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Deuteronomy Chapter
Twenty-two
Deuteronomy 22
Chapter Contents
Of humanity towards brethren. (1-4) Various precepts. (5-12)
Against impurity. (13-30)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:1-4
(Read Deuteronomy 22:1-4)
If we duly regard the golden rule of "doing to
others as we would they should do unto us
" many particular precepts might
be omitted. We can have no property in any thing that we find. Religion teaches
us to be neighbourly
and to be ready to do all good offices to all men. We
know not how soon we may have occasion for help.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:5-12
(Read Deuteronomy 22:5-12)
God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs
and his precepts do so
that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord
as
we are under his eye and care. Yet the tendency of these laws
which seem
little
is such
that being found among the things of God's law
they are to be
accounted great things. If we would prove ourselves to be God's people
we must
have respect to his will and to his glory
and not to the vain fashions of the
world. Even in putting on our garments
as in eating or in drinking
all must
be done with a serious regard to preserve our own and others' purity in heart
and actions. Our eye should be single
our heart simple
and our behaviour all
of a piece.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 22:13-30
(Read Deuteronomy 22:13-30)
These and the like regulations might be needful then
and
yet it is not necessary that we should curiously examine respecting them. The
laws relate to the seventh commandment
laying a restraint upon fleshly lusts
which war against the soul.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 22
Verse 1
[1] Thou
shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray
and hide thyself from
them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
Thy brother's —
Any man's.
Thou shalt not hide thyself — Dissemble or pretend that thou dost not see them; or pass them by as if
thou hadst not seen them.
Verse 2
[2] And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee
or if thou know him not
then
thou shalt bring it unto thine own house
and it shall be with thee until thy
brother seek after it
and thou shalt restore it to him again.
To thine own house — To
be used like thine own cattle.
Verse 3
[3] In
like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment;
and with all lost thing of thy brother's
which he hath lost
and thou hast
found
shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
Hide thyself —
Dissemble that thou hast found it. Or
hide it
that is
conceal the thing
lost.
Verse 5
[5] The
woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man
neither shall a man put
on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Shall not wear —
Namely
ordinarily or unnecessarily
for in some cases this may be lawful
as
to make an escape for one's life. Now this is forbidden
both for decency sake
that men might not confound those sexes which God hath distinguished
that all
appearance of evil might be avoided
such change of garments carrying a
manifest sign of effeminacy in the man
of arrogance in the woman
of lightness
and petulancy in both; and also to cut off all suspicions and occasions of
evil
which this practice opens a wide door to.
Verse 7
[7] But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go
and take the young to thee;
that it may be well with thee
and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
Let the dam go —
Partly for the bird's sake
which suffered enough by the loss of its young; for
God would not have cruelty exercised towards the brute creatures: and partly
for mens sake
to refrain their greediness
that
they should not monopolize
all to themselves
but leave the hopes of a future seed for others.
Verse 8
[8] When
thou buildest a new house
then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof
that
thou bring not blood upon thine house
if any man fall from thence.
A battlement — A
fence or breastwork
because the roofs of their houses were made flat
that men
might walk on them.
Blood —
The guilt of blood
by a man's fall from the top of thy house
thro' thy
neglect of this necessary provision. The Jew's say
that by the equity of this
law
they are obliged
and so are we
to fence or remove every thing
whereby
life may he endangered
as wells
or bridges
lest if any perish thro' our
omission
their blood be required at our hand.
Verse 9
[9] Thou
shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which
thou hast sown
and the fruit of thy vineyard
be defiled.
Divers seeds —
Either 1. With divers kinds of seed mixed and sowed together between the rows
of vines in thy vineyard: which was forbidden to be done in the field
Leviticus 19:19
and here
in the vineyard. Or
2. With any kind of seed differing from that of the vine
which would produce either
herbs
or corn
or fruit-bearing trees
whose fruit might be mingled with the
fruit of the vines. Now this and the following precepts
tho' in themselves
small and trivial
are given
according to that time and state of the church
for instructions in greater matters
and particularly to commend to them
simplicity in all their carriage towards God and man
and to forbid all mixture
of their inventions with God's institutions in doctrine or worship.
Defiled —
Legally and morally
as being prohibited by God's law
and therefore made
unclean; as on the contrary
things are sanctified by God's word
allowing and
approving them
1 Timothy 4:5.
Verse 10
[10] Thou
shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
An ox and an ass —
Because the one was a clean beast
the other unclean whereby God would teach
men to avoid polluting themselves by the touch of unclean persons or things.
Verse 12
[12] Thou
shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture
wherewith thou
coverest thyself.
Fringes — Or
laces
or strings
partly to bring the commands of God to their remembrance
as
it is expressed
Numbers 15:38
and partly is a public profession
of their nation and religion
whereby they might be distinguished from
strangers
that so they might be more circumspect to behave as became the
people of God
and that they should own their religion before all the world.
Thou coverest thyself — These words seem restrictive to the upper garment wherewith the rest
were covered.
Verse 13
[13] If
any man take a wife
and go in unto her
and hate her
If any man take a wife — And afterward falsely accuse her-What the meaning of that evidence is
by which the accusation was proved false
the learned are not agreed. Nor is it
necessary for us to know: they for whom this law was intended
undoubtedly
understood it.
Verse 19
[19] And
they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver
and give them unto the
father of the damsel
because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of
Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
The father —
Because this was a reproach to his family
and to himself
as such a
miscarriage of his daughter would have been ascribed to his evil education.
Verse 24
[24] Then
ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city
and ye shall stone
them with stones that they die; the damsel
because she cried not
being in the
city; and the man
because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt
put away evil from among you.
She cried not —
And therefore is justly presumed to have consented to it.
Verse 26
[26] But
unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of
death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour
and slayeth him
even so
is this matter:
Even so —
Not an act of choice
but of force and constraint.
Verse 27
[27] For
he found her in the field
and the betrothed damsel cried
and there was none
to save her.
The damsel cried —
Which is in that case to be presumed; charity obliging us to believe the best
'till the contrary be manifest.
Verse 29
[29] Then
the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of
silver
and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her
he may not put
her away all his days.
Fifty shekels —
Besides the dowry
as Philo
the learned Jew notes
which is here omitted
because that was customary
it being sufficient here to mention what was
peculiar to this case.
His wife — If
her father consented to it.
Verse 30
[30] A
man shall not take his father's wife
nor discover his father's skirt.
Take — To
wife. So this respects the state
and the next branch speaks of the act only.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
22 Chapter 22
Verses 1-4
Thy brother’s ox or his sheep.
Restoration of stray cattle and lost goods
Moses urges right action in manifold relations of national life
and teaches Israel to regard all arrangements of God as sacred. They were never
to cherish any bitterness or hostility towards a neighbour
but restore stray
animals and lost goods.
I. An indication
of God’s providence. “Doth God care for oxen?” Yes; and observes them go
astray
or fall beneath their heavy burden. He legislates for them
and our
treatment of them is reverence or disobedience to His command. “Thou shalt not
see
” etc.
II. An opportunity
of neighbourly kindness. “Thy brother” comprehends relatives
neighbours
strangers
and enemies even (Exodus 23:4). The property of any person
which is in danger shall be protected and restored. Love should rule in all
actions
and daily incidents afford the chance of displaying it.
1. Kindness regardless of trouble. “If thy brother be not nigh unto
thee
and if thou know him not
” seek him out and find him if possible.
2. Kindness regardless of expense. If really unable to find the
owner
feed and keep it for a time at thine own expense. “Then thou shalt bring
it unto thine own house
and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after
it.” If such care must be taken for the ex
what great anxiety should we
display for the temporal and spiritual welfare of our neighbour himself!
III. An expression
of humanity. “Thou shalt not hide thyself.” Indifference or joy in the
misfortune would be cruelty to dumb creatures and a violation of the common
rights of humanity.
1. In restoring the lost. Cattle easily go astray and wander over the
fence and from the fold. If seen they must be brought back and not hidden away.
2. In helping up the fallen. The ass ill-treated and over-laden may
fall down through rough or slippery roads. Pity must prompt a helping hand.
“Thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.” Thus common justice and
charity are taught by the law of nature and enforced by the law of Moses.
Principles which anticipate the Gospel and embody themselves in one of its
grandest precepts
“Love your enemies.” (J. Wolfendale.)
Fraternal responsibilities
The word “brother” is not to be read in a limited sense
as if
referring to a relation by blood. That is evident from expression in the second
verse
“If thou know him not.” The reference is general--to a brother-man. In
Exodus the term used is not brother
but “enemy”--“If thine enemy’s ox
or ass
or sheep . . . ” It is needful to understand this clearly
lest we suppose that
the directions given in the Bible are merely of a domestic and limited kind.
“Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray.” That is not the
literal rendering of the term; the literal rendering would be
“Thou shalt not
see thy brother’s ox or his sheep driven away”--another man behind them
and
driving them on as if he were taking them to his own field. We are not to see
actions of this kind and be quiet: there is a time to speak; and of all times
calling for indignant eloquence and protest there are none like those which are
marked by oppression and wrong-doing. Adopting this principle
how does the
passage open itself to our inquiry? Thus--
1. If we must not see our brother’s ox being driven away
can we
stand back and behold his mind being forced into wrong or evil directions? It
were an immoral morality to contend that we must be anxious about the man’s ox
but care nothing about the man’s understanding. We do not live in Deuteronomy:
we live within the circle of the Cross; we are followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ; our morality or our philanthropy
therefore
does not end in solicitude
regarding ox
or sheep
or ass: we are called to the broader concern
the
tenderer interest
which relates to the human mind and the human soul. Take it
from another point of view.
2. If careful about the sheep
is there to be no care concerning the
man’s good name? We are told that to steal the purse is to steal trash--it is
something--nothing; ‘twas mine
‘twas his--a mere rearrangement of property;
“but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches
him
and makes me poor indeed.” We are the keepers of our brother: his good
name is ours. When the reputation of a Christian man goes down or is being
driven away
the sum total of Christian influence is diminished; in this sense
we are not to live unto ourselves or for ourselves; every soul is part of the
common stock of humanity
and when one member is exalted the whole body is
raised in a worthy ascension
and when one member is debased or wronged or robbed
a felony has been committed upon the consolidated property of the Church. Thus
we are led into philanthropic relations
social trusteeships
and are bound one
to another; and if we see a man’s reputation driven away by some cruel
hand--even though the reputation be that of an enemy--we are to say
“Be just
and fear not
”--let us know both sides of the case; there must be no immoral
partiality; surely in the worst of cases there must be some redeeming points.
