shall I
suffer sin upon my brother?
II. The
difficulties in the way of discharging this duty.
1. There are a number of circumstantial difficulties
but these I
shall not dwell upon here.
2. The chief difficulties are in the heart of the Christian himself.
(a) The weakness of religious principle;
(b) The strength of corruption.
Brotherly admonition
I. What brotherly
reproof or correction is. It is an act of love and charity
whereby we
endeavour to reduce our offending brother to repentance and reformation.
1. By words. Remonstrating to them the greatness of their sin; the
scandal which they give to others
either by encouraging or saddening them; the
reproach which they bring upon religion; and the danger which they bring upon
their own souls.
2. Where words have proved ineffectual
we may try how deeds can
prevail--prevail
I say
either to deliver them
or
at least
to deliver thine
own soul from death.
And to these two things are necessarily previous and antecedent--
1. Instruction and conviction. Could we but skilfully convince our
brother by representing the odiousness of such and such sins
to which we know
he is addicted
possibly we might spare ourselves in that which is the most
ungrateful part of this work--I mean personal reflection
and leave it to his
own conscience to reprove himself
and to apply it home with “Thou art the
man.” And--
2. It is necessary that we watch over our brother
not so as to be
insidious spies upon him
officiously to pry into his actions
and busily to
concern ourselves in all he doth.
II. But indeed
which is the second thing
it is not so hard a matter to know what it is as it
is difficult conscientiously and faithfully to practise it
1. Many are afraid to reprove sin
lest they should incur
displeasure
weaken their secular interest
ruin their dependencies
and bring
some mischief upon themselves by exasperating the offenders against them. But
these are poor
low
carnal considerations. Where matter of duty is in
question
it is very necessary for every Christian to be of an undaunted courage
and resolution.
2. Others
again
are ashamed to reprove sin. And whereas many
profligate wretches glory in their shame
these
on the contrary
are ashamed
of that which would be their glory. Either they doubt they shall be thought but
troublesome and hypocritical inter-meddlers
or else
possibly
being conscious
to themselves of many miscarriages
they suspect their reproofs will be
upbraidingly retorted upon themselves; and so
by reproving the faults of
others
they shall but give an occasion to have their own ripped up and
exposed
and so they think it the safer way to say nothing.
III. It is a most
necessary duty. The greatest good you can do in the world is to pluck up these
briars and thorns with which it is overgrown.
IV. I shall give
you some brief rules and directions when you ought to reprove
and how you
ought to manage your reproofs
so as they may be most beneficial to your
brother. And some of them shall be negatives
and others shall be positives.
1. For the negative rules take these that follow.
2. Let us now proceed to lay down some positive rules and directions
for the right managing of our reproofs. And here--
(a) Presently
as soon as the sin is committed; for then the heat is
not over
nor the uproar of the passions and affections appeased. In all
likelihood a reproof as yet would but irritate. Nor yet--
(b) Is a time of mirth and joy fit for reproof; for that will look
like a piece of envy
as if we were malicious at their prosperity
and
therefore studied to cast in somewhat that might disturb them
and so they will
be apt to interpret it. Nor--
(c) Is a time of exceeding great sadness and sorrow a proper season
for reproof; for this will look like hostility and hatred
as if we designed
utterly to overwhelm and dispatch them. But the fittest opportunity for this
duty is when they are most calm
their passions hushed
and their reason (with
which you are to deal) again reseated upon its throne.
V. Some MOTIVES
which may quicken you to the conscientious discharge of this duty. And here
next to the express command of Almighty God
whose authority alone ought to
prevail against all the difficulties which we either find or fancy in the way
of obedience thereunto
consider the great benefit which may redound both to
the reprover and reproved.
1. To the reprover.
2. The practice of this duty will be greatly profitable unto him that
is reproved. How knowest thou but it may be a means to turn him from his
iniquity? and so thou shalt prevent a multitude of sins and save a soul from
death (James 5:20). (Bp. E. Hopkins.)
The duty of brotherly admonition or reproof
I. Explain the
duty. “We are members one of another.” Then I may not act with a view to myself
alone. If there be thus an obligation on me
from the very fact of my creation
to have reference in all which I do to the benefit of my brethren
how am I to
shift off from myself the duty of brotherly admonition or reproof? If I see
that a brother or neighbour is pursuing a course which is likely to provoke
God’s wrath
and must issue in ruin
then it can be no matter of option with
me; I must be altogether and grievously at fault if I “suffer sin upon him
”
and do not strive to bring him to repentance and amendment. It is bound on us
that we do this by word
seeking to set faithfully before the offender the
bitter consequences of his offence-invoking him by his hopes and his fears that
he turn away from evil. The righteous have not protested against wickedness by
boldly separating themselves from it. They have denounced heresy and impiety
but they have not been sufficiently diligent in digging the gulf or throwing up
the rampart between themselves and those whom they profess to rebuke.
II. State rules and
motives.
1. There must be a diligent and prayerful observation of both the
relative and the absolute circumstances of the offending party
so that we may
decide whether the interference is likely to be spurned as an unwarrantable
intrusion or provoke to additional sin.
2. Supposing that neither of these results be likely to follow
and
supposing the offending party is one who
if I reproach
he may probably be
advantaged by reproof
then we give
as a second rule
that an exact proportion
should be preserved between the offence committed and the rebuke which it
receives. It is very easy
but
at the same time
infinitely removed from all
that is Christian
to upbraid the shiner in place of rebuking the sin. Whereas
if we would act up to the spirit of our text
the rebuke should never part from
our lips which has not the double object of love for the offender and hatred of
the offence. The brotherly correction
which alone can be expected to work its
way to the heart
must bear upon itself the evident marks of having been
dictated by genuine affection.
3. The reproof should be given privately rather than publicly.
4. If you hope that your admonition may carry any weight
take heed
that you be not yourself chargeable with the fault that you reprove in another.
The force of example is vastly greater than that of words
and the reproof
which rebounds on itself leaves no permanent impression on the rock against
which it was thrown.
5. These are simple rules
which you may all understand and apply.
Their motives are so involved in them that it is unnecessary to multiply
reasons urging to the duty under review. Enough for us to know that he who
neglects the duty suffers sin on his brother; enough for us to be assured that
“they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as stars for ever and ever.”
And equipped with the fear of partaking in the guilt which we do not rebuke
and with the hope of securing the glories of those who turn souls to the Lord
we have all which can brace us up to the vigorous effort of checking the rule and
progress of impiety. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
The duty of reproving our neighbour
I. What duty is
enjoined
and what should be rebuked.
1. TO tell any one of his fault
“Thou shalt not suffer sin upon
him.” Sin
therefore
is the thing we are called to reprove
or rather him that
commits sin. Do all we can to convince him of his fault
and lead him in the
right way.
2. Love requires that we should also warn him of error
which would
naturally lead to sin.
3. Avoid reproving for anything that is disputable.
II. Who they are we
are called to reprove.
1. There are some sinners we are forbidden to rebuke. “Cast not your
pearls before swine.”
2. Our “neighbour” is every child of man
all that have souls to be
saved.
3. The reproving is not to be done in the same degree to every one.
First
it is particularly done to our parents
if needing it; then to brothers
and sisters; then to relatives; then to our servants; to our fellow-citizens;
members of the same religious society; watch over each other that we may not suffer
sin upon our brother. To neglect this is to “hate our brother in our heart”;
and “he that hateth his brother is a murderer.” It imperils our own salvation
to neglect this duty.
III. What spirit and
manner should mark our performance of this duty.
1. There is considerable difficulty in doing it aright. Although some
are specially qualified to do it by grace
and skilful by practice. But
though
difficult
we must do it; and God will aid us.
2. How most effectual? When done in “the spirit of love
” of tender
goodwill fur our neighbour
as for one who is the son of our common Father
as
for one for whom Christ died
that he might be a partaker of salvation.
3. Yet speak in the spirit of humility. “Not think of yourself more
highly than you ought to think.” Not feeling or showing the least contempt of
those whom you reprove; disclaiming all self-superiority; owning the good there
is in him.
4. In the spirit of meekness. “For the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.” Anger begets anger
not holiness.
5. Put no trust in yourself; in your wisdom or abilities; speak in
the spirit of prayer.
