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Jeremiah
Chapter Fifty
Jeremiah 50
Chapter Contents
The ruin of Babylon. (1-3
8-16
21-32
35-46;) The
redemption of God's people. (4-7
17-20
33
34)
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:1-7
(Read Jeremiah 50:1-7)
The king of Babylon was kind to Jeremiah
yet the prophet
must foretell the ruin of that kingdom. If our friends are God's enemies
we
dare not speak peace to them. The destruction of Babylon is spoken of as done
thoroughly. Here is a word for the comfort of the Jews. They shall return to
their God first
then to their own land; the promise of their conversion and
reformation makes way for the other promises. Their tears flow not from the
sorrow of the world
as when they went into captivity
but from godly sorrow.
They shall seek after the Lord as their God
and have no more to do with idols.
They shall think of returning to their own country. This represents the return
of poor souls to God. In true converts there are sincere desires to attain the
end
and constant cares to keep in the way. Their present case is lamented as
very sad. The sins of professing Christians never will excuse those who rejoice
in destroying them.
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:8-20
(Read Jeremiah 50:8-20)
The desolation that shall be brought upon Babylon is set
forth in a variety of expressions. The cause of this destruction is the wrath
of the Lord. Babylon shall be wholly desolated; for she hath sinned against the
Lord. Sin makes men a mark for the arrows of God's judgments. The mercy
promised to the Israel of God
shall not only accompany
but arise from the
destruction of Babylon. These sheep shall be gathered from the deserts
and put
again into good pasture. All who return to God and their duty
shall find
satisfaction of soul in so doing. Deliverances out of trouble are comforts
indeed
when fruits of the forgiveness of sin.
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:21-32
(Read Jeremiah 50:21-32)
The forces are mustered and empowered to destroy Babylon.
Let them do what God demands
and they shall bring to pass what he threatens.
The pride of men's hearts sets God against them
and ripens them apace for
ruin. Babylon's pride must be her ruin; she has been proud against the Holy One
of Israel; who can keep those up whom God will throw down?
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:33-46
(Read Jeremiah 50:33-46)
It is Israel's comfort in distress
that
though they are
weak
their Redeemer is strong. This may be applied to believers
who complain
of the dominion of sin and corruption
and of their own weakness and manifold
infirmities. Their Redeemer is able to keep what they commit to him; and sin
shall not have dominion over them. He will give them that rest which remains
for the people of God. Also here is Babylon's sin
and their punishment. The
sins are
idolatry and persecution. He that will not save his people in their
sins
never will countenance the wickedness of his open enemies. The judgments
of God for these sins will lay them waste. In the judgments denounced against
prosperous Babylon
and the mercies promised to afflicted Israel
we learn to
choose to suffer affliction with the people of God
rather than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 50
Verse 2
[2] Declare ye among the nations
and publish
and set up a
standard; publish
and conceal not: say
Babylon is taken
Bel is confounded
Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded
her images are broken
in pieces.
Bel — Bel and Merodach were the two principal idols of the
Babylonians.
Verse 3
[3] For out of the north there cometh up a nation against
her
which shall make her land desolate
and none shall dwell therein: they
shall remove
they shall depart
both man and beast.
The north — From Media which lay northward to
Babylon and Assyria.
Verse 4
[4] In those days
and in that time
saith the LORD
the
children of Israel shall come
they and the children of Judah together
going
and weeping: they shall go
and seek the LORD their God.
In those days — In the days wherein God shall
begin to execute judgment upon Babylon
(which was in the time of Cyrus) the
children of Judah shall come out of captivity
and some of the children of
Israel hearing that their brethren were gone out of Babylon
shall go up also
from the several places into which they were disposed by the Assyrians: weeping
for their sins
or for joy that God should shew them such mercy.
Verse 6
[6] My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have
caused them to go astray
they have turned them away on the mountains: they
have gone from mountain to hill
they have forgotten their restingplace.
Their shepherds — Their civil and ecclesiastical
governors have been a cause of it. The former by their wicked commands and
example; the latter by example as well as doctrine.
Turned them — To offer sacrifices unto idols.
From mountain — From one idolatry to another.
Forgotten — They have forgotten me.
Verse 7
[7] All that found them have devoured them: and their
adversaries said
We offend not
because they have sinned against the LORD
the
habitation of justice
even the LORD
the hope of their fathers.
Habitation — Some think this is a name here
given to God
who indeed is the habitation of justice
but whether the
Chaldeans would call him so
may be a question. Others therefore think the
preposition in is understood
making this the aggravation of the Jews sins
that they were committed in a land which ought to have been an habitation of
justice.
Verse 8
[8] Remove out of the midst of Babylon
and go forth out of
the land of the Chaldeans
and be as the he goats before the flocks.
Remove — God commands his people to remove out of Babylon
and
to go forth chearfully like the he-goats of a flock leading the way.
Verse 10
[10] And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall
be satisfied
saith the LORD.
Satisfied — Satisfied with spoil and plunder.
Verse 11
[11] Because ye were glad
because ye rejoiced
O ye
destroyers of mine heritage
because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass
and bellow as bulls;
Because — They rejoiced at the ruin of the Jews.
Fat — The cause for which Babylon is threatened
was
doubtless their luxury of all sorts commonly attending great wealth.
Verse 12
[12] Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you
shall be ashamed: behold
the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness
a dry land
and a desert.
Mother — Your country
shall be ashamed of you
who are not
able to defend her.
Verse 15
[15] Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand:
her foundations are fallen
her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance
of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done
do unto her.
Given her hand — Acknowledging themselves
overcome
and yielding.
As she hath done — Unmerciful men find
no mercy.
Verse 16
[16] Cut off the sower from Babylon
and him that handleth
the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall
turn every one to his people
and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Every one — Either such strangers as for
commerce had their abodes in Babylon
or such assistance as the Babylonians had
gotten against their enemies.
Verse 17
[17] Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him
away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Israel — The whole twelve tribes.
Lions — Enemies cruel as lions had carried them into
captivity.
Verse 20
[20] In those days
and in that time
saith the LORD
the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for
and there shall be none; and the sins
of Judah
and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
Not found — God will no longer punish the
sins of the Jews
they should be sought for as to punishment and not found.
Reserve — Whom I save from the captivity of Babylon.
Verse 21
[21] Go up against the land of Merathaim
even against it
and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them
saith the LORD
and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
Merathaim — The names of some places which
Cyrus took in his way to Babylon.
Verse 22
[22] A sound of battle is in the land
and of great
destruction.
The land — Of Chaldea.
Verse 26
[26] Come against her from the utmost border
open her
storehouses: cast her up as heaps
and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her
be left.
Open her store-houses — The granaries
or
treasures of the Babylonians.
Verse 27
[27] Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the
slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come
the time of their visitation.
Bullocks — The great and rich men of Babylon.
Verse 28
[28] The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land
of Babylon
to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God
the vengeance
of his temple.
The vengeance — The revenge which God had taken
for his holy temple
which the Chaldeans had destroyed.
Verse 33
[33] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and
the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives
held them fast; they refused to let them go.
Together — Together in this place signifies no more than that
they were both oppressed
or alike oppressed.
Verse 34
[34] Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name:
he shall throughly plead their cause
that he may give rest to the land
and
disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
Plead — He will actually and readily effect it.
Verse 36
[36] A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword
is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
Dote — Their soothsayers and wizards shall dote
not
foreseeing what will be.
Dismayed — Their hearts shall fail them when this day comes.
Verse 37
[37] A sword is upon their horses
and upon their chariots
and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall
become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
Horses — Through they be full of chariots and horses
the enemy
shall destroy them.
Mingled people — People that were not native
Chaldeans
but under their dominion.
Verse 38
[38] A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried
up: for it is the land of graven images
and they are mad upon their idols.
Dried — This phrase has a plain reference to Cyrus's stratagem
used in the surprize of Babylon; one part of it was fortified by the great
river Euphrates
which Cyrus diverted by cutting several channels
'till he had
drained it so low
that it became passable for his army; others think that a
want of rain is here threatened.
Verse 40
[40] As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour
cities thereof
saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there
neither shall any
son of man dwell therein.
No man — Cyrus only made them tributaries
and took away their
government. But Seleucus Nicanor
a Grecian prince
utterly destroyed Babylon
so that in the time of Adrian the Roman emperor
there was nothing left
standing of that great city.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
50 Chapter 50
Verses 1-46
Verse 4-5
They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward.
Travelling Zionward
To return to one’s land of nativity after a long absence is one of
the most pleasant experiences of human life. We are all pilgrims and strangers
in this land. We have wandered from our Father’s home. Let us follow the
example of these two tribes
who were now united and returning to their own
land.
I. Consider the
first act of this liberated people. They asked the way to Zion. This was wise
of them
for many try to go there without knowing the way. They did not inquire through mere
curiosity
but with a determination to put their knowledge to practical use.
There is not a ransomed soul around the throne to-day but who has asked this
question.
II. The second act
of Israel and Judah after they received their answer was to turn their faces
thitherward. Their faces are Zionward now. They had been travelling in a wrong
direction
and so long as this was the case it would be impossible for them to
reach their destination. Satan is always trying to persuade Christians to take
a slidetrack
or a side-view
and turn their backs on Zion
but so long as they
keep their faces toward the city of God they are invulnerable.
III. After turning
their faces toward Zion they moved on. How? “Weeping and rejoicing.” Weeping
now and rejoicing then. Here again the life of the Christian is typified. The
Christian often weeps as he marches on
but will rejoice when he obtains the
crown of life at the close of the day.
IV. They decided to
bind themselves in an everlasting covenant unto the Lord
having one purpose
one object
one desire in life--a perpetual covenant unto the Lord. There is no
coercion in this covenant
because they said to each other
“Come
and let us
join ourselves unto the Lord.” The word “come” is one of the gems that shine in
the Word of God. Not do or die
but “come” and live. It is like the flower that
blooms in the desert
or the evening that comes after the hot and weary day.
V. Some reasons
why we should join ourselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant.
1. Because the sinner separated from the Lord misses the end of his
creation.
2. Because of the everlasting relationship into which you enter.
3. Time develops strength
and the longer you put off the harder it
becomes to break the chains that bind you.
4. The pleasures and benefits of a life with Christ infinitely
outweigh the brief pleasures of sin. (M. C. Cameron
B. D.)
Mourners
inquirers
covenanters
The previous part of this chapter declares the overthrow of
Israel’s cruel oppressor. “Babylon is taken
Bel is confounded
Merodach is
broken in pieces.” The Assyrian and Babylonian power had been the great tyrant
of the ages
and the Lord had employed it for the chastening of His people
until at last Israel and Judah had been carried away captive to the banks of
the Euphrates
and the land of their fathers knew them no more. When
therefore
the Lord deals with Babylon in a way of vengeance it is that He may
deliver His own people. See how the two things are joined together in the
eighteenth and nineteenth verses. When Pharaoh is drowned
Israel is saved;
when Sihon and Og are slain
the Lord’s mercy to His people is seen to endure
for ever. To-day the power of the adversary is broken
and we may flee out of
the Babylon of sin. A greater than Cyrus has opened the two-leaved gates
and
broken the bars of iron in sunder
and proclaimed liberty to the captives. We
may now return to our God and freely enjoy the holy and happy associations
which belong to the city of our God. Every one who is really seeking the Lord
desires to be sure that he is seeking aright; he is not willing to take
anything for granted
since his soul is of too much value to be left at hazard.
He inquires
“Are my feelings like those of the truly penitent? Am I believing
as those do who are justified by faith? Am I seeking the Lord in a manner which
will be pleasing to Him?” They have so long been as lost sheep
going from
mountain to hill
that they have forgotten their resting-places
therefore in
their confusion they are afraid of going wrong again
and so they inquire with
eager anxiety. Perhaps we may show them from this Scripture how others sought
and how others found
and this may be a guide and a comfort to them; for albeit
there are differences of operation
and all do not come to Christ with equal
terrors
or with equal joys
yet there is a likeness in all the pilgrims to the
holy city.
I. To begin at the
beginning
the Lord’s restored ones during the processes of grace were first of
all mourners.