Take it from another point.
3. “In like manner shalt thou do with . . . his raiment.” And are we
to be careful about the man’s raiment
and care nothing about his aspirations?
Is it nothing to us that the man never lifts his head towards the wider spaces
and wonders what the lights are that glitter in the distant arch? Is it nothing
to us that the man never sighs after some larger sphere
or ponders concerning
some nobler possibility of life? Finding a man driving himself away
we are
bound to arouse him in the Creator’s name and to accuse him of the worst
species of suicide.
4. Can we see our brother’s ass being driven away and ears nothing
what becomes of his child? Save the children
and begin your work as soon as
possible. It is sad to see the little children left to themselves; and
therefore ineffably beautiful to mark the concern which interests itself in the
education and redemption of the young. A poet says he was nearer heaven in his
childhood than he ever was in after days
and he sweetly prayed that he might
return through his yesterdays and through his childhood back to God. That is
chronologically impossible--locally and physically not to be done; and yet that
is the very miracle which is to be performed in the soul--in the spirit; we
must be “born again.” It is a coward’s trick to close the eyes whilst wrong is
being done in order that we may not see it. It is easy to escape distress
perplexity
and to flee away from the burdens of other men; but the whole word
is
“Thou shalt not hide thyself
” but “thou shalt surely help him.” Who can undervalue
a Bible which speaks in such a tone? The proverb “Every man must take care of
himself” has no place in the Book of God. We must take care of one another.
Christianity means nothing if it does not mean the unity of the human race
the
common rights of humanity: and he who fails to interpose in all cases of
injustice and wrong-doing
or suffering which he can relieve
may be a great
theologian
but he is not a Christian. (J. Parker
D. D.)
A kind heart
One day President Lincoln was walking out with his secretary
when
suddenly he stopped by a shrub and gazed into it. Stooping down he ran his
hands through the twigs and leaves as if to take something. His secretary
inquired what he was after. Said Mr. Lincoln
“Here is a little bird fallen
from its nest
and I am trying to put it back again.” True kindness ever
springs instinctively from lives permeated with goodness. “Kind hearts are more
than coronets.”
Helping up
We have lately been doing a blessed work amongst the cabmen of
Manchester
many of whom have signed the pledge. I heard the other night that
one of them had broken his pledge and I went to the cab rooms to look after
him. I saw him there
but he tried to avoid me. He was ashamed to face me. I
followed him up
and at last he presented himself before me
wearing a most
dejected look. I said to him
“When you are driving your cab
and your horse
falls down
what do you do?” “I jumps off the box and tries to help him up
again.” “That is it
my friend
I replied. “I heard you had fallen
and so I got
off my box to help you up. Will you get up? There is my hand.” He caught hold
of it with a grasp like a vice
and said
“I will
sir; before God
and under
His own blue heavens
I promise you that I will not touch a drop of strong
drink again; and you will never have to regret the trouble you have taken with
me.” Oh
Christian friends
there are many poor drunkards who have fallen down.
“Will you not get off the box
and help them up?” (C. Garrett.)
Verse 5
The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man.
Dominion of fashion
God thought womanly attire of enough importance to have it
discussed in the Bible. Just in proportion as the morals of a country or an age
are depressed is that law defied. Show me the fashion plates of any century
from the time of the Deluge to this
and I will tell you the exact state of
public morals. Ever and anon we have imported from France
or perhaps invented
on this side the sea
a style that proposes as far as possible to make women
dress like men. The costumes of the countries are different
and in the same
country may change
but there is a divinely ordered dissimilarity which must be
forever observed. Any divergence from this is administrative of vice and runs
against the keen thrust of the text. In my text
as by a parable
it is made
evident that Moses
the inspired writer
as vehemently as ourselves
reprehends
the effeminate man and the masculine woman.
1. My text also sanctions fashion. Indeed
it sets a fashion! There
is a great deal of senseless cant on the subject of fashion. A woman or man who
does not regard it is unfit for good neighbourhood. The only question is
what
is right fashion and what is wrong fashion. Fashion has been one of the most
potent of reformers
and one of the vilest of usurpers. Sometimes it has been
an angel from heaven
and at others it has been the mother of abomination. As
the world grows better there will be as much fashion as now
but it will be a
righteous fashion. In the future life white robes always have been and always
will be in the fashion. The accomplishments of life are in no wise productive
of effeminacy or enervation. Good manners and a respect for the tastes of
others are indispensable. The Good Book speaks favourably of those who are a
“peculiar” people; but that does not sanction the behaviour of queer people.
There is no excuse
under any circumstances
for not being and acting the lady
or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. As Christianity advances there will be better
apparel
higher styles of architecture
more exquisite adornments
sweeter
music
grander pictures
more correct behaviour
and more thorough ladies and
gentlemen. But there is another story to be told.
2. Wrong fashion is to be charged with many of the worst evils of
society
and its path has often been strewn with the bodies of the slain. It
has often set up a false standard by which people are to be judged. Our common
sense
as well as all the Divine intimations on the subject
teach us that
people ought to be esteemed according to their individual and moral
attainments. The man who has the most nobility of soul should be first
and he
who has the least of such qualities should stand last. Truth
honour
charity
heroism
self-sacrifice should win highest favour; but inordinate fashion says
“Count not a woman’s virtues; count her adornments.” “Look not at the contour
of the head
but see the way she combs her hair.”
3. Wrong fashion is productive of a most ruinous strife. The
expenditure of many households is adjusted by what their neighbours have
not
by what they themselves can afford to have; and the great anxiety is as to who
shall have the finest house and the most costly equipage.
4. Again
wrong fashion makes people unnatural and untrue. It is a
factory from which has come forth more hollow pretences and unmeaning
flatteries than the Lowell mills ever turned out shawls and garments. Fashion
is the greatest of all liars. It has made society insincere. You know not what
to believe. When people ask you to come
you do not know whether or not they
want you to come. When they send their regards
you do not know whether it is
an expression of their heart or an external civility. We have learned to take
almost everything at a discount.
5. Again
wrong fashion is incompatible with happiness. Those who
depend for their comfort upon the admiration of others are subject to frequent
disappointment. Somebody will criticise their appearance or surpass them in
brilliancy
or will receive more attention. Oh
the jealousy and detraction and
heartburnings of those who move in this bewildered maze! Poor butterflies!
Bright wings do not always bring happiness.
6. Again
devotion to wrong fashion is productive of physical
disease
mental imbecility
and spiritual withering. Apparel insufficient to
keep out the cold and the rain
or so fitted upon the person that the functions
of life are restrained; late hours filled with excitement and feasting; free
draughts of wine that make one not beastly intoxicated
but only fashionably
drunk; and luxurious indolence--are the instruments by which this unreal life
pushes its disciples into valetudinarianism and the grave. Wrong fashion is the
world’s undertaker
and drives thousands of hearses to churchyards and
cemeteries.
7. But
worse than that
this folly is an intellectual depletion.
What is the matter with that woman wrought up into the agony of despair? Oh
her muff is out of fashion!
8. Worse than all
this folly is not satisfied until it has extirpated
every moral sentiment and blasted the soul. A wardrobe is the rock upon which
many a soul has been riven. The excitement of a luxurious life has been the
vortex that has swallowed up more souls than the maelstrom off Norway ever
destroyed ships. What room for elevating themes in a heart filled with the
trivial and unreal? (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 6-7
If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee.
How to take a bird’s nest
Does God take thought for birds
then? Yes
even for birds. They
sow not
neither do they reap; yet our heavenly Father feedeth them. Christ:
cared for birds
then; and therefore we may be sure that God cares for them.
And this God
says Jesus
is your Father. He loves you even more than He loves
the birds
and guards you with a more watchful care. You would laugh if I were
to ask you
What does your mother love best
the canary that sings in the cage
or the little girl who sits in her lap? And you may be quite as sure that you
are “better” to your Father in heaven “than many sparrows”; yes
and better
than all the birds He ever made. But if you are so dear to God
your Father
should you not love Him because He loves you
and prove your love by caring for
what He cares for? Well
He cares for birds. He marks the trees “where the
birds build their nests
” and “sing among the branches”; and He shows us
in
one of the Psalms (Psalms 104:12; Psalms 104:17)
that He observes what
kinds of trees the different birds select for use; does He not say
“As for the
stork
the fir trees are her house”? Now
I dare say some of you boys are
pleased to find that there is such a law
or rule
as this in the Bible. You
have not been quite sure in your minds
perhaps
whether it was right or wrong
to take a bird’s nest
or even to take the eggs from the nest. And
I dare say
when you heard me read my text you thought
“Well
that’s a capital rule! If I
mustn’t take the old bird
at least I may take the young ones or the eggs.” But
are you sure that that is the right way to read the Rule? But
to be honest
with you
I am afraid it is wrong. As God loves the birds and takes care of
them
so will you
if you are good children of our Father who is in heaven. And
is it taking care of them to rob them of the beautiful little houses which they
have spent so much toil in building? Of course
if we really want eggs or birds
we may take them
whether we want them as food for the body or food for the
mind; for God has put them all at our service. But to take them wantonly
without thought
without necessity
simply for the fun of it
is to wrong
creatures whom God loves.
I. It set a limit
to the natural greed of men. What would be the first impulse of a Jew who found
the nest of a quail
or a partridge
with the mother bird sitting on the young
ones or the eggs? Of course
his first impulse would be to take all he could
get
the old bird as well as the eggs or the young. But to do that might be
very poor thrift
and very poor morality. For in destroying the parent bird
with the young the man might be helping to destroy a whole breed of valuable
birds. He would get a dinner for today
but he would be lessening his chance of
finding one tomorrow
tie would be helping himself
but he might also be
injuring his neighbour. “Don’t be greedy
” then
is the first lesson we find in
our bird’s nest. “Don’t snatch at all you can for today
careless about
tomorrow.”