6. And as for the outward manner
as well as the spirit
in which it
should be done; let there be a frank outspokenness
a plain and artless
declaration of disinterested love. It will pierce like lightning.
7. With great seriousness
showing that you are really in earnest. A
ludicrous reproof makes little impression
or is taken ill.
8. Yet there are exceptions when a little well-placed raillery will
pierce deeper than solid argument. “Answer a fool according to his folly
lest
he be wise in his own eyes.”
9. Adapt the manner to the occasion. By few or many words as the
situation determines; or by no words at all
but a look
a gesture
a sigh.
Such silent reproof may be attended by the power of God.
10. Watch for a fair occasion. “A word spoken in season
how good it
is.” Catch the time when his mind is soft and mild.
11. But should a man be left alone when intoxicated? I dare not say
so; for instances are forthcoming of a reproof then having had good effects.
Despise not the poor drunkard. Many of them are self-condemned
but they
despair. He that tells a man there is no help for him is a liar from the
beginning. “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”
12. You that are diligent in this labour of love be not discouraged.
You have need of patience. (John Wesley
M. A.)
Brotherly reproof
Can a physician show his love better than by telling his
patient his disease
and declaring unto him the means whereby to cure it? Can a
man
meeting his brother wandering out of his way in hills and dales
in woods
and wildernesses
show his love better unto him than by bringing him into the
way
and laying his error before his face? So that no man can give a sounder
testimony of his sincere heart and unfeigned love toward his brother than by
dealing plainly with him when he walketh not uprightly. For a friend is unto
the soul as physic unto the body
and the admonishing of our brother is as the
director of a traveller. Let us therefore suffer the word of exhortation.
Knowing that such as are out of order must be admonished
the feeble-minded
must be comforted
the weak must be strengthened
the evil must be reproved
the obstinate must be terrified and threatened. And let us not fret and rage
against our brethren when we are checked and controlled for our sins. It is a
sign we are persuaded and resolved to continue in our sins when we cannot abide
to be reproved
but are ready to say with Ahab: “Hast thou found me
O mine
enemy?” The Word of God is good to him that walketh uprightly; and we shall
find in the end
that open rebuke is better than secret love; yea
that the
wounds of a lover are faithful
and the kisses of an enemy are pleasant. (W.
Attersoll.)
Gentleness in reproof
It is written of Andrew Fuller that he could rarely be
faithful without being severe; and
in giving reproof
he was often betrayed
into intemperate zeal. Once
at a meeting of ministers
he took occasion to
correct an erroneous opinion delivered by one of his brethren
and he laid on
his censure so heavily that Ryland called out vehemently
in his own peculiar
tone of voice
“Brother Fuller! Brother Fuller! you can never admonish a
mistaken friend but you must take up a sledge-hammer and knock his brains out.”
Gentleness and affection should be evident in all our remonstrances; if nail be
dipped in oil it will drive the more readily. There is a medium in our
vehemence which discretion will readily suggest: we must not drown a child in
washing it
nor cut off a man’s foot to cure a corn. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A successful reprover
Instead of a long enumeration of the qualities required in a
successful reprover
we instance the case of Dr. Waugh. “At one of the
half-yearly examinations at the Protestant Dissenters’ Grammar School
Mill
Hill
the headmaster informed the examiners that he had been exceedingly tried
by the misconduct and perverseness of a boy who had done something very wrong
and who
though he acknowledged the fact
could not be brought to acknowledge
the magnitude of the offence. The examiners were requested to expostulate with
the boy
and try if he could be brought to feel and deplore it. Dr. Waugh was
solicited to undertake the task
and the boy was
in consequence
brought before
him. ‘How long have you been in the school
my boy?’ asked the doctor. ‘Four
months
sir.’ ‘When did you hear from your father last?’ ‘My father’s dead
sir.’ ‘Ah! alas the day! ‘tis a great loss--a great loss
that of a father; but
God can make it up to you
by giving you a tender
affectionate mother.’ On
this the boy
who had previously seemed as hard as a flint
began to soften.
The doctor proceeded: ‘Well
laddie
where is your mother?’ ‘On her vow-age
home from India
sir.’ ‘Ay I good news for you
my boy. Do you love your
mother?’ ‘Yes
sir.’ ‘And do you expect to see her soon?’ ‘Yes
sir.’ ‘Do you
think she loves you?’ ‘Yes
sir
I am sure of it.’ ‘Then think
my dear laddie
think of her feelings when she comes home
and finds that
instead of your being
in favour with every one
you are in such deep disgrace as to run the risk of
expulsion
and yet are too hardened to acknowledge that you have done wrong.
Winna ye break your poor mother’s heart
think ye? Just think o’ that
my lad.’
The little culprit burst into a flood of tears
acknowledged his fault
and
promised amendment.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Reproving a swearer
I will give you an instance of how you ought to reprove the
swearer
which I know to be true. It was by a friend of mine
and I don’t mind
telling you his name. He was a clergyman
now dead; he wrote some very valuable
books; his name was Benjamin Field. He was staying at a Brighton
boarding-house. At dinner
at the boarding-house
a young officer in the army
swore. At the dinner-table Mr. Field took no notice at all. He waited his
opportunity. In the evening
when Mr. Field came in from his walk
he found
this young man alone in the drawing-room. He said to him
“Sir
you hurt my
feelings very much at dinner.” The young gentleman said
“Did I? I am
exceedingly sorry. I don’t know what you refer to. Did I speak of a friend of
yours in a way you did not like?” “That is exactly what you did
” Mr. Field
replied. “You spoke of my greatest Friend in a way I did not like at all. You
swore. And God is my greatest Friend. And you spoke of my greatest Friend in a
way that pained me very much
and pained Him.” Mr. Field talked to this young
man a great deal; and he asked Mr. Field
before he left the room
to pray that
God would forgive him
and he did so; and every day
while Mr. Field stayed at
Brighton
he went up to that young man’s bedroom in the morning of the day
and
prayed with him. That was the way to reprove him. The result was
I believe
that young man was converted
turned to God by Mr. Field reproving him for
swearing. (J. Vaughan.)
Reproof a Christian duty
Who is so kind and gentle as the surgeon with his knife? He that
is to be cut cries
but cut he is; he that is to be cauterised cries
but
cauterised he is. This is not cruelty: on no account let that surgeon’s
treatment be called cruelty. Cruel he is against the wounded part
that the
patient may be cured; for if the wound be softly dealt with
the man is lost.
Thus
then
I would advise that we love our brethren howsoever they may have
sinned against us: that we let not affection toward them depart out of our
hearts; and that
when need is
we exercise discipline toward them
lest by
relaxation of discipline wickedness increase. (St. Augustine.)
Reproof hindered by consciousness of personal imperfection
A person who objects to tell a friend of his faults because he has
faults of his own acts as a surgeon would who should refuse to dress another
person’s wounds because he had a dangerous one himself. (R. Cecil.)
Meekness in reproving
A parishioner
notoriously culpable for his inadequate
discharge of certain official duties
received a private remonstrance from his
pastor
Dean Alford
the force of which he attempted to evade by angrily
retorting with a charge of negligence. In the course of the day the following
was sent to him by the vicar: “Regarding my own pastoral deficiencies
I
heartily thank you. I am deeply aware that I am not sufficient for these
things
and only wish my place were better filled. At the same time the
deficiencies of one man do not excuse another. Let us both strive
and pray
that we may be found diligent in our business
fervent in spirit
serving the
Lord our God
and do our best to live in charity and peace with one another
and with all men.
Believe me
your affectionate minister and friend
Henry Alford.”
Firmness in rebuke
When John Coleridge Patteson was at
Eton he was secretary of the
cricket eleven. The boys of the cricket and beat clubs had an annual dinner at
the hotel at Slough. On these occasions songs of a low moral tone were
sometimes sung. Patteson gave notice beforehand that he would not tolerate
this
and one of the lads having begun such a song
and no notice being taken
of his immediate remonstrance
he rose and left the dinnertable
a few others doing
the same. He followed up this protest with an intimation that he must leave the
club unless an apology were made; and his firmness gained the point and secured
a condemnation of the abuse.