1. Oh
after all your sins I will not believe that you are truly
coming to God if there is not about you a great sorrow for sin and a lamenting
after the Lord. Some seekers are made to drink of this bitter cup very deeply;
their sense of sin is terrible
even to anguish and agony. I know that there
are others who do not taste this bitterness to the same degree; but it is in
their cup
for all that. The clear shining in their case so soon follows the
rain that they scarcely know that there has been a shower of grief. Surely
in
their case the bitterness is passed; yet is it truly there
only the other
ingredient of intense delight in God’s mercy swallows up all its sharpness. Oh
you cannot imagine the Jews returning from captivity without bewailing the sins
which drove them into the place of their exile. How could they be restored to
God if they did not lament their former wicked estrangement? While the heart
feels no compunction concerning its wanderings
no mourning over its guilt
no
grief at having grieved the Lord
there can be no acceptance with God. There
must be a shower in the day of mercy: not always a long driving rain causing a
flood
but the soft drops must fall in every case. There must be tenderness
toward God if we expect reconciliation with God.
2. Observe that this mourning in the case of Israel and Judah was so
strong that it mastered other feelings. Between Judah and Israel there was an
old feud. Yet now that they return unto the Lord
we read
“The children of
Israel shall come
they and the children of Judah together.” Oh
happy union in
a common search for God! One of the first results of holy sorrow for sin is to
cast out of our heart all forms of enmity and strife with our fellow-men. When
we are reconciled to God we are reconciled to men. A penitent sense of our own
provocations of God will prevent our being provoked with men. As Aaron’s rod
swallowed up all other rods
so a sincere sorrow for sin will remove all
readiness to take offence against our fellow-sinners.
3. Keeping close to the text
we notice again that the exiles on
their return were mourning while marching. Observe the words
“going and
weeping.” A true heart that is coming to God takes the road by Weeping-Cross:
it feels its sin
its guilt
its undesert
and it therefore mourns. The closet
is sought out and prayer is offered; but in the supplication there is a dove’s
note
a moaning as of one sorrowing for love.
4. Turning the text round
we read not only of “going and weeping.”
but also of weeping and going. The holy grief here intended does not lead to
sitting still
for it is added “they shall go.” That word “weeping” is
sandwiched in between two goings going and weeping; they shall go and seek the
Lord. To sit down and say
“I will sorrow for my sin
but never seek a
Saviour
” is an impenitent pretence of repentance
a barren sorrow which brings
forth no cleansing of the life
and no diligent search after the Lord. The way
to repent is with your eye upon the sacrifice
viewing the flowing of the
sin-atoning blood
marking every precious drop
gazing into the Redeemer’s
wounds
and believing in the love which in death opened up its depths unsearchable. All the
while we must be saying
“My God
my God
I groan within myself that such a
sacrifice should have been required by my atrocious transgressions against
Thee.”
5. We must not pass over that last word
“They shall go and seek the
Lord their God.” This shall be a guide to you as to whether your present state
of feeling is leading you aright. What is it you are seeking? “I am seeking
”
says one
“I am seeking peace.” May you soon obtain it
and may it be real
peace; but I am not sure of you. “I am seeking
” says another
“the pardon of
sin.” Again
I pray that you may find it; but I am not sure of you. If another
shall reply
“I am seeking the Lord; for I desire above all things to have Him
for a friend
though to Him I have been an enemy; then I have good hope of him.
Here is a little child
picked up from the gutter
diseased and filthy
unclad
unfed; and if you ask me to make out a catalogue of what the child wants you
must give me a sheet of foolscap paper to write it all down
and then I fear I
shall leave out many things. I will tell you in one word what that poor infant
requires--it wants its mother. If it gets its mother it has all it needs. So to
tell what a poor sinner wants might be a long task; but when you say that he
wants his Heavenly Father you have said it all. Oh
souls
you are seeking
aright if you are seeking your God. Nothing short of this will suffice.
II. Secondly
these
mourners became inquirers. “They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces
thitherward.” They knew within a little the quarter in which Zion lay
and they
looked that way; but they did not know all about the road: how should they?
1. The saving point about them was that they were not ashamed to
confess their ignorance. Minds that the Lord has touched are never boastful of
their wisdom. There are many persons in the world who would be converted if
they could but consent to be taught by God’s Word and Spirit; hut they are such
wise people
they know too much to enter the school of grace.
2. It is clear
from their asking their way that these inquirers were teachable. “They shall
ask the way to Zion”: they shall therefore be conscious of ignorance
and they
shall be willing to be taught; these are good characteristics
such as God
accepts.
3. More than this
they will be anxious although they are right.
“They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces thitherward.” They are
travelling in the right direction
and yet they ask the way. He that has never
raised a question about his condition before God had better raise it at once.
The fullest assurance of faith we can ever attain will never excuse us from the
duty of self-examination.
4. At the same time
note concerning those that are coming to the
Lord and His people
that they are questioning
but they are still resolved.
They ask how they can be right with God
not as a matter of curiosity
but
because they mean to be at peace with Him: by God’s grace nothing shall turn
them aside from their God and His temple
and hence their anxiety to be surely
right. True penitents will have Christ or die.
5. Though they ask the way
we may remark further that they know
whither they are going. They ask their way
not to somewhere or other
but to
Zion; not to some imaginary blissful shore that may be or may not be
but they
seek God’s own dwelling-place
God’s own palace
God’s own sacrifice. They ask
boldly too
for they are not ashamed to be found inquiring; and when they are
informed
their faces are already that way
and therefore they have nothing to
do but to Go straight on. May God grant us myriads of such inquirers!
III. These inquirers
become covenanters
for they said one to another
“Come
and let us join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Oh
that word “covenant”! I can never pronounce it without joy in my heart. It is
to me a mine of comfort
a mint of delight
a mass of joy. The doctrine of the
“covenant” is a kind of Shibboleth by which we may know the man of God from the
false prophet. Let the people
of God take no delight in the man who does not delight in the covenant of
grace.
1. These inquirers become covenanters
for we read that they seek to
be joined unto the Lord. “Come
and let us join ourselves to the Lord. Is not
this the one thing
you long for
that you may be so at peace with God through Jesus Christ that
you may be joined with Him? You are a right-hearted seeker
in fact
you have
found the Lord already
or else you would not find it in your heart to use such
an expression as seeking to be joined unto the Lord.
2. Next
notice for how long a time this covenant is to be made. “Let
us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant.” In our English army of
late they have enlisted “short time” men. A good brother came to join the
Church last week who is in the Reserve
and I said to him
“You are not coming
to unite with us for two sixes
the first six with the colours
and the other six as a
reserve man
--you have come
I hope
to fight under the colours as long as life
lasts.” “Ay
sir
” he said
“I give myself up to the Lord for ever.” No
salvation is possible except that which saves the soul for ever. A real man of
God has his religion interwoven into the warp and woof of his being; he could
not be other than he is whatever his circumstances might be. The covenant of
life requires a life-long covenant. We do not take grace upon a terminable
lease; it is an entailed inheritance
an immortal
eternal possession.
3. Note
further
that this joining to God these covenanters intended
to carry out in a most solemn way. “Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a
perpetual”--agreement? or promise? No. “Covenant” is the word. It is a
profitable thing for the soul to covenant with God. In the ordinance of baptism
we have the best visible setting forth of that covenant. Circumcision set forth
the taking away of the filth of the flesh; but baptism sets forth the death and
burial of the flesh itself; we see in it the emblem of our death and burial
with our Lord. The believer thereby says
“Now I am come to an end of my old
life
for I am dead and buried
” and he becomes henceforth as one who has risen
with Christ
to walk in newness of life.
4. Those who came mourning and inquiring
when they became
covenanters
felt that they had a nature very apt to forgetfulness of good
things
and so a part of what they desired in their covenanting with God was “a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” God will never forget
yet may
you pray
“Lord
remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” The fear is
lest you should forget. What is your view of that possibility? Would it not be
terrible? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Marks of genuine repentance
I. It is said
“the children of Israel shall come
they and the children on Judah together.”
In other words
these two people
who
though members of the same family
had
so long lived in a state of the most deadly hatred and hostility
when touched
by a feeling of genuine contrition
shall “come” “together”; shall amalgamate;
shall forget their former subjects of contention
and approach in one body the
throne of love and compassion And such is the constant effect of genuine religion.
Vice
by increasing our selfishness
by sharpening the natural irritability of
the temper
by filling us with a feverish anxiety about the objects of time and
sense
“separateth even chief friends.” In like manner
a merely speculative
and ceremonial religion rarely fails to disunite its followers. But on the
contrary
serious
heartfelt
spiritual scriptural religion binds and consolidates.
Never
till the temper of real contrition
with all its train of accompanying
graces
enthrone itself in the mind; never
till real Christianity take the
place of that which is nominal; never
till we love God better than we love
ourselves; never
till we choose rather to sacrifice our interest and
indulgences
than to disturb the peace of the Church
and rend the seamless
garment of our Redeemer.
II. It is here said
of the people of Israel and Judah
that “they shall come weeping.” As the
tenderest parent sees with joy the tear of penitence steal over the cheek of
his guilty child; as no pang is deeper than that inflicted by the discovery that a state of
separation from himself costs the child of his bosom neither fear nor anguish;
thus our Father
which is in heaven
expects in us
the prodigal children of
His family
sorrow and anguish of soul
till our reconciliation with Himself is
accomplished. But how is it possible to reconcile with language such as this
the conception
so prevalent in the world
that the proper object of life is
amusement
and our reasonable and legitimate temper of mind thoughtlessness and
a spirit of almost ceaseless dissipation? It is indeed true
that the temper of
mind becoming the man who is reconciled to God is peace
and cheerfulness
and
joy:--“Rejoice in the Lord; and again I say
rejoice.” But peace of mind before
reconciliation--peace
when the Lord has a “controversy” with us--peace
this
is not the peace sanctioned by Scripture
but a state of repose leading to almost
inevitable destruction. The true penitent is there described as “going and
weeping.” It is not
indeed
my intention to affirm that tears are the
necessary
or the only sufficient
expression of grief for sin. Many a sad
heart would delight to weep
but cannot.
III. These returning
penitents are described as “Seeking the Lord their God.” Here is one of the
grand distinctions between true and false repentance. That sorrow of the world
which “worketh death
” ordinarily evaporates in a few unmeaning words or tears.
The real penitent
on the contrary
is not merely startled by his danger; he
detests his offence. His soul longs for emancipation from its corruptions
and
for a full and free entrance into the presence of the Lord.
IV. It is said of
the returning penitents in the text
“they shall ask the way to Zion.” It is
something in religion to have discovered that we are out of the way. The next
mark of genuine repentance is a lively
persevering anxiety to be put into the way. But this anxiety
will not discover itself in blind and random efforts to search out the path by
our unassisted powers; but in humbly and earnestly availing ourselves of every
appointed channel by which safe and sure intelligence on this all-important
subject may be conveyed to the soul. The penitents in the text “ask their way.”
Distrusting a heart which has often misled them
they go for instruction to the
servants of the Lord
and especially to Him who loves to “go before” his sheep
and lead them to the pastures of their proper happiness. And
observe
the
place which they are said to seek is Zion
--he “city of their solemnities”; the
holy city; the city in which dwelleth the Great King; where His temple arises;
where
having laid aside the thunders of His just indignation
He sits between
the cherubim
to dispense mercy and love to His guilty creatures. The real
penitent never stops till he reaches the city of God. And however bright the
sunshine
and clear the fountains
and extensive the prospects
which cheer him
on the journey; and however wise and strong and compassionate the Guide who
goes with him
and delights to succour
to defend
and to bless him
he neither
puts off his armour nor rests from his labour till he sits down in eternal
tranquillity in the paradise of God.
V. It is said of
these penitents in the text
they ask their way to Zion “with their faces
thitherward.” In other words
they are really bent on discovering the city
which they profess to seek. Their eye is upon its towers; and their hearts are
honestly impelling them in the right line of direction. Their inquiry has no
alliance with the empty curiosity of the man who has no intention of adopting
the advice which he solicits
and follows one path when his guide directs him
to another. But
hearing a voice behind them
saying
“This is the way
walk ye
in it
” they implicitly follow the leadings of providence and the suggestions
of the Spirit.
VI. The individuals
in the text are described as saying
“come
and let us join ourselves to the
lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Such is uniformly
the desire of the true penitent. Are we not the sworn enemies of sin
the
world
and the devil? And how have we fulfilled our engagements to God? Will
any single man venture to lay his hand on his heart and say
I have fulfilled
them as I ought? And
if not
what is our duty to-day? Is it not to say
as in
the text
“Come
and let us join ourselves
” &c.? (J. W. Cunningham
M.
A.)