II. Another lesson
taught by this law about a bird’s nest is this--it brings the law of God into
the little things of life. And that is just where we most need it
and are most
apt to forget it.
III. But this rule
about birds nesting teaches us that all love is sacred; and this is the most
beautiful lesson I have found in it. Now
think. If you were to find a nest
and saw the mother bird with a brood of young ones under her wings
what would
it be that would give you a good chance of catching her? It would simply be her
love for her nestlings. If she cared only for herself she could fly away out of
your reach. But if the love of a bird is sacred
how much more sacred is the
love of a boy or a girl
of a woman or a man! All love is sacred. It is base
and wicked to take advantage of it
to turn it against itself
to use it for
selfish ends. I would have you think
therefore
how great a power love gives
you
and how base and wrong it is to abuse that power. Love is the strongest
thing in the world. People will do for love what they would do for nothing
else. And there are those who know that
and who take such base advantage of it
that they sometimes ruin the character and spoil the life of those who love and
trust them. There is nothing in the world so wicked
so base
so vile. If you
have parents
or brothers and sisters
or young companions and friends
who
love you dearly
oh take heed what you do! Their love will be the comfort and
joy of your lives if you retain and respond to it. But that love puts them in
your power. You may hurt them through it
and grieve them through it
and make
them go wrong when
but for you
they would have gone right. And if you do
you
will be scorned by all good men and women. If you do
what will you say to the
God of all love
and what will He say to you
when you stand before Him? And
that brings me to the very last word I have to say to you. Who is it that loves
you best of all
most purely
most forgivingly
most tenderly? And perhaps you
are abusing God’s love. (S. Cox
D. D.)
The law of the bird’s nest
Does God think it worth while to make mention of the nest of a
bird? Yes
He does. In those old Hebrew days
if the people saw a lad coming
with a bird’s nest
and bringing the old bird as well as the young
they could
tell him that his father and mother would most likely live to attend his
funeral! He would not live to be a grey-headed man. No; length of days went
with obedience. Birds nests are much more wonderful things than many people
think. What labour
skill
and patience each little builder displays before he
has at home for his bride! Has it ever occurred to you that each kind of bird
builds its own kind of nest? The thrush makes his home very like the blackbird
only always papers it. By a clever mixture of decayed wood and clay he puts a
lining inside the home. But it is in foreign lands
where birds have other
enemies besides men to fear
that greater ingenuity is displayed. Some build
their little homes so as to hang from the bough of a tree right over a sheet of
water
so that if the monkey finds the nest he cannot get at it
because his
weight would sink him into the water. The entrance to the nest of others is
made at the bottom
and the little house is suspended from the branch of a
tree. There is one kind of bird called the tailor
who sews two leaves together
so as to deceive the eye
for they look like one leaf and not two
We should
think it a wonderful thing if we saw a horse building its own stable
yet this
is not more wonderful than the bird building its own dwelling. God has shown
His wisdom and power in putting the skill into the life of the bird
and this
skill gives him rights. We always count it due to originality that it should be
benefited by its productions. Invention gives rights. If this be so
does not
God’s originality give Him a claim? What I am anxious to teach is this: Where
you see the mark of God’s hand
listen for His voice. Where creation comes
kingly claims must be mot. Let this rule be followed
and what a change would
come over the world! None but God can make things grow. Ought He not
then
to
be revered and obeyed wherever He creates? Who but God could have designed the
horse
so strong and fleet? What a marvellous combination of muscular and
nervous force there is in the noble animal! Did the Creator endue this splendid
beast with this vigour and activity that men should meet by the thousand to win
or lose money? But it is time we considered “the law of the bird’s nest.” If
you saw the mother bird sitting
you might take eggs or young birds
but you
must “let the dam go.” Why? Because God sees that it is not wise to take all
that is within your reach. Let the old bird fly; she will live to have another
brood. This law acts beneficially on all sides. If George III had known this
he would not have been so greedy with the settlers in America. He strove to
grasp all
and lost the United States. What might not that land have been under
the Union Jack? It is a great nation
but not what it might have been. And how
it would have nourished England
instead of being her rival! Many a family
would have been saved irritation and heartbreak if grasping at all had not been
the rule. Taking all within reach often means that affection is slain by
selfishness
and duty driven away for want of knowing that God wants you to
leave something for others to enjoy. When will Capital and Labour learn that to
take all you can is to injure self? To grasp at too much is to lose greatly. When
men have learned to let the old bird go
strikes and lock-outs will be no more.
Commerce flourishes by not grasping at too much. One of the cleverest tradesmen
I ever knew told me that one secret of his success was the way he bought his
stock. He had great skill in this matter
and
said he
“When I buy well
I
say
how much of this extra profit can I give to my customers?” Is it any
wonder that his shop had a name for good stuff at a low price
and that he made
money when others lost it? When men have learned to let the old bird go they
will keep the Sabbath day holy. God gives men six days but claims the seventh.
But we shall fail to get all the good taught in the text if we do not see that
here we have God’s tribute to maternal affection. It is wonderful how brave a
little timid bird will become in the defence of her young. She will sit there
and not try to save herself in her anxiety for the helpless brood which nestles
under her wings. Is there some poor woman reading this who wonders how she is to
provide for the children
now that her husband is no more? Poor widow
dost
thou not see that if God cares for the bird’s nest He cares for thy home
and
if He would protect the thrush or the wren He will not forget thy little ones?
Does not God speak to young people here? If He thinks so much of a mother’s
love as to mark the affection of a bird for her young
how does He feel when He
sees us treat our parents with neglect or cruelty? It is an old
and we fear
true
proverb
that “The old cat catches mice for the kittens
but the kitten
never brings the old cat one.” Should that old saying apply to us? Yes
God has
shown His approval here of a mother’s affection. Do not let any of us feel as
some men feel when they are summoned to see their mother die. I don’t want you
to feel as a man did who had been sent for to bid his mother goodbye. She had
worked hard for her large family; washed and baked and wrought to bring them up
and save a bit of money to start them in the world; and just when she ought to
have been in her prime she broke down and had to die. As the young man looked
at her face
wrinkled and faded
he thought of the way she had toiled for her
children
he remembered that he had never shown her any attention
had not ever
kissed her since he was a little child
and the tears came into his eyes! He
bent down and put his lips to hers
lovingly though awkwardly
and said
“You
have been a good mother to us
you have that! She looked at him as though she
could not understand the kiss and the words of appreciation
and said with a
sigh
“Eh
John
I wish thou had said so before!” (T. Champness.)
The bird’s nest
We are very much struck with this law
not because it has to do
with a matter apparently trifling
but because there is annexed to it the same
promise as to commandments of the highest requirement. The commandment may have
to do with a trivial thing: but it is evident enough that it cannot be a
trivial commandment; indeed
no commandment can be which proceeds from God. Let
us endeavour to ascertain on what principles the precept before us is founded
what dispositions it inculcates
and we shall find that there is no cause for
surprise in the annexment of a promise of long life to obedience to the
direction
“If a bird’s nest chance to be
” etc. Now
you will see at once
that
had the precept been of a more stringent character
it might
in some
sense
have been more easily vindicated and explained. Had it forbidden
altogether the meddling with the nest
had it required that not only should the
mother bird be let go
but that neither the young birds nor the eggs should be
taken
it would at once have been said that God was graciously protecting the
inferior creation
and forbidding man to act towards them with any kind of
cruelty. But the precept permits the taking the nest; it does not even hint
that it might be better to let the nest alone; it simply confines itself to
protecting the parent bird
and thus allows
if it does not actually direct
what may be thought an inhuman thing
the carrying off the young to the
manifest disappointment and pain of the mother. It should not
however
be
unobserved that the precept does not touch the case in which there is an actual
looking for the nest. It is not a direction as to what should be done if a nest
were found after diligent search
but only as to what should be done if a nest
were found by mere chance or accident. Without pretending to argue that God
would have forbidden the searching for the nest
it is highly probable that
there was something significant in this direction as to taking the nest
in the
particular case when that nest had been unwisely placed. We are sure
from
various testimonies of Scripture
that God has designed to instruct us in and
through the inferior creation
the birds of the air and the beasts of the field
being often appealed to when men have to be taught and admonished. And we know
not
therefore
that there can be anything far fetched in supposing that
by
sanctioning a sort of injury to the bird
which had built its nest in an insecure
place
God meant to teach us that
if we will not take due precautions for our
own safety we are not to expect the shield of His protection. But now as to the
permission itself. Were not the Israelites here taught to be moderate in their
desires? It was like giving a lesson against covetousness
a lesson so
constructed as to be capable of being reproduced in great variety of
circumstances
when the finder of a prize
who might fancy himself at liberty
to appropriate the whole
was required to content himself with a part. There
was also in the precept a lesson against recklessness or waste. It required
man
whilst supplying his present wants
to have due regard to his future; yea
and to the wants of others as well as to his own. You may apply the principle
to a hundred cases. Whenever men live upon the capital
when the interest would
suffice; whenever they recklessly consume all their earnings
though those
earnings might enable them to lay something by; when
so long as
by eager
grasping
they can secure what they like for themselves
they are utterly
indifferent as to interfering with the supplies and enjoyments of others--in
every such case they are violating the precept before us; they are taking the
old bird with the young: as
on the other hand
by treating as a sin anything
like wastefulness
by a prudent management of the gifts and mercies of God
by
such a wise husbandry of resources as shall prove a consciousness that the
Divine liberality
in place of sanctioning extravagance
should be a motive to
economy
they may be said to be virtually obeying the precept; they are taking
the young
but letting the dam go. But now let us look more narrowly into the
reasons of the precept: we shall probably find
if we examine the peculiarities
of the case
that the commandment before us has a yet more direct and extensive
application. It could only be
you will observe
the attachment of the mother
bird to its young which
for the most part
would put it in the power of the
finder of the nest to take both together. And when you bring this circumstance
into the account you can hardly doubt that one great reason why God protected
the mother bird by an express commandment was
that He might point out the
excellence of parental affection
and teach us that we were not to take
advantage of such an affection
in order to any injury to the parties who
displayed it. You must be all quite aware that the affection which one party
bears to another may be taken advantage of
and that
too
to his manifest
detriment. For example
circumstances place the child of another in your power;
you are about to oppress or ill-use that child; the parent entreats; you agree
to release the child
but only on conditions with which the parent would never
have complied had it not been for the strong pleadings of natural
affection--what do you do in such a case but make use of a power
derived
solely from the parent’s love
to effect the parent’s injury? you seize
so to
speak
the mother bird
when it is only her being the mother bird which has
given you the opportunity of seizure. But evidently the involved principle is
of very wide application. A parent may take improper advantage of a child’s
love
a child of a parent’s. A parent may work on the affections of a child
urging the child
by the love which he bears to a father or mother
to do
something wrong
something against which conscience remonstrates; this is a
case in which improper advantage is taken of affection
or injurious use is
made of a power which
as in the case of the bird and her young
nothing but
strong affection has originated. But our text has yet to be considered under
another point of view. We have hitherto contended that
though it be apparently
an insignificant matter with which the commandment before us is concerned
principles are involved of a high order and a wide application
so that there
is no reason for surprise at finding long life promised as the reward of
obedience. But we will now assume the Jews’ opinion to have been correct; they
were wont to say of this commandment
that it was the least amongst the
commandments of Moses. Admit it to have been so; yet is there any cause for
wonder that such a blessing as long life should be promised by way of
recompense to obedience? God enjoins a certain thing; but we can hardly bring
ourselves to obey
simply because He has enjoined it. We have our inquiries to
urge--why has He enjoined it? if it be an indifferent thing
we want to know
why He should have made it the subject of a law; why not have let it alone? Why
not? Because
we may venture to reply
He wishes to test the principle of
obedience; He wishes to see whether His will and His word are sufficient for
us. In order to this
He must legislate upon things which in themselves are
indifferent
neither morally good nor bad; He must not confine laws to such
matters as robbing a neighbour’s house
on which conscience is urgent: He must
extend them to such matters as taking a bird’s nest
on which conscience is
silent. It is the same as with a child. He is walking in a stranger’s garden
and you forbid his picking fruit; he knows that the fruit is not his
and
therefore feels a reason for prohibition. But he is walking on a common
and
you forbid his picking wild flowers; he knows that no one has property in these
flowers
and therefore he cannot see any reason for your prohibition. Suppose
him
however
to obey in both cases
abstaining alike from the flowers and the
fruit
in which case does he show most of the principle of obedience
most of
respect for your authority and of submission to your will? Surely
when he does
not touch the flowers
which he sees no reason for not touching
rather than
when he does not gather the fruit
which he feels that he can have no right to
gather. It is exactly the same with God and ourselves. He may forbid things
which we should have felt to be wrong
even had they not been forbidden; He may
forbid things which we should not have felt wrong
nay
which would not have
been wrong unless He had forbidden them. But in which case is our obedience
most put to the proof? Not
surely
as to the thing criminal even without a
commandment; but as to the thing indifferent till there was a commandment. (H.