Beneficial rebuke
A most profane swearer in the Royal Engineers was remonstrated
with by Sergeant Marjouram in New Zealand. He was disposed to be angry with his
reprover
but the latter said to him: “Well
if I were to get behind your back
and now and then give you a gentle push down the road to hell
I suppose you would
think me a better friend than you do now for warning you before it be too
late.” The man’s face quivered with emotion
and he rushed from the place He
soon returned however and exclaimed to his companions: “I’ll tell you what
chaps--I’m not going to lead this sort of life any longer
and to-morrow I
shall begin a change:” Formerly the majority of his words were oaths
but from
that day to the time of recording the incident
Marjouram did not hear him use
one.
Verse 18
Thou shalt not avenge.
Forgive and forget
In another place we read
“For vengeance is Mine
and I will
repay.” Wrest not God’s sword therefore out of His hand
sit not down in His
seat
nor make thyself a god
for fear of the end. Well
let Him go then
I
will not avenge
but sure I will remember Him; forgive I may
but never forget
&c. See what followeth in the very next words of this verse
“Neither shalt
thou be mindful of a wrong against the children of thy people.” “Remembering
”
then
you see
is condemned as well as “avenging
” and therefore it standeth
you upon both to forgive and to forget
or else the Lord shall forget you out
of His Book of Life. Nay
see more: all this is not yet enough
but we must
“love also our neighbours
and that even as ourselves
” or else we perish. For
“I am the Lord
” saith the verse
that is
One that seeth and hateth and will
smite thee in that strength that thou canst not resist nor endure. Foolish
politic
think
then
of piety
and abhor that policy that devoureth piety and
destroyeth thee. Thou canst not live ever
but must die
and come unto
judgment. (Bp. Babington.)
Penalty of the desire to avenge
Small birds have an intense natural antipathy of nocturnal birds
of prey. If one of these birds happens to be seen out of its lurking-place
during the day they assail it vigorously
resent its intrusion
and avenge the
oppression exercised over them during the night by combined attacks. This
antipathy has been taken advantage of for the purpose of catching birds ever
since the days of Aristotle. The catcher imitates
for instance
the voice of
an owl about an hour before sunset
when the birds will flock together and
perch on the trees or bushes in the suspected neighbourhood. The twigs
&c.
having been previously covered with bird-lime
the birds pay their
liberty and perhaps life as the penalty of their desire to avenge themselves on
the owl. (Scientific lllustrations.)
Brotherly affection
Euclid showed in himself the true symptoms of brotherly affection
who
when his brother in his rage made a rash vow
saying
“Let me not live
if
I be not revenged on my brother”; Euclid turns the speech contrary way
“Nay
let me not live
if I be not reconciled to my brother; let me not live
if we
be not as good friends as ever we were before.” Shall a heathen thus outstrip
us Christians? nature be stronger than grace? the bonds of flesh tie faster and
surer than the bonds of grace? We call on God our Father
we acknowledge
or
should do
one Church our mother
we are bred up in the same school of the
Cross
fed at the same table of the Lord
incorporated into the same communion
of saints. If these and the like considerations cannot knit our hearts in love
one to another
the very heathens will rise up in judgment against us
and
condemn us. (J. Spencer.)
Victory over self the best way to gain others
Winthrop
the Puritan Governor of Massachusetts
had a wonderful
control of his own passions. On one occasion
one of the officers of the colony
wrote him a “sharp letter
” complaining of his official acts. He sent back the
letter--would not keep such a letter of provocation by him. By and by
the
writer of the letter
while there was a scarcity of food in the colony
sent to
buy some of Winthrop’s cattle. “Receive
them
” said the governor
“as a gift in token of my goodwill.” The offender
wrote back: “Sir
your overcoming of yourself hath overcome me.” This way of
dealing with offenders was loved by him.
Verse 19
A garment mingled of linen and woollen.
Unnatural commixtures
Most probably the reference is to different materials
interwoven
in the yarn of which the dress was made; but a difficulty still remains in the
fact that such admixture was ordered in the garments of the priests. Perhaps
the best explanation is that of Josephus
that the law here was only intended
for the laity; which
as no question of intrinsic morality was involved
might
easily have been. But when we inquire as to the reason of these prohibitions
and especially of this last one
it must be confessed that it is hard for us
now to speak with confidence. Most probable it appears that they were intended
for an educational purpose
to cultivate in the mind of the people the
sentiment of reverence for the order established in nature by God. For what the
world calls the order of nature is really an order appointed by God
as the
infinitely wise and perfect One; hence
as nature is thus a manifestation of
God
the Hebrew was forbidden to seek to bring about that which is not
according to nature
unnatural commixtures; and from this point of view
the
last of the three precepts appears to be a symbolic reminder of the same duty
namely
reverence for the order of nature
as being an order determined by God. (S.
H. Kellogg
D. D.)
Woollen and flaxen threads
Not only is it forbidden to weave woollen and flaxen threads
together into one material to make wearing apparel of it; but
according to the
administrators of the law during the second Temple
an Israelite must not mend
a woollen garment with a flaxen thread
and vice versa. One of the
reasons which the ancient canonists assign for this prohibition is that “wool
and linen were appointed for the priests alone.” This law is observed by the
orthodox Jews to this day. (C. D. Ginsburg
LL. D.)
Verses 20-22
A bondmaid betrothed.
Divine toleration of defective morality
It will be said
and truly
that by this law slavery and
concubinage are to a certain extent recognised by the law; and upon this fact
has been raised an objection bearing on the holiness of the lawgiver
and
by
consequence
on the Divine origin and inspiration of the law. Is it conceivable
that the holy God should have given a law for the regulation of two so evil
institutions? The answer has been furnished us
in principle
by our Lord (Matthew 19:8)
in that which He said
concerning the analogous case of the law of Moses touching divorce; which law
He tells us
although not according to the perfect ideal of right
was yet
given “because of the hardness of men’s hearts.” That is
although it was not
the best law ideally
it was the best practically
in view of the low moral
tone of the people to whom it was given. Precisely so it was in this case.
Abstractly
one might say that the case was in nothing different from the case
of a free woman
mentioned Deuteronomy 22:23-24
for which death was
the appointed punishment; bat practically
in a community where slavery and
concubinage were long-settled institutions
and the moral standard was still
low
the cases were not parallel. A law which would carry with it the moral
support of the people in the one case
and which it would thus be possible to
carry into effect
would not be in like manner supported and carried into
effect in the other; so that the result of greater strictness in theory would
in actual practice
be the removal thereby of all restriction on license. On
the other hand
by thus appointing herein a penalty for both the guilty parties
such as the public conscience would approve
God taught the Hebrews the
fundamental lesson that a slave-girl is not regarded by God as a mere chattel;
and that if
because of the hardness of their hearts
concubinage was tolerated
for a time
still the slave-girl must not be treated as a thing
but as a
person
and indiscriminate license could not be permitted. And thus
it is of
greatest moment to observe
a principle was introduced into the legislation
which in its ultimate logical application would require and effect--as in due
time it has--the total abolition of slavery wherever the authority of the
living God is truly recognised. The principle of the Divine government which is
here illustrated is one of exceeding practical importance as a model for us. We
live in an age when
everywhere in Christendom
the cry is “Reform”; and there
are many who think that if once it be proved that a thing is wrong
it follows
by necessary consequence that the immediate and unqualified legal prohibition of
that wrong
under such penalty as the wrong may deserve
is the only thing that
any Christian man has a right to think of. And yet
according to the principle
illustrated in this legislation
this conclusion in such cases can by no means
be taken for granted. That is not always the best law practically which is the
best law abstractly. That law is the best which shall be most effective in
diminishing a given evil
under the existing moral condition of the community;
and it is often a matter of such exceeding difficulty to determine what
legislation against admitted sins and evils may be the most productive of good
in a community whose moral sense is dull concerning them
that it is not
strange that the best men are often found to differ. Remembering this
we may
well commend the duty of a more charitable judgment
in such eases
than one
often hears from such radical reformers
who seem to imagine that in order to
remove an evil all that is necessary is to pass a law at once and for ever
prohibiting it; and who
therefore
hold up to obloquy all who doubt as to the wisdom and duty of
so doing
as the enemies of truth and of righteousness. (S. H. Kellogg
D.
D.)
Verses 23-25
In the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy.