Young Christians congratulated
encouraged
and exhorted to trust
in God
I. Jehovah
as a
reconciled God in Christ Jesus
is the object of their inquiry. God and the
light of His reconciled countenance
in opposition to the delights of sense
the gains of merchandise
the discoveries of science
and the felicities of
friendship. It is the Divine favour they seek supremely
though not
exclusively; for no one enjoys
with a keener relish
the productions of nature
and the bounties of providence
than a true believer.
II. It is usual
with inquirers to associate with those who are like-minded with themselves.
III. This inquiry
after God and happiness is frequently accompanied with tears. “They shall come
they and the children of Judah together
going and weeping.” They weep over the
times of their former ignorance. “To how little purpose have we hitherto
lived
” will they say; “our lives have been little better than a complete
blank. And now that we have at length awaked to some sense of our danger
and
desire for spiritual blessings
how little do we know of God and of ourselves
of sin and the method of salvation!” They weep over their numerous and
aggravated transgressions. And they will weep frequently at such a time because
of strong temptations
from the great enemy of souls. What a mercy is it when
we are disposed to weep for sin! Many weep for pain of body
or because of the
disappointments they have met with in business
but never grieve on account of
their offences before God. They lament the difficulties of the times
but heave
not a sigh over the hardness of their hearts
IV. Mount Zion is
the place to which they will repair for instruction and comfort.
V. Devout and
sincere inquirers will gladly avail themselves of the direction and counsel of
christian ministers
and of other pilgrims
who have made some advances in the
way to the celestial city.
VI. Young converts
having found god
to their unspeakable satisfaction
will do well to join
themselves to the lord
in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten
They must do this
by pleading and laying hold for themselves on the blessings
of the covenant of grace;--by publicly professing faith in the Redeemer’s name;
for having first given themselves to the Lord
they should give themselves up
to the Church
according to the will of God. (Essex Remembrancer.)
God proper object of human pursuit
I. God should be
our supreme object of pursuit. God’s will is in everything; we should find it
out
and act accordingly.
II. The supreme
pursuit of God requires earnest endeavour. What of that? We should see to it
that in everything we do and attend to
thought should apprehend
feeling
embrace
will regard
and aim terminate in
God.
III. This seeking of
God should be continuous. For what reason? The mind is susceptible of
indefinite enlargement in acquaintance with God. Religion admits of eternal
progress.
IV. The constant
earnest
seeking of God is
in this world
ever more difficult
and sometimes
grievous. Why? Because of past neglect and failure; and because of existing
contrary influences
agencies
attractions
and allurements.
V. The sincere
intelligent pursuit of God will issue in a satisfying conviction of the
rightness and blessedness of subordinating everything to entire
unswerving
ever advancing allegiance to God in creation
providence
and redemption.
VI. True seekers of
God
help and urge one another to abide with God in truth
and love
and deed.
(W. J. Stuart.)
The Israelites returning from Babylon
I. The state of
the Jews in Babylon.
1. The captive Israelites were obviously in a degraded state. And
what is the state of man
but a state of degradation? He boasts of the dignity
of his nature
but an angel might weep over its baseness. He has brought
himself almost to a level with the brutes that perish.
2. The condition of the Jews in their captivity was as wretched as it
was degrading. We too arc a suffering people. Once indeed the world was a
paradise
but sin has entered it
withered its beauty
and robbed it of its
happiness.
3. Our state
like that of the captive Jews
is also a guilty state.
It was sin which caused them to be delivered into the hands of their enemies;
and it is sin which has made us base and wretched. Our first father
transgressed and died; but the vengeance which followed his transgression
deterred not his children from treading in his steps. To say nothing of the
follies of our childhood and the sins of our youth
how many iniquities have we
willingly and daringly committed since we attained the age of manhood!
4. The enslaved Jews were in a helpless state
or in one that appeared
helpless. And what power have we to rescue ourselves from that state of guilt
and wretchedness into which we are fallen? The law we have violated
denounces
misery on our heads
a misery as great and lasting as our guilt; and who can
resist its authority or repeal its curse?
II. The deliverance
of the Israelites.
1. It was effected for them by the power of another. Cyrus was a type
of Christ
the great spiritual Deliverer; and if we are ever brought out of our
spiritual bondage
we must be content to owe our liberty to Him alone. He
beheld them in thraldom to sin and Satan
and trembling under the power and fear of death;
He came and overthrew their enemies
and burst their bonds. He made an end of
sin; He destroyed death; He bruised Satan underneath their feet. Their degradation
too was not overlooked by Him. They were in exile
and they were wretched
there; but He raised them up from their low estate
and recovered for them the
blessedness they had lost. He is now employed in restoring them to their
forfeited inheritance.
2. The deliverance of the Israelites was also openly proclaimed and
freely offered. To this proclamation St. Paul alludes in Romans 10:1-21.
and speaks of it as a
representation of the preaching of the Gospel to the enslaved nations of the
earth.
III. The feelings
with which this journey was commenced.
1. As we behold the Israelites leaving in a body the land of the
Chaldaeans
the first circumstance which arrests our attention is their
penitence. But why do they weep? The mercy they have received has softened
their hearts. It has shown them the tenderness of their heavenly Father. This
godly sorrow is
in every instance
one of the first fruits of genuine
religion. By nature our hearts are hard
so hard that the most awful judgments
can make no abiding impression on them; but when we are roused out of our
spiritual unconcern by the Spirit of God
and begin to look with the eye of
faith on the great Saviour of sinners
a train of new and deep emotions is
excited within us.
2. Notice also in these liberated Jews
their
anxiety lest they
should mistake the way that is to lead them to Jerusalem. “They shall ask the
way to Zion.” And is not this anxiety
this spirit of inquiry
found in all who
have fixed their heart on heaven? There was a time when they were destitute of
all care on this subject. They thought themselves sufficiently acquainted with
the way to God. They deemed it broad and plain
and looked on him as an
enthusiast who bid them ask what they must do to be saved. But now all this
self-confidence and imaginary security are come to an end. They know too that
mistakes in this matter are not trifling errors; that there is but one way in
which they can obtain the salvation they need
and that to seek it in any other
way is to be for ever undone.
3. We may notice also the decision of these returning captives
the
earnestness and resolution with which they seek the Lord. And no man ever
arrived at the heavenly Zion without possessing such a mind as this. (C.
Bradley
M. A.)
God’s deliverance of us from spiritual bondage
I. God
before He
sees fit to loose the spiritual bonds of those whom He intends to deliver
is
first pleased to bring them to feel their chains
and to mourn over their
distance from Zion.
II. Under this
painful concern of mind
they shall anxiously inquire after the means of
recovery. “They shall go and seek the Lord their God.” The poor captives are
here represented--weeping. Though depressed with their perfect thraldom
though
weeping
they go; they sit not down in despondency. They set their faces
towards Zion; and let them but find the Lord their God
let them but perceive
His gracious intentions towards them
and they can wait His time and way of a
full and final deliverance
and commit everything else to Him.
III. Animated by
this Hope
they shall vigorously press towards Zion; “they shall ask the way
with their faces thitherward.” In the ordinary affairs of life
when men have a
particular object in view in which they are deeply interested
and that hope or
object is merely probable
they exert every nerve; they toil by day and wake by
night; they encounter dangers with resolution
and suffer hardships without
complaint. And is it possible to believe that temporal considerations
which
can fall under no certain calculation as to She certainty of acquiring them
should engage our affections
and employ all our active powers; and that
considerations of infinitely greater moment confessedly
and certain as to
their attainment and duration
should have less influence
or no influence at
all
upon us? It is impossible; the idea is absurd. What mighty effects
then
it may be asked
will the Christian’s hope produce? They are
no doubt
various
in degrees
and correspond to that hope as it is more or less vigorous; but
they are the same in kind; and they may in general fall under one view
--a
change of the objects of his affections and pursuits. The bonds in which he was
held formerly by his passions and sensual appetites
restrain him no longer; he
is no longer under their tyranny and blind impulse. He feels himself overawed
by a superior authority; and he perceives objects presented to him which he had
formerly viewed with indifference
or had been wholly unnoticed by him
which
by a new energy seize his soul
--captivate his affections
and fix his choice.
Again
animated by this hope of salvation
the soul rises superior to the
world; and feels a Divine elevation that cannot stoop to it
when courted by
its most flattering forms
as its ultimate object. This hope of salvation
inspires the soul with a Divine zeal
a holy impatience after further
attainments. The higher this hope rises
the more it enlarges the heart.
IV. In order to
confirm and strengthen their resolutions
they will bind themselves by a solemn
deed and covenant. “Come
let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant
that shall not be
forgotten.” A personal covenant with God is inseparable from genuine
closet-devotion Every prayer
every pious purpose
every devout meditation
is
virtually a covenant with the Lord. And there may be certain occasions wherein
devout souls may see cause to be more explicit to express at large their sense
of Divine things
their present feelings
their past experiences
and to commit
to writing their solemn purposes and engagements
and
to impress the whole the
stronger upon their minds
--to append their names. But this I only mention
the
words leading me to speak
not of a personal or closet transaction
but of a public
bond of union
the common act of a religions society. Single resolutions slip
easily out of the mind
and lose their hold of us; but in a public transaction
where the great God is supposed to stand on the one part
and His poor
dependent creatures on the other
there is something so awful and solemn
as
must leave upon a mind
not wholly hardened and insensible
some suitable
impressions; especially where the transaction is accompanied and confirmed by
sensible and expressive symbols. (Thomas Gordon.)
A test for true seekers
By nature all are captives under the power of Satan
sin
and
death. Now
just as Israel found comfort and hope
and had an expectation of
getting back to the promised land
when the might of Babylon was broken
so
there is comfort for every sinner who desires to escape from the power of sin
and Satan
in this great fact
that Christ has broken the power of the old
dragon. He has snapped in sunder the iron yokes that His redeemed might go
free. Thus Babylon’s destruction is Israel’s salvation. Notice
next
these
words in verse 4: “In those days
and in that time
saith the Lord
the
children of Israel shall come
they and the children of Judah together
”--from
which I gather that
when men’s hearts are set upon seeking the Lord
it is
wonderful how neigh-hourly they become. Attend to this hint
then
you who are
seeking the Saviour. You are encouraged by the fact that the power of Satan is
broken
take care that you make up all quarrels
and put an end to all envyings
and disputes
for thus you will be helped in seeking the Lord. Notice
next
that the right way for a sinner to return is
first to seek the Lord
and then
to seek Zion
--that is
the Church
or heaven
whichever you understand Zion to
be. “They shall go
and seek the Lord their God”; and then follows our text
“They shall ask the way to Zion.” Another remark arising out of the context is
this
that many who seek the Lord seek Him weeping: “The children of Israel
shall come
they and the children of Judah together
going and weeping.” Notice
that combination
“going and weeping.” Some are weeping
but never going; and
some are going
but never weeping; it is a blessed thing when we have the two
together
--practically drawing near to God
and passively feeling deep sorrow for
sin. There are two kinds of tears
and I think that they who truly seek the
Lord shed both of them; the one is a tear of sorrow because of sin
the other
is a tear of joy because of pardon.
I. There are some
persons who neither ask the way to Zion nor set their faces thitherward. Their
relationship to Christ is that of utter indifference. They regard eternal
things as though they were mere trifles
and they look upon temporal things as
though
these
were all-important. They call this “minding the main chance
”
and “looking after the principal thing”; but as to their souls and God
and
heaven
and eternity
they are utterly indifferent. Let ms think of what it is
to which they are indifferent. They are utterly indifferent to God. You know
how many there are who live as if there were no God at all. This is a terrible
thing
because God will require all this at their hands. It is no slight thing
to be utterly indifferent to Christ
to Him who loved mankind so much that He
could not abide in heaven
and let them perish
but must needs come here and be
a lowly
suffering
despised
crucified man
that He might redeem men Yet
after all that He has done
which must have astonished the angels in heaven
and which ravishes the heart of every gracious man on earth
these people do
not care. They are utterly indifferent also with regard to themselves. They
expect to have troubles in this life; but as to that which comforts many of us
under these troubles
they do not wish to know about it. They see many of God’s
people calm and quiet under pain and bereavement and sorrow
and they are
sometimes curious to know what the secret is; yet their curiosity is not strong
enough to stir them out of indifference. Often
when a man is indifferent about
Divine things
it is because he vainly imagines that he is wise. I do not think
that you and I ought to meddle with everything; there are some things we may as
well let drift
but this will never do about God and eternity. I may be
indifferent to God
but He is not indifferent to me. I may forget Him
but He
has not forgotten what I do
and think
and say. Another thought that ought to
come home to many is that this indifference is so foolish. When a man is
indifferent to his own happiness
then he is a fool. If a man were miserably poor
although he might be rich
but he was indifferent about it
yea would think him
insane. Now
there is no joy like the joy of salvation in Christ; there is no
bliss under heaven that can parallel the bliss of the man who has committed
himself into Christ’s hands
and is resting calmly in Him; yet these
indifferent people do not care about it.