Melvill
B. D.)
Bird’s nest
A singular word to be in a Book which we might have expected to be
wholly occupied with spiritual revelation. Men are anxious to know something
about the unseen world
and the mystery which lies at the heart of things and
palpitates throughout the whole circle of observable nature
and yet they are
called upon to pay attention to the treatment of birds nests. Is this any
departure from the benevolent and redeeming spirit of the Book? On the
contrary
this is a vivid illustration of the minuteness of Divine government
and as such it affords the beginning of an argument which must forever
accumulate in volume and force
on the ground that if God is so careful of a
bird’s nest He must be proportionately careful of all things of higher quality.
Jesus Christ so used nature. “If
then
God so clothe the grass
” said He
“how
much more will He clothe you
O ye of little faith?” So we may add
If God is
so careful of birds’ nests
what must He be of human hearts
and human homes
and the destinies of the human family? God’s beneficence is wonderfully
displayed in the care of the birds’ nests. God is kind in little things as well
as in great. The quality of His love is one
whether it be shown in the
redemption of the race
in numbering the hairs of our head
in ordering our
steps
or giving His beloved sleep. Did we but know it
we should find that all
law is beneficent--the law of restriction as well as the law of liberty. The
law which would keep a man from doing injury to himself
though it may appear
to impair the prerogative of human will
is profoundly beneficent. Was not man
to have dominion over the fowls of the air? Truly so
but dominion is to be
exercised in mercy. The treatment of birds’ nests is a sure indication of the
man’s whole character. He who can wantonly destroy a bird’s nest can wantonly
do a hundred other things of the same kind. To be cruel at all is to be cruel
all through and through the substance and quality of the character. Men cannot
be cruel to birds’ nests and gentle to children’s cradles. The man who can take
care of a bird’s nest because it is right to do so--not because of any pleasure
which he has in a bird’s nest--is a man who cannot be indifferent to the homes
of children and the circumstances of his fellow creatures generally. It is a
mistake to suppose that we can be wanton up to a given point
and then begin to
be considerate and benevolent. We are all apt scholars in a bad school
and
learn more in one lesson there than we can learn through much discipline in the
school of God. The little tyrannies of childhood often explain the great despotism
of mature life. Is not kindness an influence that penetrates the whole life
having manifold expression
alike upward
downward
and laterally
touching all
human things
all inferiors and dependants
and every harmless and defenceless
life? On the other hand
we are to be most careful not to encourage any merely
pedantic feeling. Hence the caution I have before given respecting the purpose
for which a man considerately handles even a bird’s nest. Every day we see how
possible it is for a man to be very careful of his horse
and yet to hold the
comfort of his servant very lightly. We have all seen
too
how possible it is
for a man to be more careful of his dogs than of his children. But the care
which is thus lavished upon horse or dog is not the care dictated by moral
considerations
or inspired by benevolence; it is what I have termed a pedantic
feeling
it is a mere expression of vanity
it is not an obedience to
conscience or moral law. There are men who would not on any account break up a
bird’s nest in the garden
who yet would allow a human creature to die of
hunger. The bird’s nest may be regarded as an ornament of the garden
or an
object of interest
or a centre around which various influences may gather; so
whatever care may be bestowed upon it
it is not to be regarded as concerning
the conscience or the higher nature. We must beware of decorative morality;
calculated consideration for inferior things; for selfishness is very subtle in
its operation
and sometimes it assumes with perfect hypocrisy the airs of
benevolence and religion. What if in all our carefulness for dumb animals we
think little of breaking a human heart by sternness or neglect? Kindness to the
lower should become still tenderer kindness to the higher. This is Christ’s own
argument: when He bids us behold the fowls of the air
that in their life we
may see our Father’s kindness
He adds
“Are ye not much better than they?”
When He points out bow carefully a man would look after the life of his cattle
He adds
“How much
then
is a man better than a sheep?” It ought to be
considered a presumptive argument in favour of any man’s spirit that he is kind
to the inferior creatures that are around him; if this presumption be not
realised in his cases then is his kindness bitterest wrong. (J. Parker
D.
D.)
Verse 8
Make a battlement for thy roof.
Prudential assurance
A careful study of the tone and teaching of Deuteronomy can hardly
fail to impress the reader with its profound ethical and religious spirit. What
an emphasis is laid upon the unity and the uniqueness of the Godhead! What an
insistence upon the love of God as the motive of all actions! Humanity
philanthropy
and benevolence are insisted upon. Forbearance
equity
and
forethought underlie all regulations. The preceding precept as to the bird’s
nest and the sitting dam are a striking example of the humanity of the Jewish
law. When a man built a new house
a battlement or
as we should say
a parapet
was an almost necessary protection. It would prevent accidents. Some through
carelessness or foolhardiness
others through short-sightedness or a slip of
the foot
might fall off; such a tumble would certainly fracture limbs
and in
some cases be fatal to life. A selfish man might say
“I shall always remember
that there is no battlement
and keep well away from the sides. It is very
unlikely that any will fall over if I leave the sides unprotected. If any
accident should occur it can only be through gross carelessness. I see no
reason why I should be put to this expense.” The superior person might say
“I
will have no battlement on this roof.” I have nothing but contempt for fashion.
Why should I do a thing because other people do it? I will leave my roof
unprotected
if only to show my superiority to the caprice and tyranny of
custom. Now
the spirit of this law is recognised in all civilised communities.
Private tastes and individual eccentricities are not allowed to imperil public
safety or destroy public comfort. Private persons cannot build houses without
public authorities approving the plans. So this precept of the Jewish law is
found
in spirit at least
in our modern legislation. We are to be alive to a
sense of danger
we are not to forget the duty of prudence
we are to take all
reasonable precautions against injury to ourselves and others. But there is a
sense in which we are builders. We found families
we make fortunes
we acquire
reputations
we form friendships
we embark on undertakings
we profess moral
principles
we hold religious views--in regard to all it is well for us
nay
for all Christians it is a duty
to make a battlement to their roof. Let us in
imagination walk round the house.
1. First of all here is the economic wing. In the economic management
of life
a battlement to the roof is a duty. We build our houses
we settle in
life
we make a home for ourselves
we set up an establishment. Of course
it
must bear some proportion to our means. But how many do it on such an
imprudent
not to say extravagant scale
that there is nothing left for a
battlement! They spend all that they have. They are the victims of expensive
habits and large ideas of things. They burn incense to the demon of
respectability. They sink their all in building up the roof line
and leave no
margin for prudent provision against possible misfortune or untimely death. How
many have brought blood upon their houses
how many have inflicted suffering on
their own children and loss on others
by neglecting to build a parapet of
thrift out of the materials of simplicity of taste
moderation in appetite
and
prudence in management! Thrift is the very gospel that some people need
and
some
too
who bear the Christian name
and aspire after a Christian reputation.
What renders this a matter of really spiritual concern is that often the
battlement goes unbuilt from causes that are not only irreligious but
antichristian: a thirst for social distinctions
for recognition and patronage
by some more highly placed than ourselves.