The law regarding fruit-trees
The explanation of this peculiar regulation is to be found in a
special application of the principle which rules throughout the law--that the
firstfruit shall always be consecrated unto God. But in this case the
application of the principle is modified by the familiar fact that the fruit of
a young tree
for the first few years of its bearing
is apt to be imperfect;
it is not yet sufficiently grown to yield its best possible product. Because of
this
in those years it could not be given to the Lord
for He must never be
served with any but the best of everything; and thus until the fruit should
reach its best
so as to be worthy of presentation of the Lord
the Israelite
was meanwhile debarred from using it. During these three years the trees are
said to be “as uncircumcised”; i.e.
they were to be regarded as in a
condition analogous to that of the child who has not yet been consecrated
by
the act of circumcision
to the Lord. In the fourth year
however
the trees
were regarded as having now so grown as to yield fruit in perfection; hence the
principle of the consecration of the firstfruit now applies
and all the fourth
year’s product is given to the Lord
as an offering of thankful praise to Him
whose power in nature is the secret of all growth
fruitfulness
and increase.
The moral teaching of this law is very plain. It teaches
as in all analogous
cases
that God is always to be served before ourselves; and that not
grudgingly
as if an irksome tax were to be paid to the Majesty of Heaven
but
in the spirit of thanksgiving and praise to Him
as the Giver of “every good
and perfect gift.” It further instructs us
in this particular instance
that
the people of God are to recognise this as being true even of all those good
things which come to us under the forms of products of nature. (S. H.
Kellogg
D. D.)
Early fruits
1. A merciful providence for posterity; for if a tree be suffered to
bear too soon
as
the first
second
or third year
it doth not usually endure long
but decayeth
sooner than otherwise it would
the fruit draweth away the nourishment which
should make the root and tree strong.
2. It restrained covetousness in the Jews
and taught them how God hateth
scraping all to man’s self for his time
and nothing caring for posterity. Such
are they that will take the heart out of the land before their term end
cut
down the wood
fruit-trees
hedges
destroy the game
and do all the mischief
they can and dare do. The Lord seeth them and thinketh of them
though they
little think of themselves and of their malicious actions.
3. It shadowed how little worth the fruits of youth usually are
either to the Church or commonwealth
till years have bred strength of judgment
and made them both see and do what is profitable. Even as uncircumcised fruits
so are the actions of youth
and therefore David prayed for pardon in this
case. (Bp. Babington.)
Verse 27
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads.
That is
they are not to shave
off the hair around the temples and behind the ears
so as to leave the head
bald except a dish-like tuft upon the crown
thus imparting to their heads the
form of a hemisphere. This was done by the Arabs
and other worshippers of the
god Orotal. Hence the Arabs are ironically called “those with the corner of
their hairpolled” (Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32). (C. D. Ginsburg
LL.
D.)
The true worshipper to appear as such
The command means
that the Israelite was not only to
worship God alone
but he was not to adopt a fashion in dress which
because
commonly associated with idolatry
might thus misrepresent his real position as
a worshipper of the only living and true God. (S. H. Kellogg
D. D.)
Neither shalt thou mar the
corners of thy beard.--An injunction not to mar the beard might hardly appear
necessary
since it is
well known with what pride and scrupulous care the beard was cultivated by the
Hebrews and other Eastern nations; that it was deemed the greatest ornament of
a man
a badge of his dignity
and a type of his vigour and perfect manhood;
beard and life were hence often employed as synonymous
and oaths were
confirmed
and blessings bestowed
by invoking the one or the other’;
suppliants
desirous to give the utmost solemnity to their appeals
touched the
beards of those they addressed; and a mutilation of the beard was looked upon
as an unbearable disgrace
and often regarded as more calamitous than death. In
some countries the beard was the distinctive mark of free men. An old Spartan
law forbade the ephori
from the moment of their taking office
to clip their
beards; and those who had fled before the enemy in battle were compelled to
appear in public with half-shorn beards. However
it was customary among
several nations for young men “to present to their gods the firstlings of their
beards”; and it was possibly to prevent the adoption of similar usages among
the Hebrews that the injunction was deemed desirable. Besides
“marring the
cornets of the beard” was a heathen mode of mourning
which was not to be
imitated
since it might easily lead to more objectionable perversities. (M.
M. Kaliseh
Ph. D.)
Verse 28
Cuttings in your flesh for the dead.
The wild and frantic demonstrations of grief so common among
eastern dud southern nations
included cuts and incisions in the body
among
the Hebrews
the Philistines
and the Moabites
the Arabs and Ethiopians
the
Babylonians and Armenians; among the early Greeks and Romaus
people in
bereavement
especially women
indulged in the hideous practice of “lacerating their
cheeks”; and when the king of the Seythians died
those of his subjects who
received his body for burial
“cut off a part of their ears
shaved off their
hair
wounded themselves on the arms
and drove arrows through their left
hands.” Such acts
which are still customary among some tribes of Persia
Arabia
and Abyssinia
were to be shunned by the Hebrews
not only because
immoderate grief is unbecoming a nation of priests
but because cuts and
incisions
usually made by persons while engaged in prayer or other religious
exercises
were meant as substitutes for self-immolation
and the blood thus
shed was supposed to ensure atonement: such notions were held in abhorrence by
the advanced Levitical writers
who attributed the power of expiation to the
blood of clean sacrificial animals
but not to human blood. More widespread
still was the custom
of “inscribing” upon the body
by means of a “caustic
” words or short maxims
or of marking the forehead and cheeks
the hands
the arms
and the neck
with
figures and emblems. It prevailed
and partially still prevails
in many
countries of the old and the new world
both among savage and more civilised
nations; and though in many cases it is in itself harmless
beingmerely
intended for ornament
or for identification
as when a slave bears the name or
the initials of his master
or the soldier those of his general
it was
in
many instances
a very efficient mode of strengthening the most dangerous
superstitions. It was so common for idolaters to have the name or image of
their chief deities
or some other significant symbol associated with their
faith
engraved upon their bodies
that even the earlier religious legislators
of the Hebrews deemed it necessary to devise some substitute for that custom in
harmony with their new creed
and they introduced the “phylacteries
” which the
Hebrews were to “bind” as “a sign” upon their head
and as “a memorial” between
their eyes
“that the law of the Lord might be in their mouths.” Thus more than
one advantage was gained; the sign
or memorial was known to refer to none else but the One and true God of the
Hebrews
and it was understood not as an amulet
which in itself is a shield
against danger and misfortune
but as an emblem meant to remind the Israelite
of his duties
and of their faithful accomplishment by his own zeal and vigilant
exertion. Yet it was even after the exile considered unobjectionable to cover
with such symbols the body itself
as is manifest from allusions of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:5; Isaiah 49:16). The Levitical writers
prohibited
therefore
tattooing of any kind and for whatever purpose
well
aware how imperceptibly that practice might lead again to the heathen rites and
notions. Christians in some parts of the East
and European sailors
were long
in the habit of marking
by means of punctures and a black dye
their arms and
other members of the body with the sign of the crucifix
or the image of the
Virgin; the Mohammedans mark them with the name of Allah
and Orientals
generally with the outlines of celebrated towns and places. A traveller relates
that
as a preparation for an Arabian wedding
the women tattoo the bride with
figures of flowers
houses
cypresses
antelopes
and other animals. Among the
Thraeians tattooing was considered as a mark and privilege of noble birth. The
branding of prisoners and malefactors
extensively practised to this day
is
included in the interdiction
of our verse. (M. M. Kalisch
Ph. D.)
Verse 30
Reverence My sanctuary.
Self-reverence
If you consider
you will find that there is scarcely a sin
which does not concentrate into itself the venom of many sins. It is sinfulness
against God
whose law it violates; against our neighbour
whom
directly or
indirectly
it inevitably injures; against ourselves
whom it tends to destroy.