II. There is
another set of people who ask the way to Zion with their faces turned away from
it. It is a very strange thine that any should say
“Tell us the way to
heaven
” and yet
when we have told them
that they should set off walking the
other way. “Go due east
” you say; but they go due west directly. Now what can
be the reason for that? A man is secretly a drunkard
or he is unchaste
or a
woman is living in secret sin
yet always found listening to the Gospel. Why is
this? Do you wish to increase your own condemnation? Do you? I cannot think
that it is so. I hope that you do not come in order that you may hear of things
to quarrel with and quibble over. I remember one
who was afterwards an eminent
saint
who first went to hear Mr. Whitefield
because he was a great mimic
that he might take him off
and he afterwards went to the club which they
called the “Hell Fire Club” to spend the evening. “Now
my mates
” said he
“I
am going to give you a sermon that I heard Mr. Whitefield preach yesterday”;
and the man repeated the sermon
but he himself was converted while he preached
it
and so were several of his mates who had met for blasphemy. So
come
even
if you do come for such an evil purpose as that. Still
it is a sorrowful
business that there should be men who ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces
in the opposite direction.
III. There is a
third class of people who ask the way to Zion
but turn not their faces. What
is the meaning of their conduct? Is it an idle curiosity? Do they want to
understand theology as others wish to understand astronomy or botany? That is
almost like drinking wine out of the sacred vessels
as Belshazzar did; and you
know how that night he was slain. Why do such people ask about salvation? Do
they dream that mere knowledge will save them? You may get a clear head
but if
you have not a clean heart
it will not avail you at the last. Peradventure
however
some of those who are seeking their way to Zion
but have not set
their faces that way
are asking with a view to quiet their consciences. It
makes them feel better to hear a sermon. Oh
you are strange people! There is a
man who is very hungry; does it make him feel that his appetite is appeased
when he smells the dinner
when he sees the plates arranged upon the table
and
hears the clatter of the knives? Is it that you are trying to store up some
little knowledge to use by and by? Are you asking the way to Zion that you may
run in it when it becomes convenient to you? Ah
sir! are you making a
convenience of God? Do you intend to make Him stand by while you attend to more
important things?
IV. There is a
fourth set of people who have their faces thitherward
but they do not ask the
way. Do they fancy that there are many ways? How many roads are there to
heaven? This Book declares that there is only one. Do you ask
“Where are we to
enquire?” Well
first of all
inquire of the Book. When you have inquired of
the Book
then go on your knees
and inquire of the blessed Spirit who inspired
the Book. If you cannot understand the Bible
ask the Author of it to explain
it to you. He giveth wisdom
therefore ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Ask
the Lord Jesus Christ to manifest Himself unto you as He does not unto the
world
and to lead you in His way. I may also say
but quite secondarily
inquire of His servants. And I may also add that you will do well to ask about
the way from many of God’s people. Although they do not preach
they will be
glad to tell you what they do know
and many godly men and women can explain to
you just what you want to know.
V. Those are the
best inquirers who turn their paces toward Zion
and yet are willing to ask the
way. Is that your condition
dear friend? Well
then
let me say two or three
things for your encouragement
and the first is
Thank God that your face is
thitherward
and that you are asking the way. Set a high value on this little
grace
for it is no small thing
after all; and
as you think of it
bless God
for it. Remember
next
that you must act as far as you know how to act. If the
Lord has shown you the right pathway
go in that pathway. Perhaps you say
“There are many difficulties there.” Never mind the difficulties; cross each
bridge as you come to it. “Oh
but there are some things that I do not
understand!” No doubt there are; and there are many things that I do not
understand; and there are some things that I do not particularly want to
comprehend. If I understand what really concerns my eternal welfare
and the
good of my fellow-men
and the glory of God
it is enough for me. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The way to Zion
Like these Israelites--we have been going “from mountain to hill
”
that is
from one form of idol-worship to another
till we have forgotten our
resting-place. There is but one resting-place for the creature
and that is the
love of God revealed in Jesus Christ
apprehended by the soul
fled to
clung
to
trusted to. But we thought we could find another rest
some enjoyment
some
indulgence
some pursuit
some ambition
some affection
some passion
something which would be all our own
something that would fill the empty
chamber
mind
heart
soul
and make us independent of all and everyone except
itself. From mountain to hill we ran or we wandered; the last new idol reigned
for its hour; then another showed itself in the horizon
and we thought that
surely will be the real rest
the true home of this footsore
this wind-lashed
and storm-tossed being. “They have gone from mountain to hill
they have
forgotten their resting-place.” Well
then
inquiry must be the dawn of hope. We must
“ask the way.”
I. There is always
something beautiful in the spirit of inquiry. The very face of the inquirer
shines. That kindling of the eye as a man listens--the man who has a thirst for
knowledge--the man whose soul is set on finding its way into some new region of
science
or into some new joy
is a touching sight to the looked-on
and it is
an inspiring influence to the teacher who feels that he has a message. It is
very delightful
indeed
to feel that inquiry is abroad. But of all inquiries
the way to Zion is first and foremost. It lies at the root
I believe
of all
this questioning. Whatever form inquiry takes this is its meaning. Even intellectual
inquiry is often either the escape from
or is a substitute for
this. Some men
say
and some men encourage the saying
“Religion is all doubtful
let me enjoy
myself in the study of the certain; revelation may be insoluble
let me
interrogate nature
whose very mysteries are substantial. “The way to Zion
”
such men say
“has no signposts and no landmarks; I cannot guess in such
matters
of doubt I am impatient; God in nature shall be my God; if there be a
hereafter we will study it when we can know.” And then others have no idea of
any method of knowing save what they call intellectual. It is not that they
profess indifference to revelation; on the contrary
they would rather call
themselves inquirers into its documents and into its pretensions; they treat it
just as they treat a science or a philosophy--dissect
discuss
dispute over
it
and lecture upon it with all the freedom and with far more than all the
positiveness which they would think becoming if the matter in hand were either
geology or botany
either the telescope or the microscope. If anyone were to
say
“Are you aware that religion is the knowledge of a person
and that you may just
as well expect to become acquainted with your friend by arithmetic or algebra
as hope to learn the way to Zion by processes of pure intellect
” they would
turn round and accuse you of wanting to throw in an element of romance or
feeling
and so to disturb every calculation and invalidate every result. And
yet
can any word be truer than this
that they who would inquire into the truth of
revelation must inquire with the whole man? Intellect is one part of the
man--by all means bring intellect with you--but there are other parts as
distinctive
as characteristic
and far more vital. If God has spoken
be quite
sure He has spoken to all parts of us
and to the sum of all--the willing
acting
feeling
Judging
reflecting
resolving
loving
and living man. Many
answers might be given
all true
and all hopeful
to this question as to the
way to Zion. We will suggest one. The latest chapters of the Bible tell us one
or two things like this--that the glory of God enlightens that world
that “the
Lamb” (our Lord Jesus Christ) is the “Light thereof”; again
that the “Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”; and
once again
that the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it
that “His servants shall serve Him
”
that they “shall see His face
” that they shall
as it were
have His name in
their foreheads. The desire of every soul surely must be to endeavour to
anticipate that kind of life
to live now in the life of God
to see Him now by
faith
to follow Him now whithersoever
by His prophets
by His Word
by His
Spirit
by the example of Christ
He leads. This surely must be something of
the way to Zion.
II. The spirit of
inquiry must be also a spirit of resolution and determination. For there is an
inquiry about the way which is all speculation. We can fancy some of those
captives in Babylon busying themselves with conjecture as to the shortest and
best way home. They sit there with a map on their knees
and discuss the
Lebanon route
and the desert route
with great eagerness
with much ingenuity
with many arguments both ways
yet without an idea but that they themselves
will have to end
their days as they began them
in exile. There is an asking
of the way to God s Zion which is of this character. This is the case of all
who can discourse about the scheme of salvation
argue for it
quarrel for it
condemn and execute for it
yet forbear altogether the “weeping
” which this
passage tells us of
for their own sins; the “going
” which this passage tells
us of
in the path of duty; the “seeking
” which this passage tells us of
as
always preliminary to the finding. Their faces are not thitherward
whatever be
the talk or the profession. Let each inquiry be a determination. If we hear in
a sermon
if we read in the Bible
that “without holiness no man can see the
Lord
” then let us instantly say to ourselves
“What is that sin which is
hindering holiness in me at this moment?” and let the day not end without a
struggle against it
without some special indulgence foregone in the might of
prayer
some trial made of God’s promise
that whensoever we call upon Him an
enemy shall be put to flight. If we hear that watching and praying can alone
guard us against temptation
then let us instantly wake up the drowsy powers of
earnestness and devotion
keep our loins girt
and our lamp burning
lest
perhaps
after much serving
we be found without the one thing needful; lest
Satan
watching his moment
get an advantage; lest Christ
coming suddenly
find us sleeping. (Dean Vaughan.)
Seeking after finding
The singularity of the passage lies in the face of the inquirer
being towards Zion
whilst he is yet forced to ask what road he ought to take.