2. But we pass to another wing. How necessary it is for Christian
people in their social life to make a battlement to the roof. The power of
social influence is immense
you can hardly over-estimate it. No character can
defy the subtle influences that flow in upon them from others. No man is
absolutely impervious to social pressure. Therefore this is one of those points
on which Christian people should exercise conscientious care and prudence. They
will erect a battlement to their social life by choosing friends from those who
will be a help rather than a hindrance to a godly life. In this we think not of
ourselves only
but of our children. We may be able to run risks with
comparative immunity
because our principles are strong and our characters
fixed. We can walk on the unprotected roof with safety. But are not our
children very liable to fall Surely the prime duty of Christian parents in the
culture of their children’s minds and hearts
and the discipline of their
habits
is to deepen in them a sense of the inviolable sanctity of goodness.
“The friendship of the world is enmity with God.” The world puts gentility
before character. It does not inquire too closely into the morals of those who
have birth and wealth. If we are wise and faithful we shall rightly estimate
the importance of social forces. We shall discriminate between those fighting
on Christ’s side and those that are fighting against Him. We shall leave no one
in doubt as to our affinities and alliances. We shall put up a battlement to
the roof of our social life. There is a kind of separation from the world which
is as impracticable as it is undesirable; there is another which is simply
essential if we are to save our own souls and help to save others. A battlement
to the roof of our social life fortifies the sanctity and simplicity of our
homes.
3. But there is another wing to this house. It is the moral
it is
the sphere of character. He who builds well and wisely
sees that the roof hero
has a battlement
namely
the battlement of religion. “By the fear of the Lord
men depart from evil.” When the heart has been touched by the love of God in
Christ
when the Lord Jesus Christ has been admitted to its throne
there is a
defence and proof against the assaults of the evil one. It is just here that
some question the need of a battlement. They are building the structure of
character
they are morally sensitive
they are anxious and careful in doing
what is right
but they have no religion
no personal concern for or interest
in the redemption of Jesus Christ
They have builded their house
but there is
not a battlement to the roof. Now
far be it from us to shut our eyes to the
fact that even those who have the battlement do sometimes fall. The parapet
itself may be out of repair
the stones may have fallen out and not been
replaced. Now
a battlement out of repair may be more dangerous than to have
none. But these cases are the exception and not the rule. There was one Judas
among the twelve apostles. But what candid and fair-minded man will deny that
the fear of God is the greatest of all restraints from evil? “The fear of the
Lord is the treasure of the godly
” for “He is able to keep us from falling
and to present us faultless before the throne of His glory
with exceeding
joy.”
4. But there is yet one other wing to the house. Here the social and
religious wings join. Our religious life itself needs a battlement. Here is a
word for those who are giving their heart to God
who are determining the great
ends and principles that are to rule their life. “When thou buildest a new
house
then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof.” Now
the Episcopalian
contends that in order to be completely furnished unto all good works our
religious life needs something in addition to God
the Bible
and Christ
Himself
namely
the Church. We entirely agree with him. Until a man is in the
Church he has not built a battlement to his house. It brings individual
believers into actual and visible association with those who have taken the
same holy vows and enlisted in the same holy warfare. It will be good for the
Church that he shall do so
but will it not be good for him? Will he not be a
stronger and better Christian if he “stir up the gift of God” that is in him
and add it to the totality and variety of the spiritual forces that operate in
the world? Will he not be encouraged by the fellowship of others? We contend
that the Church is the battlement of the religious life
not its foundation
“other foundation can no man lay than hath been laid
Jesus Christ.” By some it
is regarded as putting a restraint and imposing a limit. So it does. The
purpose of a parapet or battlement is to prevent you falling over. If your foot
slips on the edge of a precipice
what you want is something to catch hold of.
But remember
anything that is inconsistent in the Church member is equally so
in the Christian
though he be outside the Church. If you are holding back from
a duty to Christ for the sake of liberty to do things inconsistent with Church
membership
you are imperilling your soul by doing them now. (R. B.
Brindley.)
Battlements round the roofs
To understand the primary significance of these words
you have
simply to remember two things. First
that the houses referred to were covered
with flat roofs
and
secondly
that on these roofs amusements
business
conversation
and worship were frequently carried on. There is the suggestion
of great principles--principles which abide.
I. What are these
principles?
1. One is
the sacredness of human life. The great reason assigned in
the text for the building of the balustrade round the roof was this: “that thou
bring not blood upon thine house.” If human life were a thing of no account
no
battlement would be necessary--let a man or a child fall over
what matters it?
Now
that is a principle which in a general way we all recognise
but which in
our commercial life is continually violated by that which calls itself “the
trade” preeminently.
2. But another principle underlying the text is this
the inhumanity
of selfishness. Observe
the builder of a house might have reasoned thus with
himself: “Why should I make a parapet about the roof of my house? I am in no
danger of falling over
and when my friends and neighbours come to see me
let
them take care of themselves.” Every man for himself! Is that the principle on
which society can hold together? If I am a man
nothing that is human will be
alien to me. If I consult only my own safety and comfort and well-being
I am
worse than a brute!
3. For another principle suggested here
closely allied to that of
which I have just spoken
is
our responsibility in relation to others. If any
man fell
the blood was upon the owner’s house. They could not say--“It was the
man’s fault who met with the accident. He should have been more careful. He
ought to have kept away from the edge of the roof.” Yes
perhaps so
but that
was no excuse for him who had failed to set up the balustrade.
II. Now
having set
before you
in a general way
the principles underlying this text
I want to
look at its teaching as it applies more particularly to the boys and girls of
our homes and of the community at large. The making of the battlement is not to
be an after consideration; it must be part of the original plan. The house is
not complete without it. There is to be no waiting until someone has fallen
over. The building of the battlement is intended to be preventive of harm from
the very beginning. And is not that the line on which we work when we seek to
train our boys and girls in the principles of total abstinence?
1. And will you allow me to say that one of these protections--a
battlement for their safety--is the protection of the law.
2. Then another battlement to be reared about the young life of our
country may perhaps be summed up in the word education.
3. But I come back to the home again
and I say that around your own
household
you
father
mother
must rear the balustrade of your own example. (Josiah
Flew.)
Building battlements
Many are building homes which immortal souls are filling. Are the
homes made safe?
1. Our homes ought to have every moral and spiritual safeguard that
God’s Word and the best experience suggests.
2. The guards are most needed where there are pleasant places
the
heights from which it is so easy to fall.
3. When evil comes through neglect of these safeguards
the builder’s
soul is stained with blood. Builder of a home
do your duty
let not the blood
of dear ones stain your soul. (F. W. Lewis.)
House building
We are all builders--building character
building for eternity.
The text gives an important principle--that prevention is better than cure.
Better put up the barrier above
than have to pick up the mangled body from the
pavement below. Better prevent the formation of bad habits than attempt their
eradication later in life.
I. Notice some of
the battlements which need to be reared about our soul life and about the life
of society.
1. The Christian Sabbath
one of the oldest balustrades reared for
man’s protection. A week without a Sabbath is a year without a summer
a summer
without flowers
a night without a morn.
2. Family prayer. Some are ready to talk in meeting
whose lips are
dumb in prayer at home. The devoutness of heathen rebukes such prayerlessness.
Pericles
before an oration
used to plead with the gods for guidance
and
Scipio
before a great undertaking
went to pray in the temple of Jupiter.
3. Reverence for God’s Word. Men of real culture
though not
believers
well know that all that is noblest in art
sweetest in song
and
most inspiring in thought
had its source in this volume.
4. Gospel temperance. Guard the young. Keep them pure. Even the blood
of Christ cannot wash out the memory of sin. It mars and pollutes the soul.
5. The all-inclusive battlement is personal faith in Jesus Christ.
II. The battlement
of old was for ornament and for protection. Through the lower part an arrow
could be shot
and in later years a bullet. So religion serves this double
purpose. See to it that your house is thus built
and when this earthly
tabernacle is taken down
you will have another
not built with bands
eternal
in the heavens. (R. S. McArthur
D. D.)
Battlements
Not only is this an extraordinary instruction
it is the more
extraordinary that it appears in a hook which is supposed to be devoted to
spiritual revelations. But in calling it extraordinary
do we not mistake the
meaning which ought to be attached to the term “spiritual revelations”? Are not
more things spiritual than we have hitherto imagined? This instruction
recognises--the social side.
of human life
and that side may be taken. As in
some sense representative of a Divine claim; it is not the claim of one
individual only
but of society; it may be taken as representing the sum total
of individuals; the larger individual--the concrete humanity. Socialism has its
beneficent as well as its dangerous side. Socialism
indeed
when rightly
interpreted
is never to be feared; it is only when perverted to base uses
in
which self becomes the supreme idol
that socialism is to he denounced and
avoided. The social influences continually operating in life limit self-will
develop the most gracious side of human nature
and purify and establish all
that is noblest and truest in friendship. There are certain conditions under
which an instruction such as is given in the text may excite obvious
objections. Suppose
for example
that a man should plead that his neighbour
calls upon him only occasionally
and should upon that circumstance raise the
inquiry whether he should put up a permanent building to meet an exceptional
circumstance. The inquiry would seem to be pertinent and reasonable. On the
other hand
when closely looked into
it will be found that the whole scheme of
human life is laid out with a view to circumstances which are called
exceptional. The average temperature of the year may be mild
for most of the
twelve months the wind may be low and the rain gentle; why then build a house
with strong walls and heavy roofs? Our neighbour may call tomorrow--see then
that the battlement be ready! But ought not men to be able to take care of
themselves when they are walking on the roof without our guarding them as
though they were little children? This question
too
is not without a
reasonable aspect. It might even be urged into the dignity of an argument
on
the pretence that if we do too much for people we may beget in them a spirit of
carelessness or a spirit of dependence
leading ultimately to absolute
disregard and thoughtlessness in all the relations of life. We are
however
if
students of the Bible
earnestly desirous to carry out its meaning
bound to
study the interests even of the weakest men. This is the very principle of
Christianity. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” By thinking of one
another we lay claim upon the affection and trust of neighbour and friend. We
are not to reason as if this action were all upon our own side. Whilst we build
our battlement for the sake of another man we must remember that that other man
in building his house builds a battlement for our sake. All services of this
kind are reciprocal; no man
therefore
is at liberty to stand back and decline
social responsibilities: in every sense
whether accepted or rejected
no man
liveth unto himself. The Christian application of this doctrine is clear. If we
are so to build a house as not to endanger the men who visit us
are we at
liberty to build a life which may be to others the very snare of destruction.