But the reason why every sin has this threefold cord of iniquity is because the
tabernacle of God is with men
so that in every act of sin we cannot but sin
against Him by defiling His temple
against ourselves by desecrating the inner
sanctuary of our own being
against others because they
too
are His living
sanctuaries. When the great American orator
Daniel Webster
was asked what
thought impressed him most by its awful solemnity
he answered at once
“The
thought of my immediate accountability to God.” There is a form of this thought
yet more impressive--to feel that God is with us and in us; that every sin
against ourselves or our brother-man is also a sin committed in His very
presence-chamber
and therefore also a sin committed directly against Him. In
sinning against myself
I sin not against a mere handful of dust
a mere piece
of clay
but against that which is majestic
eternal
and Divine
against the
Holy Spirit
against the Lord Jesus my Saviour
against the eternal Lord of all
my life. A living poet has said
“Self-reverence
self-knowledge
self-control
these three alone lead life to sovereign power.” It is most true.
Self-reverence depends upon self-knowledge
and it leads to self-control; and
these are the elements of the only true greatness of mankind. Now I wish to
show how this high reverence for our being lifts men above temptation
and how
the absence of it or unfaithfulness to it plunges them in vice and shame. For
instance
self-reverence results in the preservation of innocence
of perfect
childlike innocence in some men
the heart of childhood taken up and glorified
in the powers of manhood
the young lamb’s heart amid the full-grown flocks.
This is one of the loveliest
certainly one of the rarest
if not always the
most instructive
forms of human character. Again
this self-reverence
even if
it has failed to produce this absolute innocence which is the rarest thing in
all the world
may yet lead to the repentance of an intense conviction. If it
has not kept a soul from lying
for a moment at least
among the dust and
potsherds of a sensuous life
it can yet uplift it from them and give it the
wings of a dove. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
On reverencing the sanctuary
I. How the
sanctuary is to be reverenced.
1. The sanctuary is reverenced when proper ideas are entertained of
its nature and holiness. This appropriate and sacred respect will be shown by
not permitting the sanctuary to be dishonoured by any profane use of it
by
keeping it in decent repair and cleanliness
and
as far as in us lies
in a
state of magnificence worthy of the Great Being to whom it is dedicated; and by
those outward tokens of reverence
by which we can express
without an idle
superstition
our respect for the Being
the dwelling-places of whose honour
are the temples devoted to His service.
2. After having proper ideas of the nature and holiness of the
sanctuary
the next step towards reverencing it is to love to be in it
and to
join in its services. When a place is consecrated to the worship of God; when
He has promised to be there with a blessing; when He has proffered His word to
be there as a fountain
set open for sin and uncleanness; and has appointed a
priesthood to minister between Him and His people; when the priesthood of
Christ is there enjoyed after His ordinance; to be wholly absent
or but
partially present
comports little with a reverence for the sanctuary.
3. It is essential to a reverence for the sanctuary that we strive
not to bring thither our worldly thoughts and improper affections.
4. In order to discharge the duty enforced in the text
we must be
attentive to decorum
when entering the sanctuary
while continuing in it
and
when returning from it.
II. The foundation
and importance of the duty enjoined. This is briefly and fully assigned in the
words
“I am the Lord.”
1. If we consider the nature of the Being
to whom the sanctuary
belongs
and whom we there meet
this is sufficient to fill us with awe.
2. The authority of the Lord
as our Sovereign
renders an obedience
to His law indispensable. (Bp. Dehon.)
Reverence due to holy places
I. What a
sanctuary of god is
and wherein the holiness of it consists. Places are
capable of a relative holiness in two respects.
1. In respect of a peculiar propriety God has in them by their
dedication to His immediate worship and service.
2. In respect of His especial presence vouchsafed in them
and the
particular communications of His grace in the holy offices there performed.
II. What respect or
reverence is due
to such holy places.
1. The building
repairing
adorning
and furnishing such places for the service of
God.
2. The keeping them from all profane and common usage
and applying them wholly to the
worship of God
and the business of religion.
3. The duly frequenting the worship of God in these holy places (Psalms 43:3; Psalms 84:2; Psalms 84:4.)
4. Consider what reverence becomes us when we come into the House of God. Our business
there is to exercise ourselves in holy and heavenly matters; and our demeanour in it
ought to be such as may testify what awful thoughts we have of that glorious
Majesty
before whom
in a particular manner
we present ourselves. (John
Leng
B. D.)
The reverence due to God’s sanctuary
The reverence we owe to public places of worship must be expressed
I. In solemnly
separating them from common use. Churches
when once consecrated
cannot be
alienated from God’s service without sacrilege
nor applied to any other use
without profanation; for
as the Divine Majesty is holy
so it is manifestly a
part of that honour we owe to God
that those things wherewith and whereby He
is served should not be common and promiscuous
but reserved solely for sacred
purposes.
II. In the
beautifying and adorning them. Shall the Almighty vouchsafe
in a peculiar
manner
to take up His residence among us here on earth
and shall not we
endeavour to provide the most honourable reception for Him? The bestowing
proper ornaments upon God’s house is not only an instance of respect due from
us to Him
but is also a useful means of promoting religion; for outward
objects will always affect the mind with impressions
according to the nature
of them.
III. By a constant
attendance upon the services in them. God
no doubt
is conscious to our most
private devotions in our closets
to every ejaculation
to every pious thought
that ever rises in our souls; He requires these
and approves of them; but then
He expects
and commands also
that we pay Him public homage and external
worship
wherein if we are deficient
we discharge but half our duty.
IV. By a decent and
devout behaviour in them. As earthly potentates have many palaces in several
parts of their dominions
where at different times they keep their court
one
whereof is generally erected in their principal city
superior in magnificence
and grandeur to the rest: so the Almighty
the King of kings
has His several
mansion-houses throughout the world
though His chief dwelling be in heaven
where He is encircled with beams of light and glory
too strong for mortals to
approach. These mansion-houses in these lower realms are those places that are
dedicated and consecrated to His service
in which He is ever present
ready to
dispense liberally His favours to all that duly ask
surrounded with a guard of
angels and archangels
who to us indeed are invisible
but we are not so to
them. With what humility
with what reverence and devotion
then
ought we to
carry ourselves
in a place so dreadful as is the house of God
and in the
presence of such honourable
such awful company! (S. Grigman
M. A.)
Reverence at worship
There are some who
when they behave irreverently in church
think
that
after all
it is only a matter that concerns themselves. That if they do
not behave well
“that’s
” as they term it
“their own look-out.” Of all the
mistakes of which a man could be guilty
this is
I think
one of the greatest.
Do you think that when you behave badly in church you wilt
at the day of
account
only have that one sin of your own to answer for? Let me tell you
this--that every sin of
irreverence adds to you a mountain of sins for which you will have to give
account at the Day of Judgment. Let me illustrate my meaning. You come to a service
and behave badly. There are people
good people
sitting or kneeling around
you. They have come to church to worship
but they see your bad behaviour and
are upset by it. They try to pray
but through your bad behaviour they cannot
do so. They try to join in the service but find it almost impossible. It is a
wasted service to them. They feel angry: it is a Sunday service gone for ever
never to be re-lived so far as that Sunday service is concerned
spoiled for
them by you. Who will have to answer for that at the Day of Judgment? Not they
but you! (E. Husband.)
Man himself a sanctuary
St. Augustine gives the inmost meaning of this exhortation when he
says
“Dost thou worship in a temple? Worship in thyself; be thou first a
temple of the Lord.”
Our visits to the sanctuary should be frequent
We shall never see the glory of that light which dwells between
the cherubim if our visits to the shrine are brief and interrupted
and the
bulk of our time is spent outside the tabernacle amidst the glaring sand and
the blazing sunshine. No short swallow-flights of soul will ever carry us to
the serene height where God dwells. It is the eagle
with steady
unflagging
flaps of his broad pinion
and open-eyed gaze upwards
that rises “close to the
sun in lonely lands
” and leaves
all the race of short.winged and weak-sighted twitterers far below. (A.
Maclaren.)
Worshipping together
Worshipping alone is like a solo in music
very beautiful and
entrancing
with charms that no chorus can give. Worshipping together is like
an anthem with its harmonies sung by a large chorus. There are powers in it and
emotions awakened
which no solo
however beautifully sung
can produce.
Christians who worship in the house of God in company with other Christians
will receive blessings that they would not receive worshipping by themselves.