“They shall ask
” &c. They are in the right road
or at least are advancing
in the right direction; but
nevertheless
whether through ignorance
or
through fear of even the possibility of mistake
they continually make inquiries
as to the path to be followed. We think that this circumstances indicates such
honesty of purpose in the inquirer
such vigilance
such circumspection
such
anxiety to be right
and such dread of being wrong
as should distinguish every
Christian
though too often we look for them in vain. And
at the same time
we
evidently learn that persons are not always fair judges of their spiritual
condition; they may be asking the way like those who are in ignorance and
darkness
and all the while their faces may be towards Zion. Let us consider
first the case of those who
though going right
suppose themselves going
wrong; and secondly
that of those who believe themselves right
but yet desire
further assurance; for of both classes it may equally be said
“They ask the
way
” &c. Now it is the object of such parables as that of the tares and
the wheat
or that of the net which gathered of all kinds
to teach us that
there is to be a mixture in the visible Church
and that it is not men’s
business to attempt a separation. We are all too much disposed to exercise a
spirit of judgment
to pronounce opinions on the condition of our fellow-men
whether the living or the dead
just as though we had access to God’s Book
and
could infallibly read its registered decisions. But there is everything in the
Bible to warn us against this spirit of judgment
and to urge us
on the
contrary
to a spirit of charity. A very comforting remembrance it is
that we
are not to stand or fall by human decision
that our portion for eternity is
not to be settled by what men think of us here. But not only are men likely to
deliver a false judgment upon others
and therefore bound to confine their
chief scrutiny to themselves
it is further very possible that they may form a
wrong opinion of their own spiritual state
not only
as you all know
in
concluding themselves safe whilst in danger
but
as is perhaps less suspected
in concluding themselves in danger whilst safe. They are downcast because faith
seems weak
or elated because it seems strong; whereas it is not faith which is
to save them
but Christ; and whilst faith
whether in itself or its evidences
may change from day to day
Christ changes not
but is “the same yesterday
to-day
and for ever.” And we always think it safe to tell those who are
spiritually depressed
that their very depression is no mean argument of their
safety; for so unnatural is it to man to feel anxious for his soul
that
wheresoever there is the anxiety
we recognise a higher agency
even a Divine
as having wrought to excite the solicitude. And over and above these cases of
depression
in which one cause or another weaves darkness round a man
so that
whilst his face is towards Zion
he cannot perceive that he is on the road to the heavenly city
we
nothing doubt that there are many instances of parties who have begun in true
religion
and nevertheless think that the first step has not been taken. It is
not always
nay
it is not
we believe
often
that conversion is suddenly
effected
nor through some special instrumentality which fixes
as it were
the
date of the change. In the majority of cases
the change
we are inclined to
believe
is gradual
imperceptibly effected
so that
although the man becomes
at length conscious of a great moral alteration
he cannot tell you when it
commenced
nor by what steps it went on. Regarding conversion as a gradual
work
a work in which “one soweth and another reapeth
” we do not look on those
who are evidently confirmed believers
as the only travellers towards the celestial
city: we rejoice in thinking that there are numbers in whom the moral change is
not yet distinctly marked
but who are nevertheless in the act of passing the
strait gate. But let us pass on to the case of men
in regard of whom there can
be no doubt that they have made a beginning
and let us see what our text may
indicate as to these more advanced characters. Let it first be observed
that a
Christian should never be too confident; that he should never take for granted
as a point on which there could not be doubt
that he is indeed “a new
creature
” and on the high road to the kingdom. Do you find an increasing
delight in secret prayer? does sin seem to you more and more odious? are you
more and more penetrated by the exceeding great love of God in giving His Son
to die for your sakes? is holiness becoming your happiness
duty your
privilege
and heaven the very home of your affections? These
and the like
questions are those which you should be frequently proposing to yourselves. On
the answer to these
an answer given as in the sight of a heart-searching God
should rest your answer to the most momentous of all questions
“Are we on the way to Zion?” And if
the answer to this last question can only be come at through the answer to a
series of inquiries
each of which may be said to need
from its very nature
the being dally proposed
it necessarily follows that you ought to be imitating
the children of Judah and Israel
asking as to the road to Zion
however you
may hope that your faces are already thitherward. Can this be the way to Zion
in which I am? Ask the dead
who have reached that heavenly city: with one
voice they will tell you
that
if it be the right way
it is a way of
self-denial
leading you through mortified lusts
and over subjugated affections;
and then judge ye whether or not it be such a way in which you are found. Ask
the living
of whom you have best cause to believe that they are heirs of the
kingdom: they will assure you that the way is one of faith and obedience
every
step of which is an advance in the knowledge of your own depraved hearts
and
in the sense of the worth and sufficiency of Christ; and then judge ye whether
or not this can be the way in which you are walking. Ask the Bible
on whose
pages the Holy Spirit hath mapped out the path
and it will tell you that the
way is a narrow way
which will not admit of your encumbering yourselves with
perishable things
but which can be traversed only by those who lay aside every
weight; all then judge ye whether ye have obtained the description of a path
which ye yourselves are pursuing. And ask ye
yet further
of God. By diligent
and fervent prayer make inquiry of God as to the road which conducts to the
place where He dwells. And the answer to this inquiry
an answer
which
if there
be sincerity in the inquirer
shall certainly not be withheld
will expose to
you the deceitfulness of all hope of reaching Zion which is not founded on the
appropriation of the merits of the Redeemer
the reality of that appropriation
being proved by the produced fruits of righteousness; and then determine
whether such answer ought to leave you assured that you are not self-deceived
when concluding yourselves in the heavenward path. We do not wish you to be
always uncertain as to whether or not your faces are turned towards Zion; hut
we wish you to understand that their being so turned is a reason in favour of
not a reason against
your frequently inquiring the heavenly path. It is not
sufficient that they be turned; the great matter is
that they be kept turned;
and whilst such is your nature
that
without constant vigilance
the direction
may be gradually changed
and yet appear to you the same--even as the eyes of a
well-drawn portrait follow you as you move
and so might persuade you that you had
not moved at all--it is evidently bound on you
by your regard for your safety
that you be always ascertaining the landmarks
in place of judging by your
apparent position. Is my life the life of a believer in Christ? is faith
producing piety
humility
charity
patience? What is this mountain before me?
is it on the map? what is this valley which I have to cross
this stream which
I have to ford? are they what I was to meet with
or do they show that I have
wandered? And here the road divides--which turn am I to take? what is to decide
me in this perplexity? Let me be firm on one point--that it is the direction of
the road
not its quality
by which I will be determined. The road which leads
to heaven
that is my road
be it
or be it not
strewed with the rocks
and
swept by the torrents. Other paths may look more inviting: but I have nothing
to do except with their termination: if they conduct not to Zion
I would not
venture to follow them even a solitary step
though they might lead me to
riches
or honours
or pleasures. This it is to imitate the emancipated Jews.
But there is yet more to be gathered from this description
when considered as
that of a believer in Christ. We will now suppose him certified as to the
direction in which he is proceeding
certified that his face is towards Zion
and nevertheless busying himself with inquiries as to the way. And what would
this mark? Christianity is that in which no man can be too advanced to study
the alphabet. The simple and fundamental doctrines of our holy religion
--the
doctrines of human corruption
of the renewing power of God’s Spirit
of the
incarnation of the Eternal Word
and of the atonement effected by a
Mediator
--these
which may be said to show the way to Zion
present
continually new material for the contemplation and instruction of the
Christian. There is a sense in which- there is no getting beyond the very
alphabet of Christianity; that alphabet will always be beyond us; any one of
its letters being as a mighty hieroglyphic which the prayerful student may
partially decipher
but the most accomplished scholar never thoroughly expound.
By this
then
amongst other tests
let those who think themselves advanced in
Christianity try their spiritual condition. What ear have they for simple truths
simply delivered? In their private studies
what pleasure have they in
meditating the first principles of the Gospel? do they find those first
principles inexhausted
inexhaustible? or is it always to deeper doctrines that
they turn
as though it were only when quite out of their depth
that they gain
a resting-place for the soul? But there is yet one more particular on which we
wish to insist. We would direct your attention to what we may call the honesty
of purpose displayed by the Jews
and hold it up for imitation to all who
profess to be seeking the kingdom of God. The Jew had his face turned towards
Zion
whilst he was inquiring the road: if he did not know the precise path
he
knew the direction in which the city lay; and he was looking in the direction
when he asked what way he should take. We have a right to require and expect a
similar conduct from all those who ask of us the way to heaven. There is such a
thing as asking the way to Zion with the face towards Babylon; and if there be
this dissimulation--for no milder word will express the precise truth--in vain
will the preacher point out the road
and urge the traveller to decision and
dispatch. We would have you distinctly understand that there is a certain part
which the unconverted man has to perform if he hope for conversion; and that
whilst this is undone
he has no right to look for the visitations of grace. It
may not be in his power to find for himself the pathway of life; still less to
take a step on that pathway when found. But he may ascertain the direction in
which Zion lies
and he may be looking in that direction
if not advancing. It
is quite idle to say that he knows not the direction: he knows it to be the
exact opposite to that in which he naturally looks; to turn his eyes from the world
is
as he must be thoroughly aware
to turn them towards Zion. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
Question and attitude
Inquiry and attitude should correspond. You should look as if you
meant your questions. Do not let us have any discrepancy in the man himself; no
asking of questions about one way whilst we are looking over the shoulder
towards another. Do not mock kind heaven. “Thitherward”: literally
hitherward.
Jeremiah is writing in Judah
and he says the time will come when the returning
ones will face this way; and they will he asking from step to step
Which is
the road to Zion? Sometimes we look our prayers; sometimes we are on the right
road and do not know it. Questions about a certain kind of knowledge seem to be
born in every soul; love for certain kinds of intelligence is inborn. Here is a
little creature three years old who cannot be kept away from the piano. He will
be there when you are not looking; he will rise early in the morning and grope
his way towards the musical instrument. Why this
thou little Mozart? I cannot
help it. Would it not be more in your way
poor little child
to have hoop
or
humming-top
or bagfuls of marbles? He does not answer in words
but he goes
back to the piano as if he had left it in some other world and was delighted to
find it again; it talks to him
and he talks to it
and if you will allow the
little soul to tarry there he wants no other heaven just now. Others are fond
of language or science or history; there is a predestination that settles us if
we will listen to it. The Lord has not turned any one of us into a pathless
world. He says to every traveller
I want you to go down this road; do not turn
to the right or the left; you must be trained in the way you should go
the
predestined
foreordained road; you will find walking smooth down there
but if
you get upon any other path your feet will be pricked with sharp thorns. When
the soul is really alive with interrogation it will know how to put its own
questions
and it will give the Church no rest until those questions have been
answered substantially. If the Church cannot answer the great questions of the
soul
then it is no Church
though its spire be high as heaven. Nor must we
think that only the nominally great can answer the soul’s questions. Sometimes
a little child might guide a king. What are the great questions that men should
ask? Men must answer that inquiry themselves. Why be so anxious about details
and trivialities and frivolities? Why hold the letter in your hand and ask a
score of questions about the sealing of it? You are not going to be saved by
the seal; break it
open the letter
read it. If you are really in earnest
if your souls be aflame
with Divine sincerity
you will know what questions are important and what are
trivial There shall come a time when the only questions worth asking will be
religious questions. Where is Zion? Where is God? What is truth? Where is
peace? What do all your inquiries amount to when set side by side with the
possibility (let us use no firmer term at this moment) of knowing and realising
the spiritual and the Divine? Now suppose you know all about the strata
how
they were built
and how they were piled
and how their were coloured
and can
trace every line
and discourse with eloquence upon every lamination
--now how do
you feel after all that? Are you at peace? are you at rest? I see your fingers
going out after other worlds to clutch them because you have exhausted the
little volume of the earth. But the universe is just as little to God as the
earth is to you and the universe. There is nothing great beside God--that is
in comparison with Him
in relation to Him. We must prove the reality of our
sincerity by the set and stress of our lives. Observe
these people do
not
only ask a question
they discover a disposition
they represent an attitude.
“They shall ask their way to Zion with their faces thitherward” They lose no
time in asking questions; they ask them as they go. Is this the” road? we know
it is: and the answer is
Yes
go on; fair Zion
beautiful as heaven’s morning
stands yonder
with doors thrown back to give you welcome and hospitality. It
is well thus to be doing two things at once
to be gathering information and to
be realising it
to be asking questions and to be losing no time in progress.
Here we have no mere speculation
no mere intellectual entertainment; here we
have nothing but dead earnestness
the tongue asking the question which the
face represents in action. How is it with us? We can show where we would be if
we could. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Zionwards
Why ask the way to Zion when going thither? A certain
inconsistency strikes us between the right movement of the foot and the
confessed uncertainty o| the mind. But second thoughts show us how real is the
harmony between the Zionward question and the Zionward move.
1. Is it not an experimental fact that men are often moving Zionward
whilst mentally they do not know the way? The mind of an awakening man reveals
a strange commingling of truth and error
of knowledge and ignorance. There are
many things he does not know--as to the nature and the law of God
as to the exact
manner of life He would have us lead
as to the spirit and the employ of that
new kingdom which Christ Jesus has set up--he has ever need to “ask the way.”
On the other hand
there are some things be does know. He at least knows in
what directions the road to Zion does not lie. In Bunyan’s great allegory
Christian’s first idea of heavenwardness was to turn from the City of
Destruction. He did not know where the Celestial City was; but he knew it could
not lie anywhere near that seat of Satan. The kingdom of God must be opposite
to the realm of the devil. So his first step was a step away from that
repulsive spot. When soon after his feet sank in the Slough of Despond you
remember he struggled to get out on the side farthest from his own home. The
true inquirer reasons in the same way. Zion must be otherwhere than in the
world--its “way” must somehow lead away from it. Now
this is
of course
only
negative knowledge; but it is positive advantage. It is only half-knowledge;
but it means half-salvation The first real stride towards heaven is the soul’s
break with the world. The man who has got so far is really on the path to Zion.
What is this type of man? Where do we find this class? They are men whoso way
of life is out of the common run. You do not find them in the circles of
frivolity or where the crowd is densest. They are men who have cast off from
them that spell named Fashion
who have sought out for themselves the true
standards of righteousness
who are daily preferring principle to gain and an
easy conscience to a famous reputation You will find these men in the house of
God as often as is possible. They are good listeners--devout
intelligent
teachable
ever willing to know the truth that they may do it. These are the
people whose faces are Zionward
though they themselves are not yet there; nor
do they even know with certainty its “way.” And these are the men who also
“ask.” How do they so? Is not their very posture an inquiry? Is not their
separation from the City of Destruction--their exodus from Satan’s Egypt--is
not that a token that they desire a better portion? The life shows the heart.
The posture indicates the will. The step denotes the aim. And it is often this
which in the long-run
decides the question of salvation. It is the lie of the heart
more than the
achievement of the life
which approves a man to God. It is the direction of
his face and not the extent of his progress which fits a man for Zion’s
citizenship. For
indeed
it is these first motions which are the most
difficult to make and the most cardinal. To go with the crowd is the easiest of
all motions; to go against the stream is the hardest of all. The further
inquiry of the awakened soul is usually in the line of its rudimental
notion--its further steps in the direction of its first movement. For the
Spirit of the Lord is in that soul’s uprising. It is the invisible hand of the
Almighty which thrusts him from the doomed spot. It is the Saviour’s voice
which he hears calling
“Escape for thy life.”