Is there not to be a battlement around our conduct? Are our habits to be formed
without reference to the social influence which they may exert? Remember that
children are looking at us
and that strangers are taking account of our ways
and that we may be lured from righteousness by a licentiousness which we call
liberty. Is the Christian
then
to abstain from amusements and delights which
he could enjoy without personal injury lest a weaker man should be tempted to
do that which would injure him? Precisely so. That is the very essence of
Christian self-denial. How many life houses there are which apparently want but
some two or three comparatively little things to make them wholly perfect! In
one case perhaps only the battlement is wanting
in another case it may be but
some sign of spiritual beauty
in another case there may be simply want of
grace
courtesy
noble civility
and generous care for the interests of others.
Whatever it may be
examination should be instituted
and every man should
consider himself bound not only to be faithful in much
but faithful also in
that which is least; and being so he will not only see that there is strength
in his character but also beauty
and upon the top of the pillars which
represent integrity and permanence will be the lilywork of grace
patience
humbleness
and love. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Battlements
I. God has
battlemented His own house. There are high places in His house
and He does not
deny His children the enjoyment of these high places
but He makes sure that
they shall not be in danger there. He sets bulwarks round about them lest they
should suffer evil when in a state of exaltation. God in His house has given us
many high and sublime doctrines. Timid minds are afraid of these
but the
highest doctrine in Scripture is safe enough because God has battlemented it.
Take the doctrine of election. God has been pleased to set around that doctrine
other truths which shield it from misuse. It is true He has chosen people
but
“by their fruit ye shall know them.” “Without holiness no man shall see the
Lord.” Though He has chosen His people
yet He has chosen them unto holiness;
He has ordained them to be zealous for good works. Then there is the sublime
truth of the final perseverance of the saints. What a noble height is that! A
housetop doctrine indeed! “The Lord will keep the feet of His saints.” “The
righteous also shall hold on his way
and he that hath clean hands shall be
stronger and stronger.” It will be a great loss to us if we are unable to enjoy
the comfort of this truth. There is no reason for fearing presumption through a
firm conviction of the true believer’s safety. Mark well the battlements which
God has builded around the edge of this truth! He has declared that if these
shall fall away
it is impossible “to renew them again unto repentance; seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh
and put Him to an open
shame.” Take another view of the same thought. The Lord has guarded the
position of His saints if endowed with wealth. Some of God’s servants are
in
His providence
called to very prosperous conditions in life
and prosperity is
fruitful in dangers. Yet be well assured that
if God shall call any of you to
be prosperous
and place you in an eminent position
He will see to it that
grace is given suitable for your station
and affliction needful for your
elevation. That bodily infirmity
that want of favour with the great
that sick
child
that suffering wife
that embarrassing partnership--any one of these may
be the battlements which God has built around your success
lest you should be
lifted up with pride
and your soul should not be upright in you. Does not this
remark cast a light upon the mystery of many a painful dispensation? “Before I
was afflicted I went astray
but now have I kept Thy word.” The like prudence
is manifested by our Lord towards those whom He has seen fit to place in
positions of eminent service. You may rest assured that if God honours you to
win many souls
you will have many stripes to bear
and stripes you would not
like to tell another of
they will be so sharp and humbling. Do not
therefore
start back from qualifying yourself for the most eminent position
or from
occupying it when duty calls. He will uphold thee; on the pinnacle thou art as
secure as in the valley
if Jehovah set thee there. It is the same with regard
to the high places of spiritual enjoyment. Even much communion with Christ
though in itself sanctifying
may be perverted
through the folly of our flesh
into a cause of self-security. Lest a soul should be beguiled to live upon
itself
and feed on its frames and feelings
and by neglect of watchfulness
fall into presumptuous sins
battlements are set round about all hallowed joys
for which in eternity we shall bless the name of the Lord. Too many of the
Lord’s servants feel as if they were always on the housetop--always afraid
always full of doubts and fears. They are fearful lest they shall after all
perish
and of a thousand things besides. To such we say you shall find when
your faith is weakest
when you are just about to fall
that there is a
glorious battlement all around you; a glorious promise
a gentle word of the Holy
Spirit shall be brought home to your soul
so that you shall not utterly
despair.
II. From the fact
of Divine carefulness we proceed by an easy step to the consideration that
as
imitators of God
we should exercise the like tenderness; in a word
we ought
to have our houses battlemented. A man who had no battlement to his house might
himself fall from the roof in an unguarded moment. Those who profess to be the
children of God should
for their own sakes
see that every care is used to
guard themselves against the perils of this tempted life; they should see to it
that their house is carefully battlemented. If any ask
“How shall we do it?”
we reply--
1. Every man ought to examine himself carefully whether he be in the
faith
lest professing too much
taking too much for granted
he fall and
perish. Lest we should be
after all
hypocrites
or self-deceivers; lest
after all
we should not be born again
but should be children of nature
neatly dressed
but not the living children of God
we must prove our own
selves whether we be in the faith.
2. Better still
and safer by far
go often to the Cross
as you
think you went at first.
3. Battlement your soul about well with prayer. Go not out into the
world to look upon the face of man till you have seen the face of God.
4. Be sure and battlement yourself about with much watchfulness
and
especially
watch most the temptation peculiar to your position and
disposition.
III. As each man
ought to battlement his house in a spiritual sense with regard to himself
so
ought each man to carry out the rule with regard to his family. In the days of
Cromwell it is said that you might have gone down Cheapside at a certain hour
in the morning and you would have heard the morning hymn going up from every
house all along the street
and at night if you had glanced inside each home
you would have seen the family gathered
and the big Bible opened
and family
devotion offered. There is no fear of this land if family prayer be maintained
but if family prayer be swept away
farewell to the strength of the Church. A
man should battlement his house for his children’s sake
for his servants’
sake
for his own sake
by maintaining the ordinance of family prayer. We ought
strictly to battlement our houses
as to many things which in this day are
tolerated. I shall not come down to debate upon the absolute right or wrong of
debatable amusements and customs. If professors do not stop till they are
certainly in the wrong
they will stop nowhere. It is of little use to go on
tilt you are over the edge of the roof
and then cry
“Halt.” It would be a
poor affair for a house to be without a battlement
but to have a network to
stop the falling person half-way down; you must stop before you get off the
solid standing. There is need to draw the line somewhere
and the line had
better be drawn too soon than too late.
IV. The preacher
would now remind himself that this church is
as it were
his own house
and
that he is bound to battlement it round about. Many come here
Sabbath after
Sabbath
to hear the Gospel. Ah! but it is a dreadful thing to remember that so
many people hear the Gospel
and yet perish under the sound of it. Now
what
shall I say to prevent anyone falling from this blessed Gospel--falling from
the house of mercy--dashing themselves from the roof of the temple to their
ruin? What shall I say to you? I beseech you do not be hearers only. Be
dissatisfied with yourselves unless ye be doers of the word. Rest not till you
rest in Jesus. Remember
and I hope this will be another battlement
that if
you hear the Gospel
and it is not blessed to you
still it has a power. If the
sun of grace does not soften you as it does wax
it will harden you as the sun
does clay. Do not die of thirst when the water of life is before you! Let me remind
you of what the result will be of putting away the Gospel. You will soon die;
you cannot live forever. The righteous enter into life eternal
but the ungodly
suffer punishment everlasting. Oh
run not on in sin
lest you fall into hell!
I would fain set up this battlement to stay you from a dreadful and fatal fall.
Once more. Remember the love of God in Christ Jesus. He cannot bear to see you
die
and He weeps over you
saying
“How often would I have blessed you
and
you would not!” Oh
by the tears of Jesus
wept over you in effect when He wept
over Jerusalem
turn to Him. Let that be a battlement to keep you from ruin. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Putting up parapets
There is a most lamentable waste of power in the Christian Church;
in fact
among the best elements of society. This waste arises from
misdirection. The power is applied at the wrong time and in the wrong quarter.
Instead of being applied in the way of prevention
which would commonly be
certain
it is applied in the effort to reform and restore
which is always
difficult
and often impossible. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.
This principle is happily illustrated in an ancient regulation among the Jews.
The regulation was this: “When thou buildest a new house
then thou shalt make
a battlement [or ‘parapet’] for thy roof
that thou bring not blood upon thy
house if any man fall from thence.” No intelligent reader need be told that the
roofs of Oriental houses are perfectly fiat
and that they are constantly used
for promenading
for rest
for drying fruits
for sleeping
and often (as in
Peter’s case) for religious devotions. It required but small expenditure of
time and money to build the parapet. When that measure of precaution has been
taken
the little children may romp there with impunity; good old grandfather
may walk there
without danger of stumbling over
through dimness of vision.
But if the inviting roof was left unprotected
and even a single child was
pitched into the street below
what skill could restore the mangled form? This
Oriental law of the parapets teaches that prevention is well-nigh certain
but
cure is exceedingly difficult. Often all attempts in that direction are well
nigh hopeless. The percentage of inebriates who are reformed by any method is
pitiably and painfully small. “Inebriate asylums” do not cure one half of those
who are sent there. Of the converted drunkards who are received into our
churches
nearly all have had one or more temporary lapses into drinking
and
every man of them is in constant danger to their dying day. Such men as Gough
and Sawyer
and McAuley are only upheld by the omnipotent grace of God. Yet all
the multitudes of victims of the bottle who have gone down to darkness and
their doom might have been saved by the very simple process of prevention. If
one-twentieth part of the effort which is put forth in attempted reformation of
the dissipated had been spent in persuading them never to drink at all
how
different would have been the result! The right time to put up the parapet of
total abstinence is in childhood or early youth. The right place to plant the
parapet is at home and in the Sabbath school.
1. But there are other lessons taught by the Jewish battlements
besides those which apply to the bottle. One lesson is that wilful neglect is as
fatal as wilful crime. Not-doing is twin brother to wrong-doing. Many a father
and mother have had their hearts broken by the disgraceful sins of a son; and
yet the blame of the boy’s ruin rested on themselves. They had either set him a
most pernicious example
or else they had left him to drift into bad practices
unrestrained. Building battlements after our children have broken their own
necks and our hearts is a sort of posthumous precaution that comes to nothing.