The sanctuary
The sanctuary should always be considered as the home of the
people. It is in the sanctuary that human life should be interpreted in all the
meaning of its pain and tragedy. Men should be able to say
“Now that we are
baffled and perplexed by the things which are round about us in this world
and
now that we find ourselves utterly unable to solve the problems which crowd
upon our distracted minds
let us go unto the house of the Lord
for there we
shall feel upon our souls the breath of eternity
and there we shall hear music
which will quiet the tumult which carnal reason can neither explain nor
control.” Dark will be the day when men can hear nothing in the sanctuary but
words which they cannot understand
references which have no bearing upon
immediate agony
and discussions which simply tittilate the intellect and the
fancy
but never reach the dark and mortal sorrows of the heart. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 31
Them that have familiar spirits.
Prohibition of traffic with familiar spirits
This verse prohibits all inquiring of them that “have familiar
spirits
” and of “wizards
” who pretend to make relevations through the help of
supernatural powers. According to 1 Samuel 28:7-11
and Isaiah 8:19
the “familiar spirit” is a
supposed spirit of a dead man
from whom one professes to be able to give
communications to the living. This pretended commerce with the spirits of the
dead has been common enough in heathenism always
and it is not strange to find
it mentioned here
when Israel was to be in so intimate relations with heathen
peoples. But it is truly must extraordinary that in Christian lands
as
especially in the United States of America
and that in the full light
religious and intellectual
of the last half of the nineteenth century
such a
prohibition should be fully as pertinent as in Israe! For no words could more
precisely describe the pretensions of the so-called modern spiritualism
which
within the last half century has led away hum]reds of thousands of deluded
souls
and those
in many cases
not from the ignorant and degraded
but from
circles which boast of more than average culture and intellectual
enlightenment. And inasmuch as experience sadly shows that even those who
profess to be disciples of Christ are in danger of being led away by our modern
wizards and traffickers with familiar spirits
it is by no means unnecessary to
observe that there is not the slightest reason to believe that this which was
rigidly forbidden by God in the fifteenth century B.C.
can now be
well-pleasing to Him in the nineteenth century A.D. And those who have most
carefully watched the moral developments of this latter-day delusion will most
appreciate the added phrase which speaks of this as “defiling” a man. (S. H.
Kellogg
D. D.)
Verse 32
Rise up before the hoary head.
Homage for age
1. Because the aged represent mature wisdom.
2. Because the aged record long years spent in our service.
3. Because the aged demonstrate God’s providential care.
4. Because the aged are solemn admonitions of life’s decay.
5. Because the aged suggest nearness to eternity.
6. Because the aged exhibit the richest fruits of grace.
7. Because the aged mark the line of God’s covenant blessings for
descendants.
8. Because the aged represent on earth Him who is the “Ancient of
Days.”
Reverence the aged
When you meet them in public places
or they come to where you
are
show them reverence.. Infirmity
wisdom
nay
age in itself
have each a
claim on us. Age
apart from its qualities
has in it solemnity. The Lord would
thus solemnise us in the midst of our pursuits. “Lo! the shadow of eternity!
for one cometh who is almost in eternity already. His head and beard white as
snow
indicate his speedy appearance before the Ancient of Days
the hair of
whose head is as pure wool.” Every object
too
that is feeble seems to be
recommended to our care by God; for these
are types of the condition wherein
He finds us when His grace comes to save. It is
therefore
exhibiting His
grace in a shadow
when the helpless are relieved
“the fatherless find mercy”
(Hosea 14:3)
“the orphans relieved
and
the widow” (Psalms 146:9)
and the “stranger
preserved.” (A. A. Bonar.)
Reverence for superiors
The institutions of Sparta have everywhere been praised for the
encouragement which they gave to the duty of showing respect for the aged
but
the language of the Jewish lawgiver is much more emphatic: “Thou shalt rise up
before the hoary head
and honour the face of the old man.” Beautiful examples
are recorded in the Bible
as patterns for our imitation
in this important
particular of filial reverence and obedience. The behaviour of Isaac towards
Abraham
and that of Jacob to both father and mother; Joseph’s deference to his
aged father
even when he himself was surrounded by the splendours of the
Egyptian Court; Ruth with her mother-in-law; Solomon in the grandeur of
royalty
paying respect to his mother; and
more than all
our blessed
Saviour’s tender care for His mother in the hour of His dying agonies--all
afford suggestive lessons to us. It is
however
not merely concerning
reverence to parents that the text would lead us to speak. The very appearance
of age is calculated to soften our hearts and to call forth our respect. No
snow falls lighter than that which sprinkles the head in advancing years; and
yet none is really heavier
because it never melts. Vale and mountain-top are
covered alike with the white flakes which winter scatters broadcast and with
unstinted hand
but the cheerful sun will soon cause them to disappear. There
is no returning spring whose genial warmth can penetrate the eternal frost of
age. The decrepitude of age can claim neither enterprise nor courage. “He is
afraid of that which is high
and fears are in the way
” and with the load of
infirmities which press him down
the additional weight of a “grasshopper”
would be burdensome. “Desire has failed
” and ambition can no longer tempt him
to put forth ventures and submit to toil. Only one wish remains to be
fulfilled--to depart from this weary life. With this vivid picture before him
who can help feeling a sympathy for the old? It must be confessed that the
present generation are sadly unmindful of the lesson taught us in the
Catechism
“To submit myself to all my governors
teachers
spiritual pastors
and masters; to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters.”
“Betters
” indeed! Verily
the young people of this age have no “betters”! Some
years ago Governor Everett
of Massachusetts
was riding out of Boston in a
sleigh
with another gentleman of high social position
when they approached a
school-house
from which a score of noisy boys rushed forth to enjoy their
afternoon’s recess. The governor said to his friend
“Let us observe whether
these lads show the marks of politeness to us which we were taught to practise
fifty years ago.” At the same time he expressed his fears that the habits of
civility were not much thought of in later times. As the sleigh passed the
school-house all doubt on the subject was instantly dispelled
for the rude
lads did their best at pelting the dignitaries with snowballs as they drove
rapidly along the way. Every right-minded person must acknowledge that such
conduct was outrageous and inexcusable. We ought
however
to go behind this
astonishing act of boorish rudeness
and remember what long-continued neglect
of proper instruction and training
on the part of parents and teachers
had
suffered such a shocking state of manners to grow up in a civilised land. There
never was anything quite equal to the presumption of the young or the meekness
and acquiescence of the old in this matter. A shrewd observer remarked
not
long ago
to a friend
“If
as you are going down town
you should approach a
dozen boys playing on the sidewalk
so that no room was left for you to pass
which would you do? would you say
‘Boys
you must not block up the walk in
this way!’ or would you get down into the muddy street and go round?” The
prompt answer was
“Go round
of course!” This reply shows the shameful pass to
which things have come. Men of mature years must abdicate all rights
and
truckle under with cowardly submission
lest they provoke the ill-will of boys!
Parents and teachers! it is your bounden duty to correct this evil
cost what
it may. The “Church Catechism” must again be made what it was in past
generations when the young showed respect to their “betters
” a text-book in
our families and schools. I trust that the young persons who bear me will not
only be convinced by what has just been said of the imperative duty of
honouring their parents
but that the kindred obligation of showing respect to
old age will be much more thought of and observed. If your lives are spared
it
will not be many years before you will be old yourselves
and you will need the
sympathy and consideration which I am now recommending you to practise. The
rules of ordinary politeness would require you to attend to this matter
but
the duty rests on much higher ground. It is God Himself who gives the command
“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head
and honour the face of the old man.”
(J. N. Norton
D. D.)
Reverence due to age
This is one of those duties which are derived from the instinctive
feelings of the heart. The old man was honoured before the reasonableness of
the obligation was considered or the benefit of it understood. From that
sensibility with which the Almighty Father has impressed the human soul
men
often feel before they think
and act before they have considered their motives
of action. From the same source many of the most refined pleasures of life originate.