2. I have known another class of men who ask the way to Zion with
their faces” turned the other way. The inquiry of these is by the lip; the
posture of their heart is towards the world. Some of them are consciously insincere.
They are wanting in even pious motive. They may be outwardly righteous; but it
is with a righteousness which they have learned in worldly schools. They pass
for men of purity but their purity is the price they pay for social esteem.
Their honesty is only their policy. Their action is Zionwards
their words are
in heaven’s language; but their heart’s direction is towards the world. There
are some who maintain this inconsistency with a measure of pious motive. The
things of their religion are really religious things. They use the means of
grace as means to grace. They recognise the ways of truth and virtue as things
of heaven
and they approve and love them all as such. They want to be
Christians and to go to glory. They set their feet in the acknowledged ways of
righteousness. They ask the way to Zion with all ingenuousness and without
conscious reserve. And so far as the indicated path is a course of outer
goodness and general integrity they willingly pursue it. But all the while
their face and their heart are worldwards
not Zionwards. It is about the world
that their affections cluster. It is the world in which they inwardly believe.
They have no objection to piety plus worldliness
but they do not want a piety
which is the negation of worldliness and the substitute for worldliness. What
is their success? It is plainly a difficult thing to walk the opposite way to
that in which you look. You see children sometimes doing that in the streets
but with many a
bump and many a tumble. And quite as small success attends the experiment in
spiritual things. Here and there a man may perform
for a time
the risky feat.
For a while he may maintain the form of godliness and get credit for the reality of it. Neither the
onlooking world
nor the man himself
knows how truly his heart is with the
creature
rather than with God. He is called a seeker after Zion; but none but
the All Knowing knows how completely his whole cast of thought belies that
quest. But inconsistencies nearly always come into the light. It is seldom that
the heart and the practice can be long disjoined. The foot and the eye
generally agree. Only the eye leads the foot
and not the foot the eye. Where
the heart goes the conduct will eventually follow. A man with his heart in the
world usually comes out poorly even as a formal saint. Generally the man who is
content to be half a Christian ends in not being one at all. Whatever we do our
heart must be disposed aright. There is verily no hope of heaven and God apart
from a Zionward gaze: that is sure to make our feet move Zionwards.
3. To the most sincere and whole-hearted there is need to “ask the
way.” God’s Spirit in man’s heart never supersedes God’s Spirit in His Word.
God’s Spirit in His Word seldom supersedes God’s Spirit in His Church. The truth
of heaven does not flow automatically into the human mind when once that mind
has seen the light. The way of God is never revealed to those who do not
search. Answers to our heart’s most urgent problems do not come without asking.
When we are but walking some common road upon some ordinary errand
we do not
like uncertainty. We want to be sure that we are going right. We question many
passing travellers rather than go astray
and we check one guide’s advice
against another’s. It is vastly more important that we keep the right way in
our Zion-quest. The issues of this journey surpass in moment every other
and
whatever the pains we have to take
and however reiterated the inquiries we
make
we must be quite sure. Happily there is assurance for us
if we will have
it. There is truth and light in abundance for ready minds and docile hearts. It
is stored in the Sacred Book
in the ministry of the Church
and in the
experience of the faithful. The man who seeks the guidance of the Spirit
through these means will not seek in vain. Those who go where the light beams
are sure to get some of it into their souls. They who follow Christ shall not
walk in darkness; they shall have the light of life
guiding them to the realm
of perfect light and life eternal. (J. J. Ingram.)
“Faces thitherward”
“With their faces thitherward
” those words seem to me to convey a
special message to us
to prescribe to us a certain attitude
to suggest to us
what is possible in a day like our own. For there are so many matters in which
we find ourselves in captivity. We are forced to acquiesce in evil conditions
which long years have left as our inheritance. Ancient ideals have broken up in
Church and State
old homes lie waste and desolate
and from them we have
wandered far. They are but as lost dreams. God’s purpose was once in them
but
sin was strong and stubborn
and it was fruitless work for Him to repeat
forgivenesses which never availed
and to prolong His mercy. And at last the
Word of God was given to let the judgments fall
and things were allowed to
take their course. God’s earlier purpose was suspended and broken off
and the
story of man and the story of Christ’s Church takes on a new development; it
passes over into strange and troubled situations
and the Divine will sanctions
the change
and admits of trouble. God sets to work under the conditions of the
exile in captivity. Not that the sacred purpose is abandoned
but that God
proposes now to reach its fulfilment by the road of surrender
by the way of
captivity
through the discipline of defeat. Just as in the Gospel the
blindness of the man who was sightless from his birth
though in itself a curse
due to some original sin
was
as it were
cut off by the action of God from
its connection with sin
and there accepted as a pitiful fact
and was turned
into a new call upon the goodness of God
and became the motive for a fresh
exhibition of His compassion
and an exhibition that opened out unsuspected
depths of glory in the love of God for sorrowful man
so even the miserable plight
of a divided Christendom gives us a deeper insight into the immeasurable
patience
tolerance and burden and pity of the Divine heart than we ever could
have guessed before our misery evoked it. We might have thought that His wrath
would have been so hot against the Church which was divided against itself that
He would have abandoned it to its proper penalty. But no
though a father and
mother may forsake
though a woman might forsake her sucking child
yet will He
never forsake us. He will follow us down wherever we are into our Babylons; He
will put to profit disastrous situations. Babylon is but an interval and a
discipline. Our Christendom must be again united
a prayer of Christ for its
unity is still within it and behind it. That prayer for ever lives as a witness
to the mind of God and to the end for which He is ever working. We may never
forget it
we may never consider it to be the abandoned ideal. Whatever God
works in us during the dismal course is still so done as to lead back the
formative purpose which created the Church to be one Godhead. Though we cannot
see how it would be possible
and though we can know nothing positive and
practical towards its realisation
though we are hedged in by harsh
unyielding
circumstances
and though it is our plain duty to learn all that God has to
teach us through that harsh circumstance in which He has placed us
yet still
the prophet’s voice cries to us to remember
even in impossible things
to look
in the direction of the unforgotten vision
to turn our faces thitherward. Turn
our faces thitherward! We cannot see our Zion; it is far
far away. We cannot
hope to distinguish with our eyes the whole Church of earth become again what
Christ meant it to be. Alas! we die in exile from our home. We shall lay our
bones in Babylon. East and west and north and south we shall see only divided
brothers until our eyes close in death. But before we die
the prophet says
we
can at least turn those eyes thitherward. Towards the direction in which peace
lies we can ever send out hearts of prayer and longings. Not always shall
Christian hate Christian
not always shall altar be divided from altar
not for
ever shall east
west
and north be sundered from the south. Once again we
shall all understand one another’s speech
and a new Pentecost will blot out
the light of Babel. What it will be like
that recovered unity
we cannot
guess; it will be in some form new and strange
as was the recovered life of
Israel round the rebuilt Zion. How utterly unlike was unity and the dispersion
after the captivity to the earlier unity of the compact kingdom. That walled
little kingdom would never come back again
but the larger spiritual union that
held the dispersion together round Jerusalem was far more intense and real than
was the superficial coherence of the twelve tribes and the one kingdom. We
cannot forecast the changed conditions under which the Church will find herself
once more at one. But still through faith
in spite of the darkness
we can
look out for the dawn of a new day
we can watch the visions for ever shining
we can snatch at all that makes in that way; we can hope and believe against
facts
and hope against hope
and never fail to be found praying for the peace
of Jerusalem
with our faces at least turned thitherward. With our faces turned
thitherward! Is not that the word by which those who held fast
who perhaps for
no fault of their own that they could detect
find themselves caught in the
wilderness of doubt? Doubt! It has come upon them like an enemy in the night
it
has laid siege
it has encompassed them about within and without. As we have
each of us so often to feel the pressure of the world’s vast sorrows
so we may
have the full pressure of the world’s doubt
not
indeed
that we can enter
into the cloud with a light heart
wilfully and carelessly
merely to follow
the fashion. But if the doubt be real
it can only be dealt with by facing it
and probing it to the end. It then passes the first stage of depression and
anxiety and loss and damage. While the trial continues that must be
it must be
miserable to be robbed of your gladness
to be blind to the vision
to feel far
from home
to find no longer joy m going up to the temple of Zion with the
multitudes on the holy day
to wander as a lonely shepherd amongst the hills
to have nothing you can follow
no kindly light about your feet. But though
this trouble be allowed to fall
you have still one duty
to remember Zion
to
ask the way thither
and to turn your face thitherward. Believe me
God has not
forgotten or deserted you because He has led you down to Babylon
and given you
over to the Chaldees. You will come out of it a far stronger man than you went
in
if only you will trust with all the might of your soul that it is He who
has led you to suffer this deprivation
that there is no care for the pain that
you have but to be faithful to the purpose which for the time denies you the
sight of your Jerusalem
and that there is a real effectual will still at work
for you and upon you even where God most surely hides it from your eyes
and
always you must be saying this is not the end. Death
doubt
cannot be the
final stage of the soul
doubt--though it seems so drearily long while it
lasts--can only be a period
an interval
for a “time
a time
and half a time.”
Hold to that
poor blind heart; be not afraid. There shall yet come the day
when the Lord will turn again the captivity of Zion; then it will all be like a
dream; then will your mouth be filled with laughter
your tongue with joy. (Canon
Scott Holland.)
Asking the way
Our human nature is like a ruined temple in which the echo of old
hymns and prayers still lingers and where a spectral Levite walks and murmurs
of a lost glory. Hence our longing to return. All souls in their lowest depths
are troubled to know the way of everlasting life. This universal consensus of
aspiration led Plato to speak of the “wings of our pre-existent state.” The
world is full of men and women who as Jesus passes by are half moved to throw
themselves before Him as the young ruler did
crying
“What shall I do that I
may inherit eternal life?” It is our vocation
as ministers of the Gospel
to
point out the way to Zion. A grave responsibility rests upon us. Not long ago a
signalman swung a white lantern as the railroad train swept by. On it went with
impetuous speed until
on a sudden
there came a shock like a thunderbolt
and
the train plunged down an embankment. The cars were piled one upon another
and
oh
the shrieking and praying then! Who shall depict the anguish of that scene t
Its record will be told on grave-stones and in the sable garments of the
mourners who go about the streets. It was all because of the mistaken signal
Who is sufficient to stand in this sacred place and direct souls into the way
of spiritual life? No one of us could dare do this thing were it not that we
have a sure oracle. At the outset we are admonished in these Scriptures that
there is only one way to Zion. It used to be a proverb
“All roads lead to
Rome.” In the centre of the Forum was a golden mile-stone
Milliarium
Aureum
whereat all thoroughfares converge. If a traveller even in a
distant province should ask
“Which way to Rome?” the answer would be
“Keep on
and you will reach the golden mile-stone.” There are those who seem to think
that all ways
in like manner
lead to heaven’s gate. If you are only sincere
keep on and you will get there. But alas
the Scriptures speak with a different
voice. “There is a way which seemeth right to a man
but the end thereof is
death.” All roads lead out into the wilderness save one
and that is the King’s
highway
whereof the prophets slake. “A highway shall be there
and a way
and
it shall be called the way of holiness.”
I. the King’s
highway leads down through the valley of Bochim
the place of tears. Repentance
is prerequisite to an entrance into life. To repent is to make a frank
acknowledgment of sin and to forsake it. Is there aught unreasonable in this?
If I have wronged a fellow-man do I not count it a point of honour to make
amends to him? Shall we not observe as high a rule of honour and manliness in
our attitude to God as we do in our human relationships?
II. The King’s
highway runs over the hill of atonement. It is the royal way of the Cross. The
law speaks on Calvary. It says to the sinner
“The soul that sinneth it shall
die.” Nor is it possible to exaggerate the dreadfulness of that death. The Lord
spoke of it under the figure of fire and the undying worm To Christ also the
law speaks
Thou mayest expiate the sinner’s guilt. The sword awakes against
the Shepherd. The only-begotten Son of God
assuming our place before the law
is wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. He dies that
we may live. But between the sinner with the death sentence resting upon him
and Christ suspended upon the shameful Cross there is a mighty chasm. How can
the innocent suffer for the guilty! and what avails it for the sinner that
Jesus dies ? Over that chasm faith springs a mighty arch. By Divine appointment
the exercise of faith on the part of the sinner is made the sole condition of
salvation- He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
III. The King’s
highway runs thenceforth across the open country to heaven’s gate. With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the lips confession is made
unto salvation. If I have found a Saviour
and the joy of the great discovery
has come into my heart
I cannot but sing my hosannas. The power of godliness
is like ointment in the hand
which ever bewrayeth itself. (D. J. Burrell
D. D.)
The way to Zion to be inquired after
I was coming to Larne from Carrickfergus in a gig. Taking
for granted that I knew the road well enough
I drove right on
passing many
people going to market. After a while I began to doubt whether I was right
and
meeting a gentleman on horseback
I said to him
“How far is it to Larne?”