2. It is from the neglect of the cultured
influential classes in our
towns that the terrible harvests of the streets (in the shape of thieves
rioters
and criminals) are constantly reaped. If tenement houses reek with
filth and debauchery
if the young are unreached by any mission school or church
or any kind of purifying agency
what else can we expect than wholesale
demoralisation among “the masses”? Prisons
pauperism
and gibbets are God’s
assessments upon society for neglecting the children. If society fails to put
up parapets
society must “foot the bill.” These are the very times for parapet
building. The Bible furnishes plenty of good precepts with which to build
parapets. The Fifth Commandment and the Eighth are peculiarly good timber.
Happy is the man whose daily life is walled around with a Bible conscience. His
religion is a prevention. Half of his life is not lost in attempting to cure
the effects of the other half. (T. L. Cuyler.)
The duty of the strong
There is a mixture here of the temporary and the permanent. The
symbol is temporary and local; but the principle symbolised is eternal and
universal. “When thou buildest a new house.” It is not to be an afterthought;
the battlements are to be in the original plan. The man is not to wait until an
accident occurs and the necessity for the battlements is proved
but he is to
take precautionary measures. He has to do with human life
which is too sacred
to be experimented with in order to find out the percentage of probabilities.
But I can imagine the selfish man saying
“Nay
I will not build battlements to
my house. I can walk the flat roof of my house without any danger of falling
and why should I provide for others? I am perfectly safe.” The same argument is
used with regard to abstinence. “Erect battlements so that others may not fall
over? Nay
” says one
“I am in no danger. I can take my glass of beer or wine
and feel perfectly safe; and why should I abstain for the sake of those who
know not how to control their appetites?” Now just look at that. By the law of
self-preservation the man would build battlements to prevent danger to himself;
as there is none for him he will not build those battlements; so that
after
all
the highest impulse in that man’s life is just this--self-preservation.
Are you prepared to say
“Nay
I will not abstain from intoxicating drinks
and
thus erect a battlement
a balustrade
simply because I know I am perfectly
safe myself”? If there is any danger to another
and it is in your power
by
your example
to erect a barrier which shall prevent the fall of another
then
it is your evident duty to do it. But the cynic comes forward and says
“Yes
I
know it is possible for a man to fall over
but it must be through culpable
neglect or very exceptional weakness
and am I to conform to such conditions?
Am I to build a balustrade or abstain from intoxicating drinks merely because
of the weaklings by whom I am surrounded? Am I to take account of them!” God’s
law does
and human law
in so far as it is Christian
does. It is the duty of
the strong to deny themselves for the sake of the weak; we who are strong ought
not to please ourselves Now the question is not whether you can with safety to
yourself indulge in intoxicants
but whether by taking your glass you encourage
another who is weaker to take his glass also
and who in due time may become a
drunkard and a prey to the passion from which you are happily free . . . but
there is the self-assertive man who says: “I am not going to give up my
liberty; it is a limitation to my personal liberty.” That cry is as fallacious
as it is selfish. Personal liberty must ever ran parallel with the well-being
of the community. (D. Davies.)
Modern battlements
Obviously the letter of this precept applies only to the
flat-roofed houses of the East. There the housetop has always been a place of
resort. Rahab took the scouts to the top of her house in Jericho
where her
flax was spread out
and hid them there. King David walked on the housetop at
the hour of evening. Our Lord spoke to the Twelve of preaching upon the
housetops. It is not improbable that even in our climate more use may hereafter
be made of the housetops than heretofore. The pressure of crowded cities may
lead to this. Already the plan of having recreation ground for children on the
flat roof of a school house has been tried
where a playground could not
otherwise be obtained; and it has been found to answer well. In any such case
the need of a strong balustrade is
of course
as imperative as it was in
Palestine. God requires that human life shall not be trifled with. Precaution
should be taken that it be not
even through inadvertence
sacrificed. And this
principle belongs peculiarly to our holy religion. Other forms of religion have
breathed a cruel spirit
and a contempt for human life. We can imagine an
Israelite chafing at such a command as this. “Religion
” he might say
“is
religion. Sacrifice is sacrifice. Prayer is prayer. But business also is
business
and has its own necessities. May not a man build a house as he likes
with his own money?” But he might be answered thus: “There is no such
separation as you desire between piety and conduct. Religion does not consent
to be shut up in tabernacle
temple
or synagogue. It must come out into the
streets and highways
a witness for righteousness and love. It absolutely
denies your right to build or to do anything whatever just as you like. The
question is not what you choose
but what you ought to do.” That God of order
and of mercy who gave directions about stray sheep
an ox or ass that had
fallen by the way
and even about the egos in a bird’s nest
did not omit to
legislate against fatal accidents to men
women
and children. Now
this is our
God; and what He deemed worthy of His notice
and even of His legislation in
the time of Moses
is certainly not forgotten or disregarded by Him now. He
will not hold any man guiltless who builds a house
whether for his own
residence or to be let or sold to another
and does not in the building guard
against whatever is perilous to human life. A house built
or run up with defective
supports
damp walls or bad drainage
violates this law. It is a structure
unsafe or pernicious for man
and therefore displeasing to God. Let the owners
of house property look to it. The spirit of the enactment suggests other and
wider applications. Religion has something serious to say to those who possess
and those who manage mines and railways
and those who send ships to sea.
Calamities will happen even in the most carefully excavated and managed mines
on the most skilfully built and regulated railways
and in the stoutest and
best found ships; but when they occur through parsimony
or through
recklessness
the parties who are really responsible
whether or not made
answerable to human justice
incur the heavy displeasure of God. He requires that
all precautions which are possible shall be taken to prevent a wanton sacrifice
of life. Precaution is not an interesting word. It has not a heroic sound; but
it denotes a thing that is wise and that pleases God. A dashing rescue of men
out of deadly peril attracts more admiration; but he does well who prevents
them from falling into the danger. Neglect of due precaution is
in fact
the
mother of all sorts of mischief. No harm is intended
but a little indolence or
heedlessness grudges the trouble
or parsimony grudges the expense of
preventive measures; and so harm is done
which no skill can remedy. The
watertight doors between the compartments of the ship are left open on the very
night when she is struck
and it is too late to close them when the water
rushes from stem to stern and she begins to settle down into the hungry sea.
Often a man falls short in his precautionary duty through overmuch confidence
in himself. He needs no parapet to protect him. It is thus that men
ungenerously disregard the moral safety of others. One has what is called a
“strong head.” Whether it be from strength or sluggishness
he can drink much
wine or strong drink with apparent impunity; and on this account he laughs at
abstinence. But his own son may be unable to govern himself. Far be it from us
to disparage the remedial efforts that in any measure bless the world. The
Gospel itself is the announcement of a Divine remedy for human sin and woe; and
men act in the spirit of the Gospel when they bring cleansing and healing to
those who have fallen. But what folly it is to let things go wrong in order to
right them again! Surely the first duty is to prevent preventable evils.
Towards such objects a good deal has been done by modern English legislation
and by the action of philanthropic societies and institutions. The influence of
the Christian family
of Church
and of Sunday school ought to form a still
better parapet to guard the youth of England. Is the relation to the Lord which
is implied in their baptism seriously and intelligently explained to children?
Are the claims of the Saviour on their love and allegiance unfolded to them?
Without any premature strictness being forced upon the young
a moral parapet
might be quietly and insensibly raised around them by the prayer of faith
the
charm of good example
and a careful
patient training in upright speech and
conduct. Alas! there are those who will
in their infatuation
leap over every
such battlement and throw their lives away. But it is none the less desirable
that the battlement should be there. It will save some
though not all. It is a
check
though not a panacea. It gives time for reason
for conscience
for
reflection
for self-respect; above all
for the grace of God
to act
and
preserve men from moral self-destruction. Possibly some of you have fallen and
are broken. No parapet was placed round their heedless youth
or if there was a
battlement
they laughed at it and jumped over. They had taken their own way
done their own will and pleasure
ridiculed the scruples of their best friends;
and let us hope they at last begin to recognise their own folly
and are
bruised
and sore
and self-vexed. The mercy of God is for them. They have
destroyed themselves
but in Him is their help. Jesus Christ
the Son of the
Highest
is the Good Physician. He has come to heal the broken and to save the
lost. (D. Fraser
D. D.)
The law of home life
I. The sacredness
of human life. Of all the earthly blessings which man enjoys
he considers life
the greatest. So highly does he appreciate it that he will part with all things
else in order to retain it. Yet notwithstanding these facts there seems to be a
growing disregard for human life.
II. The importance
of family life. The Jews were a nation of homemakers and home lovers. If the
family was an important institution among the Jews
it is no less important to
us as a nation. No one doubts that the State is necessary to our welfare as a
people. We must have laws
and we must have them executed
if we maintain a
civil government. And no one doubts that the Church is necessary unto our
national existence. But important as are the State and the Church
it is
generally conceded that the family is more important than either. It has to do
with the physical
the social
the moral
and the spiritual well-being of each
member of the household. In view of the fundamental position and character of
the family
arid in view of its vast importance
it becomes us more highly to
appreciate it
and more earnestly to strive for its preservation and perpetuity.
III. Some safeguards
which should be placed about the home. Natural instinct
parental love
and the
Divine Word demand this of them.
1. One such means is good reading in the homes.
2. Another safeguard to the family is making the home pleasant:
making it the happiest place on earth. Seemingly the trend of modern life is
away from the home.
3. Another safeguard to the family is religious instruction. (R.
L. Bachman
D. D.)
Verse 10
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
A law for the ox and the ass
There was a reason for this prohibition. The step of an ox and an
ass being different
they could not pull together without causing one another
much exertion and weariness. The work would be nearly twice as hard for the ox
and the ass as it would be for two oxen or two asses. The law teaches us to
consider differences in human beings
and not to yoke those who differ from one
another to the same tasks. The law forbidding the people to plough with an ox
and an ass applies to children. Injury is done to children when they are
treated as though they had precisely the same bodily and mental capabilities.