Ask the contemplative man why he delights to view the fragments of
antiquity--the hanging arch
the mutilated column
the moss-grown tower! Ask
him why he sometimes watches the closing twilight
wanders through the gloomy
valley
or listens with peculiar pleasure to the distant murmur of the sea! He will find it
difficult
perhaps
to account for his sensations
to analyse his
satisfactions
or to trace them to their cause; but he will tell you that he
felt and enjoyed them before he knew why or considered wherefore. In the same
manner those who can contemplate the hoary head without some prepossession of
respect and tenderness want the essential requisite of nature for performing
their duty to the aged as they ought. But if they wish to discover other
motives
such may be found in abundance. It is to the pious aged that the young
are to look for superior knowledge and conspicuous virtue. They have enjoyed
the benefits of experience
and are therefore qualified to act as monitors and
guides. They may be considered
too
as oracles
who speak to the serious and
well-disposed with overwhelming authority. They have encountered the
temptations and difficulties which yet await their younger brethren
and can
point out to others the way by which they escaped. They
probably
have been
exposed to trials from which our fortitude would shrink in terror
and have
mortified those evil dispositions of nature which might be preparing for us
disappointments
misery
and guilt. To render our veneration more personal and
endearing we should consider them
also
as dead to those pleasures and
enjoyments which we regard as our chief felicity
and labouring with those
infirmities under which we must one day sink. Besides
therefore
the precepts
of religion and the arguments of reason
there are other motives arising from
sensibility and the humane affections of the heart
which render it an
indispensable duty in the young to reverence the old.
On the relative duties of the young to the aged
Let us consider the motives for honouring “the hoary head
” as
they are deprived from the principles and connected with the duties of
Christianity. But we must remember it is not merely to age that this reverence
is due
but to the hoary head only “when it is found in the way of righteousness.”
From its very nature this must be one of the relative duties of the young
and
its obligations are founded on the genuine sentiments of the heart
on the
deductions of reason
as well as the precepts of religion
and on the peculiar
advantages resulting from it. The gospel of Christ strongly inculcates the
principles of general deference and humility. “In lowliness of mind
” says the
apostle
“let each esteem other better than himself
” and to the exhortation of
being “kindly affectioned towards our fellow-creatures
” is added the precept
of “preferring one another in honour.” The young
considered in their relation
to the aged
have many additional reasons for showing this deference and
honour; and farther
the sentiments of reverence should be accompanied with
tenderness and affection. It is to them that the young are to look for superior
knowledge
and
in general
superior virtue. They have enjoyed the benefits of
experience
as well as reflection
and are therefore qualified to be our
monitors and guides. The claims to deference arising from the distinctions of
birth and fortune
when compared to these
are trifling and inconsiderable. If
reverence be due from one human being to another it can never be offered with
more propriety than as the price
of knowledge from the ignorant to tile wise. The aged may be considered
in
this respect
as oracles that speak to the serious and the well-disposed with
such conviction as they can nowhere find but in their own experience. They are
a sort of living chronicles
that impress the memory and imagination with all
the energy of truth. Let us consider them as having husbanded and improved the
talent well
which we perhaps shall squander away
and as preparing
with
humble confidence
to “enter into the joy of their Lord.” But let me observe
that these observations relate only to “the hoary head
” when crowned with
wisdom
virtue
and piety. Viewed in this light
the aged cannot but impress us
with the deepest sense of reverence and honour. They have encountered difficulties
and temptations
in which we perhaps shall be enthralled
and can point out to
us the means by which they escaped. They have been exposed to trials from which
our fortitude would shrink with terror
and have mortified those evil
dispositions of nature which might be preparing for us disappointment
misery
and guilt. To the hero who has retired from the field
crowned with the wreath
of fame
men look up with admiration and applause; and shall we withhold our
reverence from Him who has fought the good fight of “Christian faith
” and
obtained a victory over the temptations of the world? But as every human being
is subject to sin
we should be careful
in all the examples that are set
before us
to avoid the evil and to imitate the good. In short
let us joyfully
embrace every means in our power of improving that inestimable talent which is
entrusted to our care
and by which alone we can “grow wise unto salvation.” (J.
Hewlett
B. D.)
Old age
The eye of age looks meek into my heart; the voice of age echoes
mournfully through it; the hoary head and palsied hand of age plead
irresistibly for its sympathies. I venerate old age; and I love not the man who
can look without emotion upon the sunset of life
when the dusk of evening
begins to gather over the watery eye
and the shadows of twilight grow broader
and deeper upon the understanding. (Longfellow.)
Respect for the aged
One day (Cicero tells the story in his treatise on “Old Age
”) an
aged Athenian came into the theatre
but not one of his fellow-citizens in that
immense crowd would incommode himself to make room for him. As
however
he
approached the ambassadors from Lacedaemon
who had their own special seat
they all rose to receive him into their midst. The whole assembly burst into
applause
whereupon somebody said
“The Athenians know what is good
but they
will not practise it.” Many people know what is right but turn a deaf ear to
conscience
and neglect their duty
although it has been made clear to them
what that duty is. (S. S. Chronicle.)
Reverence of old age
God hath put a signal honour upon it by styling Himself the
“Ancient of Days
” and He threatens it as a great judgment upon a people (Isaiah 3:5)
that the children shall
behave themselves proudly against the ancients. A reverent awe before them is
not only a point of manners
but a part of a moral and express duty; and
therefore it is said of Elihu (Job 32:4)
that he waited till Job had
spoken because he was elder than he
and in verse 6 he saith
“I am young and
ye are very old: wherefore I was afraid and durst not show you mine opinion.” (Bp.
E. Hopkins.)
Verse 33-34
The stranger.
.
shall be . . . as one born among you.
Strangers befriended
I. The danger
apprehended. The fear was lest they should grow too inclusive and haughty
and
begin to despise and oppress the individual foreigners that should remain in
the land or might enter it for a settlement. The invitation to the stranger
might be like that of the spider to the fly--a siren’s voice luring to
destruction. This is the very fate that has befallen the Jews in mediaeval and
modern Europe. To prevent such usage the command of the text was issued. There
arises a clashing of commercial interests; to see foreigners flourishing in the
midst whilst home interests suffer
has often led to riot and persecution.
II. The principles
oh which the command of the text is raised.
1. There is a recognition of the brotherhood of man. “He shall be
unto you as one born among you.” This doctrine of the unity of the race was
brought eminently to light by Jesus Christ.
2. There is a recognition of the royal law of love
both as to its
extent and as an instrument of obedience. For
Without affection
the strictest rules are in vain. To guide the
ship by its helm is easier than by any external attachment of ropes. Better is
it for a man to be impelled towards the goal by inward desire than to be pushed
and dragged by the hands of
others
tugging him now on this side
now on that.
3. It is instructive to discern in the law predictions of the gospel.
Here are the germs that developed into trees laden with richest fruit.
III. The memories by
which observance of the command is enforced.
1. By a remembrance of their own condition in former days.
Christians! your time of bondage should make you compassionate to those still
in darkness. Will you shun them as evil
or let praying and working on their
behalf go hand in band?
2. By a remembrance of their relationship to God. After nearly every
precept comes this solemn reminder
“I am the Lord thy God.” He was the
covenant God to whom the Israelites had dedicated themselves
being sprinkled
with sacrificial blood. If they entertained a proper sense of the authority of
God
they would attend to this particular statute. Stand on the monument
and
it is difficult to tell which is the giant and which the dwarf below in the
streets. So before the majesty of God all earthly distinctions of race
disappear. Love the stranger! God hath made all of one blood. (S. R. Aldridge
B. A.)
Courtesy to strangers
I. We ourselves
are strangers on the earth. “For ye were strangers in the land” (Leviticus 19:34).
1. Dependent on other care than our own; human and Divine.
2. Transient
soon to leave
resting but a little while on earth.
Observe: it is good to see in the case of others an analogy with our own; it
will foster sympathy and helpfulness.
II. Courtesy should
root itself in generous love. “Thou shalt love him as thyself.”
1. Acting to the stranger as if the service were being rendered to
us. This will teach us what to do
and how to show kindness.
2. Recognising that we may perchance be in the stranger’s position.
As thus needing kindness
let us now exhibit it.
3. Opening our hearts in ungrudging benevolence. “Love” gives lavishly.
Courtesy should not be meagre and superficial.
III. Gratitude to
heaven prompts us to
generous kindness. “Ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your
God.”
1. Memory of God’s rescue should constrain us to care for others.
2. God’s relationship to us requires that we illustrate His
lovingkindness.
3. His commands to courtesy cannot be evaded with impunity. (W. H.
Jellie.)
Unkindness to a stranger
Philip of Macedon
hearing of one in his kingdom that refused most
unthankfully to receive a stranger
of whom he had been formerly succoured in a
time of extreme need
as having lost all he had by a wreck at sea
caused him
to be worthily punished
by branding in his forehead these two letters I. H.
i.e.