“This is not the way
” said he. “You are two miles past where you should have
turned to the left up the hill Come back with me and I will show you the right
way.” Then striking his forehead with his hand he said
“You could fool
why
didn’t you inquire in time?” So you go on from day to day
thinking you are
going right to heaven; but you are in the wrong way. The great God has told you
the right way in His blessed Bible. The priest says you mustn’t read it; but if
you don t inquire
you’ll find you’re wrong as I did. (W. Arthur’s Life of
Gideon Ouseley.)
Come
and let us join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.--
The redeemed sinner joining himself in a covenant with God
In our intercourse with the world
we seldom hear such language as
this from others
or utter it ourselves. But a kinder invitation could not
possibly be addressed to us; nor could we offer to those whom we love more
friendly advice.
I. Why the Lord
condescends to enter into a covenant with His redeemed people.
1. He has thus pledged Himself to His people to show how greatly He
honours them.
2. This gracious God has entered into a covenant with His people
that He may bind them more closely to Himself.
3. But the chief reason why it has pleased God to enter into a
covenant with His servants
is this--to show them the sureness of His mercy
the certainty of their receiving pardon
grace
and salvation at His hands.
II. What is implied
in their availing themselves of His condescension
and joining themselves to
Him in a covenant.
1. The spiritual union spoken of implies a renunciation of every
covenant which is opposed to this covenant with God.
2. But before we can enter into covenant with God
we must proceed a
step farther
and accede to the terms of His covenant. Now these terms are so
simple
that a child may comprehend them; and so gracious
that they fill the
minds of angels with wonder; but because they are opposed to the imaginations
of our depraved hearts
thousands daily reject them
yea
perish rather than
accept them. “He that believeth shall be saved.” It asks of us no merit; it
demands of the penitent sinner no righteousness. It tells him to cast away all
dependence upon everything that he can feel
or suffer
or do; and upon this
one condition
that he heartily believes and embraces the promises of the
Gospel
it assures him that all the blessings of the everlasting covenant are
his.
3. And what follows? Is the believing sinner henceforth at liberty to
live as he will? to be disobedient and lawless? No; the man who joins himself
in a covenant to his redeeming Lord
gives himself up entirely and for ever to
His service. (C. Bradley
M. A.)
Entering into covenant with God
I. What we are to
understand by this union to God.
1. It must include a renunciation of all created dependencies
and of
everything that stands in competition with God. We are not in danger
like
Israel of old
of worshipping the hosts of heaven. The world attracts the eye
and engages the heart. Its riches and honours have a charm
in which those of
heaven are forgotten. Forbidden pleasures make their court in such address
that numbers are devoted to them; and some are idols to themselves
and place a
dangerous dependence there.
2. A deliberate and cordial choice of God as our God.
3. A solemn surrender of ourselves
and an entire devotedness to Him.
4. A resolution to abide by the choice and surrender described
and
to act as becoming those who stand in a covenant relation to God.
II. Such
considerations as prove it to be the duty and interest of us all to join
ourselves to the Lord in this covenant
and never forget it.
1. God has an absolute right and title to us.
2. There is everything in God that can lay claim to our supreme
regards
and invite an union to Himself. All the lustre of the heavens
all the
beauty and grandeur in the material world
and all the excellence to be found
amidst the various orders of beings in the intelligent creation
is
as it
were
but a ray from God
and is lost in the excellence and glory of the Divine
nature.
3. “Joining ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant
” will
insure our safety
our honour
and out
truest happiness in the present life.
4. “Joining ourselves to the Lord
” will issue in a blissful union to
Him for ever.
Improvement--
1. Let us examine ourselves on the subject of this discourse.
2. Let those who have not joined themselves to the Lord be prevailed
on to do it immediately.
3. Let those who are joined to the Lord in this covenant
rejoice in
it
often renew it
and make it their principal concern through life
to walk
worthy of it.
4. We should call on each other
and on all to whom we are related
in the language of the text. “Come
let us join ourselves
” &c. Friendship
cannot express itself better
than by well-judged attempts to engage the hearts
of its objects for God
and to maintain and strengthen their attachment to Him.
This is serving the best interests of others: it is gratitude to Him who “has
made us to differ”; and carrying on
in our humble sphere
that grand design in
which heaven is engaged. (N. Hill.)
The solemn engagement
I. The nature of
the transaction.
1. What it is not.
2. What it is.
(a) A voluntary surrender.
(b) Universal
without exception or reserve.
(c) Renouncing every other object
in so far as an attachment to it
interferes with the love and duty we owe to God.
(d) This surrender is for ever. “Perpetual.”
II. What respects
this is the duty of those who profess to be
like the Israelites
penitents
returning unto the Lord.
1. To join themselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant is a duty
He requires of every returning penitent. It makes a part of what is required in
the very first of the ten commandments. For what is the covenant we have now
described but an acknowledging
worshipping
and glorifying the Lord as our God
in Christ Jesus?
2. God not only requires
but the great things He has done for them
give Him a right to expect that they should join themselves to Him in a
perpetual covenant.
3. The advantage to be derived from such a connection
points it out
as our duty to join ourselves unto the Lord. Since they are dependent upon Him
for every blessing
the regard they owe to their own interest renders it
necessary.
III. Encouragement
to the performance of this duty. The obligations of authority
gratitude
and
interest
unite in calling us to this exercise; why
then
should we hesitate a
moment about taking a decided part?
1. The privileges you think it would be presumptuous to claim
God
Himself freely offers. I will
says He
be your God.
2. The fear that He will reject you is no just cause why you should
not now join yourselves unto the Lord. In devoting yourselves unto Him
you are
only obeying His commandment; and surely you have no cause to fear that He will
reject the service He Himself requires.
3. The fear of departing again from Him is no just cause why you
should not now join yourselves unto the Lord
since He Himself hath undertaken
to preserve you from falling
and to keep you by His almighty power through
faith unto complete salvation. Even now He is opening up all the stores of His
fulness to supply your need
and enable you to fulfil every engagement into
which
by His grace
you are disposed to enter. (G. Campbell.)
National covenanting a national privilege
It is when Israel and Judah--the ten and two tribes--are brought to seek the
Lord their God
and
ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward
that
they say one to another
“Come
and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”
I. The parties who
engage in covenanting.
1. God. It is to God the people propose to join themselves. It is
not
however
God absolutely considered
but a three-one God in Christ
--God
as the Creator of the ends of the earth
as having all persons and all events
entirely under His control
as the Father of lights
the Father of mercies
the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
the God of all comfort
that in Christ is
reconsiling sinners to Himself
and saying to them
“I will make a covenant
with you”;--it is to this God that the people seek to stand in the covenant
relation. How great the condescension of the three-one God--who is so high in
rank
so great in wealth
in love
in wisdom
in power
in goodness--to enter
into covenant with the poor worms of His footstool
and enable them to say of
Him
“My Beloved is mine
and I am His; He feedeth among the lilies.”
2. Man. It is with men
and not with angels
that God condescends to
enter into covenant. The proposal
however
to engage in covenanting
and the
disposition to comply with that proposal on the part d man
must come from the
Lord. For it is not until God takes hold of sinners in the covenant of grace
that they cheerfully give themselves to God in a covenant of duty. The
surrender they then make of themselves to God is a complete or entire
surrender--a surrender
not in one
but in all the relations of life. Those
therefore
that give themselves to God in a covenant of duty
as individuals
must
esteem it a privilege to be permitted to give themselves to God
in the same
covenant
as families
as Churches
as nations. It is national covenanting that
is referred to in our text. It is Israel and Judah
or the kingdoms of the ten
and two tribes
that propose to join themselves in covenant to the Lord.
II. The warrant for
covenanting. Clearly it is our first duty in considering national covenanting
to ask
Have men any warrant from Scripture for claiming in their national
or
in any other relation in life
to be the bride--with all the rights and
privileges of the bride--of the Lord of the universe? Undoubtedly they have.
The scriptural warrant for nations
as such
giving themselves in covenant to
God
is of the clearest and most encouraging description. There is the great
fact that God Himself proposed and entered into covenant with Israel as a
nation at Sinai. But the warrant arising from the covenanting at Sinai is
confirmed--
1. By many scriptural examples
as the covenanting in the days of Asa
when all Judah rejoiced at the oath; and the Lord was found of them
and gave
them rest round about; in the days of Nehemiah
when the nobles of the people
made a sure covenant
and our princes
Levites
and priests’ seal unto it.
2. By many prophecies and promises
a few of which only we can quote
in your hearing. There are
for instance (Isaiah 19:18-21; Isaiah 44:3-5; Isaiah 45:23). And how can the kingdoms
of this world become Christ’s kingdom
but by swearing allegiance
or giving
themselves in covenant to Him? May the time soon come when Israel and Judah
when Great Britain and Ireland
when all the nations of the earth shall say one
to another
“Come
let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant
that shall not be forgotten.”
III. The nature of
covenanting. What is a covenant! A covenant is a bargain or marriage. And a
marriage is the union between two parties
or the declaring of them formally to
be one. The marriage is based on mutual consent. And such
in its essence
is
covenanting. It is the Lord formally giving Himself to His people
or saying of
them
It is My people; and the people formally giving themselves to God
or
saying of Him
The Lord is our God.
1. That in national covenanting there is
on the part of the
covenanters
a formal and solemn acceptance of a three-one God in Christ as
their God. As God takes hold of
and gives Himself to His people
in the
covenant of grace
so there must be a faith’s approbation of that covenant
or
a formal and solemn acceptance of a three-one God in Christ as their God
of
God the Father as their Father
of God the Son as their Saviour
of God the
Holy Ghost as their Sanctifier
Comforter
Friend
in their covenant of duty.
Such acceptance of God is included in the covenanting at Sinai. In entering
into their covenant with God
the Israelites
in the most solemn manner
accepted of the Lord as the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt
out of the house of bondage
and in the most solemn manner declared that they
received Him both as their Sovereign and covenant God
as “the Lord
” and as
the “thy God.” It is included in the covenanting specified in Zechariah 13:9. And such acceptance of
God must be included in all the covenanting that is acceptable to Him in all
ages. For unless men are enabled cordially to receive a three
one God as
revealed in Christ
He will not and cannot say of them
It is My people
nor
enable them to say of Him
The Lord is my God. Some say that in thus accepting
of a three-one God in Christ
covenanters do nothing more than genuine saints
do
when they are enabled to accept of
and close with
Christ as their only
and all-sufficient Saviour. In one sense this is true. But
at conversion
we
accept of
and close with
Christ in our individual
whereas
in national
covenanting
we accept of and close with Him in our corporate and national
capacity. True. But
when you have been enabled to accept of and close with Him
in your individual
why seek to accept of and close with Him in your national
capacity? Why not be satisfied with the acceptance of Him you have already been
enabled to make? Because
by doing so
we would neglect a plainly commanded
duty
and deprive ourselves of a highly distinguished privilege. Every genuine
Israelite that covenanted at Sinai
and in the plains of Moab
had already
as
an individual
accepted of and closed with the Lord as his God. But
so far was
God from being satisfied with this
that He asked the Israelites not merely in
their individual
but in their public and corporate capacity
to accept of and
close with Him anew. Accordingly
in Deuteronomy 26:17-19
Moses says to the
Israelites
who had
in their national capacity
given themselves in covenant
to God “Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God.”. . . “And the Lord
hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people
as He hath spoken. In
other words
the Lord declared that
through national covenanting
the
Israelites enjoyed a national exaltation
praise
honour
and blessing
that
could not otherwise have been obtained. How clear is it
therefore
that
national covenanting is the true foundation of great and permanent national
blessings.