Children are so variously constituted
that what one boy can do with case in
school work is to another boy a difficult labour. The sum in arithmetic which
is to one a pleasure is to another a torture. The seemingly dull boy is not to
be reproached because he cannot do what his bright companion can do. Some day
the apparently stupid fellow may awake to intellectual activity
and get a long
way before the boy who
for a time
made rapid progress in scholarship. The
ass
which could not keep pace with the ox in dragging the plough
has
sometimes developed into a steed grand as the war horse described in the Book
of Job. Children should not be put to trades Irrespective of their gifts and
preferences. The timid
shrinking boy should not be mated with the bold
adventurous type in employments needing a daring spirit. The bold
adventurous
boy
whose heart is already on the ship’s deck
and who dreams day and night of
voyages over great spaces of ocean to the region of the walrus and white bear
or to the clime of the palm and the tamarind
should not be kept behind a grocer’s
counter. What is right for one is not necessarily right for another. Fathers
and mothers should honour individuality in their boys and girls
and not fret
because their children do not pull together in the same yoke. The law
forbidding the Israelites to plough with an ox and an ass applies to young
people. They are not to be treated religiously as though they were all in the
same condition
and had all to pass through a like process to become disciples
of Christ. Hard theologians and unthinking revivalists have done harm to such
young people by passing on them a sweeping condemnation
and insisting that
there is no true conversion without agonies of repentance and ecstasies of joy.
No distinction has been made between them and those guilty of flagrant sins
and they have been cruelly yoked with the very worst of mankind. The law
forbidding the Israelites to plough with an ox and an ass applies to men and
women. All the members of the Church are not to be expected to manifest their
religion precisely in the same way. Some are naturally lively and joyful;
before their conversion they were noted for their cheerful disposition. It is
as impossible for them to be dull as it is for the sun to be dull when shining
in the blue of an unclouded sky. It is as impossible for them to be silent as
it is for larks and linnets to be silent when May is kissing the April buds
into flower. It would be as bad as yoking the ox and the ass together to insist
that they must repress their jubilant feelings and be quiet as Christians whose
voices are never heard in religious demonstration. It would be equally cruel to
insist that those quiet Christians must break through their natural gravity
and manifest the enthusiasm which is ever pealing out song after song
hallelujah after hallelujah. Violence is not to be done to natural feeling by
forcing everyone to the same kind of Christian work. The timid and retiring are
not to be compelled to pull in the same yoke with the brave and bold. (J.
Marrat.)
Verse 11
Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts.
The moral and the positive in the duties of life
I. That this
precept exhibits a “positive” duty. The ground of this ordinance is to be sought
for
not in the nature of things
but in the will of God.
II. That as the
inculcation of a positive duty the precept of the text was not so binding upon
the Jews as those duties which were wholly moral. A Jew might be reduced to the
alternative either of wearing no garment at all
or of wearing one woven of
woollen and linen together. The preservation of health is a moral duty
and
therefore more important than the observance of a ritual precept.
III. That we
who
live under the Gospel dispensation
are not bound to observe this precept at
all. Neither sowing your fields with wheat and rye together
nor ploughing with
horses and oxen together
nor wearing a garment of wool
or of linen
or of
divers sorts
availeth anything
“but a new creature.”
IV. That while we
are under no manner of obligation to observe this precept in its literal
meaning
still the moral principle which underlies that meaning
and which it
was intended to illustrate
is as binding now as ever--as binding upon us as it
was upon the Jews. This prohibition
in its primary application to the
Israelites
was doubtless intended to show that they were not to mingle
themselves with the heathen
nor to weave any of the usages of the Gentiles
into the ordinances of God. This is the spirit of the precept
and it is as
binding upon us as it was upon them. We are to avoid an accommodating way of
dealing with the Divine law. We are not to alter its sacred principles to suit
the temper of the times
and the habits of the world. (R. Harley.)
The robe of Christ’s righteousness
and the sin of wearing
anything with it
I. The robe of
righteousness which all God’s people must wear. It may perhaps be said
that as
the text merely forbids our interweaving woollen and linen together
it leaves
it at our choice whether the garment of our salvation shall be woollen or
linen. But it is not so. It must be of linen
and of fine linen only (Revelation 19:7-8). This robe of
righteousness is for two purposes.
1. For their justification. The robe of righteousness must not only
be such as Jehovah can accept
but it must be such as He cannot reject--it must
be the pure
perfect
supernatural
Divine righteousness of an incarnate God.
2. And this robe of righteousness is not only for our justification
but for our sanctification also. The man who has the robe of Christ’s
righteousness upon him
must have the influences of Christ’s Spirit within him
for it is only by our sanctification that we can prove the reality of our
justification. There is a renewing process as well as a reconciling one.
II. The
offensiveness of all attempts to weave anything with it.
1. It is an insult to God the Father
who has determined that every
child of His family shall be habited in the one robe of the family--the perfect
spotless garment of His only begotten Son
“unto and upon all them that
believe.” How
then
must that man expect to be dealt with
who
in the
wantonness of his resistance to God’s method of salvation
shall refuse to rest
solely on the righteousness of God’s own Son
or shall dream of adding thereto
his own imperfect and perishable doings? The consequence can only be
that all
the sanctions and severities of God’s unchanging law will be let loose upon him
in all their force
if he ventures either on his own merits only
in a woollen
garment
or conjointly on his own and on the Saviour’s in a garment of linen
and woollen together
and thus refuse his undivided reliance on Him alone
who
magnified the law and made it honourable.
2. Nor
assuredly
is there less insult offered to God the Son
in
this attempt to combine works and grace in the matter of salvation. For what
purpose was His mission to our world? Did He not pour out His soul an offering
for sin
and by His obedience unto death bring in everlasting righteousness?
Think you
then
that this great and gracious Saviour will consent to be
insulted by men’s attempts to join their works with His
and to “wear a garment
of divers sorts
as of woollen and linen together
” when the fine linen only of
His finished work--dyed in His precious blood--is the righteousness of the
saints? Know ye not that He lays an absolute claim to all the honour of our
salvation? That He will suffer no righteousness to be put in competition with
His? That He will not give His glory
nor the least degree of it
to another? (R.
C. Dillon
D. D.)
The linsey-woolsey garment
The woollen garment in the text is a shadow of the righteousness
of the law or the righteousness of works; the linen also is a shadow of the
righteousness of faith
or Christ’s righteousness. To speak after the manner of
the Gospel
the text teacheth us not to blend both together. There are three
sorts of preachers who receive the Scripture and confess the God of Abraham.
1. The first are such as preach the law alone
and these are
generally Jews
and men of their spirit.
2. The second sort are evangelists or true Gospel preachers
ministers of the New Testament
who preach only the Lord our righteousness
and
who will know nothing among their congregations
and souls committed to their
charge
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
3. There are others who sin against the law
and against the Gospel
blending both together
and teaching the people to wear the garment of linen
and woollen
of all which I intend to speak freely. I do not wonder that St.
Peter calls the law a yoke
which neither they nor their fathers could bear
because it must have been so to them who heard not plainly of Jesus and His
salvation. Who
under the law
could have any comfort when he knew he was under
the curse as long as he continued not in all things of the book of the law to
do them? The more sincere the more unhappy such were who served under the law
and heard of no way to heaven but a perfect obedience to all the ordinances of
God. The true Christian preacher is one whom the God of the whole earth
the
Lord who gave the law
has taught
and who is convinced that the law was given
to make sin known
and to make it more exceedingly sinful
and that
righteousness comes not by that means
but by Christ Jesus
who is become
righteousness to everyone that believeth; and having heard the Gospel with ears
to hear
and having understood the gracious sayings of Jesus
and been a
witness himself both of the deplorable estate under the law and the deliverance
by the merits and Cross of the Lamb
determines only to know and preach Him
crucified everywhere. This is the only white linen
the only righteousness
which the saints wear above
and which can make them beautiful and fair in the
eyes of God Almighty
and in the sight of His holy angels. There are yet other
preachers who
in a measure
preach the law
and seem as if they believed
morality and obedience were the only cause of our being accepted with God. They
insist upon the necessity of making ourselves righteous
but lest they should
awaken the consciences of those who hear them
they tell them
When you have
done all you can
Christ will do the rest; He will make perfect your good works
with His righteousness; you must begin and set about the work by repenting and
living a religious life; and if that is not sufficient
when you come to die He
will supply the deficiency and make it up with His merits. This is the device
of man entirely
and cannot be found in all the Scripture. This is crying peace
when there is no peace
and healing the wound slightly. This is mingling the
woollen and linen together
and making the commandment of God void by the
traditions of men. However the Lord approves of the faithfulness of His people
and will greatly reward their good works and labours of love which have been
done for his name’s sake
and blames such whose works were faulty; yet that
righteousness which saves the soul
and is the only proper righteousness
is the
obedience
sufferings
and merits of our crucified God and Lord Jesus Christ;
and this is imputed to us by believing in Him. This was the way in which the
father of the faithful found righteousness
and was justified in the eight of
God
and in this only a soul can be clothed at the great day. Have you never
made any show of religion
but have lived altogether without seeking
righteousness hitherto? Now let it be so no more; come now to Jesus
the Friend
of publicans and sinners
and He who hanged naked on the Cross will hide your
shame. Or
are you devout and religious? Have you attempted by the law and
striven by works to become righteous
and when ye failed patched up your rags
with Christ’s merits
God’s mercy
and the like? Have ye
to quiet your conscience
mingled the woollen and linen together? Now
then
throw away the
linsey-woolsey cloth
the forbidden garment
the unclean and illegal dress
and
approach naked to Him who clothes the lilies of the field
and He will be your
covering
and you shall appear at His wedding in linen clean and white. (John
Cennick.)
The unmixed garment
1. Such a command may seem very strange to us--that they were not to
mix wool and linen in the same garment; but after mature reflection
we are led
to see the infinite care God has over the smallest interests of His people; it
shows
also
that God sees an infinite fitness of things which is too fine for
our gross apprehension.
2. Scripture has its only true and preeminent meaning when applied to
the inner moral robing of Christians. We are not to have our soul’s garniture
mixed
partly of the wool of carnality and partly of the linen of spirituality.
Grant that the great majority of believers
or more strictly half-believers
are sadly mixed in their religious character and experience; grant also that
every Christian is mixed--partly spiritual and partly carnal--in the first
stage of grace
yet the only and universal standard in the Scriptures of Divine
truth is unmixedness of moral character. (H. Daniel.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》