Ingratus Hospes
The Unthankful Guest. Now
if every unthankful man
were thus used
there would be many a blistered forehead amongst us. Oh the
unthankfulness that we show unto God
who
when we were strangers to Him
shipwrecked even in an ocean of sin
sent His Son Christ Jesus to deliver us
yet we refuse to receive Him
to relieve Him in His distressed members
and to
be obedient to His blessed commands I And then our ingratitude to one another
is such that though we come off with smooth fronts here in this world
yet such
characters of shame and confusion are engraven on our souls that men and angels
shall read them with amazement when the books shall be laid open (Daniel 7:10). (J. Spencer.)
Verse 35-36
Just balances
Just weights shall ye have.
Business honesty
I. Social life is
based upon commercial contracts. Each bringing to the other some product of
skill or toil. We cannot supply a fraction of our own wants
we must buy; and
we have also in turn something to sell. Business is the outcome of this
reciprocal dependence. Each can
each must help the other
or
social and civic life would be impossible.
II. Dishonesty is
subversive of the very basis of social life. It breaks confidence
alienates
intercourse; closes friendly relationships
substitutes roguery for
righteousness
and wrecks all goodwill. Pleasant to reflect--
1. How much trade honour there is among men.
2. How surely trickery brings discovery
and therefore penalty
on
rogues.
3. How honesty is ever winning respect and reward.
III. Justice sits
observant of all deceitful deeds. “I am the Lord.” He sees all secrecies;
weighs all balances; hates all dishonesties; will requite all deceits. (W.
H. Jellie.)
Honesty in small things
A young American aspirant for office in the State of Iowa drove up
to an hotel
alighted
and engaged a room. He desired his trunk to be taken to
his room
and
seeing a man passing whom he supposed to be the porter
he
imperiously ordered him to take it up. The porter charged him twenty-five
cents
which he paid with a marked quarter worth only twenty cents. He then
said
“You know Governor Grimes? Oh
yes
sir.” “Well
take my card to him
and
tell him I wish an interview at his earliest convenience.” “I am Governor
Grimes
at your service
sir.” “You--I--that is
my dear sir
I beg--a--a
thousand pardons!” “None needed at all
sir
” replied Governor Grimes. “I was
rather favourably impressed with your letter
and had thought you well suited
for the office specified; but
sir
any man who would swindle a working man out
of a paltry five cents would defraud the public treasury had he an opportunity.
Good evening
sir.”
An unfair judgment
A judge in New Orleans has recently set aside a jury
verdict on somewhat unusual but certainly good grounds. A man was on trial for
murder. After the case had been given to the jury they retired for consultation
for verdict
and spent the hours in drinking whiskey and playing cards. They
found the prisoner guilty; but the next day
in setting aside their verdict
Judge Baker said: “Twelve men
supplied with a quart bottle of whiskey and a
deck of cards
who played poker from twelve o’clock at night till four in the
morning
and holding a man’s life in their hands
could not possibly give the
prisoner a fair trial. As long as I preside over this court I cannot sanction
such a thing
and therefore I grant the prisoner a new trial.” (S. S.
Chronicle.)
Righteous dealing
Rev. John Miller
writing in the New York Independent the
reminiscence of an interview with the late A. T. Stewart
the millionaire
storekeeper of New York
tells us that on one occasion in reply to his
visitor’s question
“What is the secret of this enormous business?” Mr. Stewart
replied: “The only secret I know is that I started with the idea of becoming
professionally and actually a merchant. I saw lawyers and doctors become rich
by making themselves precious to those they worked for. Hence certain rules. I
had only one price.’ Ladies who come in their cushioned carriages don’t want to
be fevered by the idea of beating down. Again
perfect goods! I bought and sold
nothing damaged. And in a third of a century people got to buying of me with
the luxury of an easy mind. I allowed no deceit. A youth who would misrepresent
anything I would discharge. I forbade ladies to be allowed to deceive each
other in talking of my goods
and salesmen were ordered to correct buyers who
were standing by the goods
who said they would wash
for example
if they
would not. You have no idea what comfort this would give in shopping through a
long course of years and the business would grow
under this entire freedom
from complaint
in a way that neither the storekeeper nor the buyer at the time
might quite remark or understand. This is my secret
” said he
“as far as I can
conceive. I have demanded full profits
but then I have bought with uniform
care
and sold correctly and with absolute truth all my time.” “Poor humanity may
have only one good side
” adds Mr. Miller
“but
certainly
that is worthy of a
record.”
Honesty in common dealing
The idea running through this passage is manifestly that of an
inward
solid
living truthfulness of mind
as opposed to all surface-virtue or
sham
or to any mere keeping up of appearances or putting on of an outside for
the avoiding of scandal or damage or disrepute. It is that of a heart entire
and direct with itself: a heart without any doubleness or intricacy or
prevarication; a heart that keeps itself clean of the dust and cobwebs that
gather in the darkness of close designs
oblique arts
and snaky thoughts; and
that rejoices to have its chambers all open
its passages clear
and full of
light
and fresh and sweet with Heaven’s own breath. (Norman Hudson.)
Just dealings
In whatever we do or say let us by all means be faithful and true:
deceiving no man; beguiling no man to his damage; punctual to our word and
promise; firm and constant to our just engagements; honest and fair in all our
dealings. Last
not least
let us be sure that we not only propose to ourselves
good and laudable ends but that we also pursue them by no means but what are
just and pure; remembering that--
“Him
only him
the shield of Heaven defends
Whose
means are fair and spotless as his ends.”
Trade immoralities
A popular pastor preached once on the immoralities of trade. At
the close of the service two of the prominent members of his church
both
successful business men
came to him. Said the first: “Dominie
there is no use
in preaching such a sermon. That sort of thing is never practised by honourable
houses or by such men as compose this congregation.” The other called the
preacher aside and said
“Dominie
there is no use in preaching such sermons.
The practices you speak of are so universal that they have ceased to merit your
characterisation of them. Every business house in this city does just that
thing
my own amongst the rest. It is not worth while to preach against it.” (Hom.
Review.)
Everyday religion
It is not Israel alone which has needed
and still needs
to hear
iterated this command
for the sin is found in every people
even in every
city
one might say in every town
in Christendom; and--we have to say it--often with men who make a
certain profession of regard for religion. All such
however religious in
certain ways
have special need to remember that “without holiness no man shall
see the Lord”; and that holiness is now exactly what it was when the Levitical
law was given out. As
on the one side
it is inspired by reverence and fear
toward God
so
on the other hand
it requires love to the neighbour as to
one’s self
and such conduct as that will secure. It is of no account
therefore
to keep the Sabbath--in a way--and reverence--outwardly--the sanctuary
and then on the week-day water milk
adulterate medicines
sugars
and other
foods
slip the yard-stick in measuring
tip the balance in weighing
and buy
with one weight or measure and sell with another
“water” stocks and gamble in
“margins
” as the manner of many is. God hates
and even honest atheists
despise
religion of this kind. Strange notions
truly
of religion have men
who have not yet discovered that it has to do with just such commonplace
everyday matters as these
and have
never yet understood how certain it is that a religion which is only used on
Sundays has no holiness in it; and therefore
when the day comes
as it is
coming
that shall try every man’s work as by fire
it will
in the fierce heat
of Jehovah’s judgment
be shrivelled into ashes as a spider’s web in a flame
and the man and his work shall perish together. (S. H. Kellogg
D. D.)
Commercial justice in other nations
The Hindoo law imposes the highest fines not only upon
those who falsify scales or measures
but upon official examiners of coins who
pronounce a good piece bad or a bad piece good; it inflicts heavy penalties
and partially corporeal chastisement
upon those who overreach customers
give
short measure or light weight
adulterate goods
or try to give them a deceptive
appearance; and with respect to a trader in counterfeited gold
it enacts that
“by order of the king he must be cut in pieces with razors
” or that “he must
at least lose three limbs of his body and pay the highest fine.” In Egypt
false coiners and the manufacturers of false weights were condemned to have
both their hands cut off; and fraudulent practices of this kind were held in
equal detestation by other nations
and were visited with similar punishments.
(M. M. Kalisch
Ph. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》