2. In national covenanting there must be
on the part of the
covenanters
a formal and cheerful surrender of themselves to God in a covenant
of duty. In national covenanting
as in marriage
there must be a mutual
surrender. God must cheerfully give Himself to the nation in the covenant of
grace
and the nation must
by faith
as cheerfully and in a constitutional
manner give itself to God in a covenant of duty. What we have already said
shows that there can be no doubt as to the cheerfulness with which God gave Himself
to Israel
and promises to give Himself in covenant to Christian nations in all
ages. But whilst God cheerfully gave Himself
as the covenant God
to Israel
He was careful to see that
by faith
Israel formally and cheerfully gave
himself
as a covenant people
to Him. In Exodus 19:3; Exodus 19:8
we are told that “Moses went
up unto God
and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain
saying
Thus
shalt thou say to the house of Jacob
If ye will obey My voice indeed
and keep
My covenant
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for
all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests
and an
holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of
Israel. And Moses came
and called for the elders of the people
and laid
before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the
people answered together
and said
All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. “With this full
consent on the part of the people the Lord was not yet satisfied. Accordingly
in Jeremiah 24:3
we read: And Moses came
and told the people all the words of the Lord
and all the judgments; and all
the people answered with one voice and said
All the words which the Lord hath
said will we do.” In Jeremiah 24:7 we read again--“And he
(Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read in the audience of the people:
and they said
All that the Lord hath said will we do
and be obedient.” After
the covenant had been read for the third time
and the people had for the third
time given their consent to marry the Lord on the terms proposed
it is added
“And Moses
took the blood
and sprinkled it on the people
and said
Behold the blood of
the covenant
which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.”
How clearly do these facts show that it was with a full knowledge of what they were doing
and with the full consent of all the people
that the Israelites gave themselves
in covenant to God at Sinai.
(Original Secession Magazine)
Verse 6
My people have forgotten their resting-place.
Cannot you rest?
God has made Himself the resting-place for the human soul; and
unless we fix our heart upon Him we may rest
but it is only for a time. The
rest which God provides for us is a rest which satisfies us
and it is a rest
which we can always have
a rest which “remaineth
” and which cannot be taken
away from the people of God.
1. Many people are weary and very far from restful on account of
business cares. You see continually in the newspapers that not only are there
many bankruptcies and liquidations
and such like unpleasant occurrences
but the
market reports tell us that trade is very unprofitable. Whatever happens
make
the best of it. Don’t wear away your soul in mourning and repining as if your
soul were chained to a perpetually revolving grindstone. Look to the bright
side of things. Do the best you can
and do not fear the worst is sure to
happen. Remember that God still lives and cares for you. “Trust in the Lord and
do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed.” It is
a severe trial of faith in God when death removes the bread-winner from a
family. Ah: at such a time of bereavement there is no consolation excepting
from trust in God’s providential care. He is the Father of the fatherless and
the Friend of the widow. Likewise
many a Christian man is ready to say in the
desolateness of his sorrow
“I have to tread my path alone!” He does not say
that God is dead
but be acts as if he thought so. To doubt the superintending
care and consolation of God is practical atheism. When we are in trouble
that
is the very time we ought to cast all our care upon Him
for “He careth for
us.”
2. Then
some may be much troubled because of something going wrong
in your family. You may have an undutiful and wicked son or daughter. A man
said to me some time ago
“My heart is almost broken!” I asked
“What is the
matter?” He answered
“My son--has become an infidel! I would rather have given
my life!” Is there no resting-place in such a time of trouble? Yes; there is.
Take up your Bible again
and read what God did “for David’s sake
” how the
children of David and their descendants were blest and kept from great evil
“for My Servant David’s sake.” “The prayer of faith shall save the soul.”
3. Some of the sharpest troubles experienced in this troublesome
world come from misplaced or unrequited affection--what Shakespeare calls in
his forcible way “the pangs of despised love.” Our only course in this
as in
every other heartbreaking matter
is to” take it to the Lord in prayer
”
trusting in Him
and leaving in His care all the responsibility of one’s life.
4. It may be that your trouble is a sinful disposition. You feel that
you cannot help yourself. But God can give you relief and rest if you trust in
Him. As Jesus restored to health the man who was sick of the palsy
so God can
restore your soul by heavenly grace. Lastly
I wished to give you an assurance
of rest in God’s paradise. (W. Birch.)
The soul’s resting-place
I. The human soul
needs a resting-place.
1. This is true of the soul in innocence. As a creature he could not
but be dependent. Without unquestioning trust in God
safety and happiness were
impossible to man even before the fall.
2. How much more true is this since man has become a sinner. His
nature is utterly weary. The cares and anxieties of life are wearing away his
strength
and there is nothing binding him to earth but the fear of death The
past is guilty
the future is hopeless
and so the present is restless.
II. Jesus Christ is
the resting-place the soul needs.
1. In Christ we have full redemption. No anodynes of earth can give
the soul the rest that the blood of Christ can.
2. In Him we also have regeneration. “If any man be in Christ
he is
a new creature.” A new centre has been given to his heart
a new aim to his
life
a new joy to his experience.
3. He gives repose to the intellect. Christ is “the truth
” and
through confidence all mysteries are accepted as unquestioningly as a child
accepts the statement of its parent. Jesus Christ alone brings to the soul the
element of certainty
and
worn out by vain flights
it folds its weary wings
and rests with quiet thankfulness on this tree of knowledge
which is also the
tree of life.
4. He also gives repose to the affections of the soul. Earthly
objects prove disappointing or fall away from us
or are torn from us and leave
the soul all
palpitating with agony
but no power can separate from the love of God in
Christ Jesus.
III. This
resting-place of the soul is sometimes forgotten even by those who have known
and enjoyed it. A Christian may frequently have his peace in Christ” disturbed.
At moments he may be walking through darkness. Job was a true man of God even
when he was crying out
Oh
that I knew where I might find Him!” True
a
Christian is not justified in being in this distressed state of mind. He ought
to know better
&c.
1. When he falls into perplexity
doubting whether he is forgiven or
not.
2. When he depends upon merely human and earthly resources.
3. When he loses his confidence in the midst of affliction. (W. M.
Taylor
D. D.)
Verses 17-20
Israel is a scattered sheep.
I. View God’s people
the spiritual Israel
as scattered sheep (Jeremiah 50:17).
1. They were sheep going astray. Scattered over the world.
2. Marked
noted
contemplated by the Divine eye
the Divine
foreknowledge
the Divine purpose.
3. Found in different regions of the earth
yet advancing to one
heavenly home--the better country.
II. View the people
of the Most High
the spiritual Israel
as a forgiven people (Jeremiah 50:20).
1. Divine forgiveness.
2. A forgiveness dependent upon a Divine redemption.
3. A forgiveness is righteousness.
4. A complete forgiveness.
5. A forgiveness
and more than forgiveness. Inseparable from
justification
acceptance in a righteousness of God
unto all and upon all them
that believe.
6. A forgiveness never separate from sanctification.
III. View the chosen
of the Most High
the spiritual Israel
as assailed and persecuted by lion-like
foes (Jeremiah 50:17).
1. They who are effectually called
and set apart for God
are
exposed at once to special enmities. All the enemies of Gospel truth
holiness
spirituality
godliness are their enemies.
2. The enemies of the spiritual Israel are formidable
but vincible.
3. The days of open persecution have emphatically illustrated the
ferocity of anti-Christian persecution.
4. The foes of the spiritual Israel are vanquished foes. Christ hath
already overcome them. They have all been vanquished in principle.
5. The spiritual Israel hath mighty resources engaged
mighty
friendship and support pledged on its behalf. In Isaiah 31:1-9. Jehovah compares Himself
to a lion in the succour and defence of His Zion (Isaiah 31:4).
IV. View the
spiritual Israel as a reserved inheritance for Christ (verse 20).
1. Purchased and redeemed in order to be reserved.
2. Effectually called and regenerated in order to be reserved.
3. Separated from the world in order to be reserved.
4. Reserved
that the Saviour may take delight in them.
5. Reserved
as the gift of the Father to the Son.
6. Reserved to be witnesses for God and His Christ.
7. Reserved as first-fruits to God and to the Lamb.
8. Reserved to inherit exceeding riches of grace
and ultimate riches
of glory.
V. View the people
of the Most High
the spiritual Israel
as feeding in the pastures of grace
under the “Great Shepherd of the sheep” (verse 19).
1. The Shepherd of this fold is mightier than all the devouring lions
that can threaten His redeemed. He can curb them at His pleasure. The Shepherd
of this fold is wiser than all the opponents of His Church. Neither might nor
craft can defeat the purposes of His grace. (D. R. Morris.)
The iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for
and there shall be none.--
Sin completely removed
I. Sin is
completely removed
in that the guilt of it is all forgiven
and the punishment
due to it entirely remitted.
II. Sin is
completely removed
in that the sinner is perfectly restored to the love and
favour of God.
III. Sin is
completely removed
in that the pardoned sinner obtains a blessed restoration
of character
state
and hope.
IV. The way in
which so complete a pardon and restoration of guilty sinners is effected.
V. This complete
forgiveness of sin is alone worthy of God
and sufficient for man.
VI. This complete
forgiveness is necessary for us all
and ought to be most earnestly sought by
us all. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Verse 34
Their Redeemer is strong
the Lord of hosts is His name.
The kinsman Redeemer
Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very
peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood-relation to a
man had certain obligations and offices to discharge
under certain
contingencies
in respect of which he received a special name; which is
sometimes translated in the Old Testament “Redeemer” and sometimes “Avenger” of
blood. What the etymological signification of the word may be is
perhaps
somewhat doubtful. It is taken by some authorities to come from a word meaning
“to set free?”
I. The
qualifications and offices of the kinsman-redeemer. The qualifications may be
all summed up in one--that he must be the nearest living blood relation of the
person whose God he was. He might be brother
or less nearly connected
hut
this was essential
that of all living men
he was the most closely connected.
That qualification has to be kept well in mind when thinking of the
transference of the office to God in His relation to Israel
and through
Israel
to us. Such being his qualification
what were his duties? Mainly
three. The first
was connected with property. One great purpose steadily kept in view in all the
Mosaic land laws was the prevention of the alienation of the land from its
original holders
and its accumulation in a few hands. The obligation on the
next-of-kin to buy back alienated property was quite as much imposed on him for
the sake of the family
as of the individual. The second of his duties was to
buy back a member of his family fallen into slavery. (Leviticus 25:39). The last of the offices
of the kinsman-redeemer was that of avenging the blood of a murdered relative.
The law of blood-feud among the Hebrews was all in the direction Of restricting
the “wild justice of revenge
” and of entrusting it to certain chosen persons
out of the kindred
of the murdered man. The savage vendetta was too deeply
engrained in the national habit to be done away with altogether. All that was
for the time possible was to check and systematise it
and this was done by the institution in
question
which did not so much put the sword into the hand of the next-of-kin
as strike it out of the hand of all the rest of the clan.
II. The grand
mysterious transference of this office to Jehovah. This singular institution
was gradually discerned to be charged with lofty meaning and to be capable of
being turned into a dim shadowing of something greater than itself. You will
find that God begins to be spoken of in the later portions of Scripture as the
Kinsman-Redeemer. I reckon eighteen instances
of which thirteen are in the
second half of Isaiah. The reference is no doubt mainly to the great
deliverance from captivity in Egypt and Babylon
but the thought sweeps a much
wider circle and goes much deeper
down than these historical facts. There was in it some dim
thought that though God was separated from them by all the distance between
finitude and infinitude
yet they were nearer to Him than to anybody else; that the nearest living
relation that these poor persecuted Jews had was the Lord of hosts
beneath
whose wings they might come to trust. Therefore does the prophet kindle into
rapture and triumphant confidence as he thinks that the Lord of hosts
mighty
unspeakable
high above our thoughts
our words
or our praise
is Israel’s
Kinsman
and
therefore
their Redeemer. How profound a consciousness that man
was made in the image of God
and that
in spite of all the gulf between finite
and infinite
and the yet deeper gulf between sinful man and righteous God. He
was closer to a poor struggling soul than even the dearest were
must have been
at all events
dawning on the prophet who dared to think of the Holy One in the Heavens as
Israel’s Kinsman.
III. We have the
perfect fulfilment of this Divine office by the man Christ Jesus. He is nearer
to each of us than our dearest are. He loves us with the love of kindred
and
can fill our hearts and wills
and help our weakness in better
more inward
ways than all sympathy and love of human hearts can do. Between the atoms of
the densest of material bodies there is an interspace of air
as is shown by
the fact that everything is compressible if you can find the force sufficient
to compress it. That is to say
no particle touches another in the material
universe. And so in the spiritual region there is an awful film of separation between
each of us and all others
however closely we may be united. We each live on
our own little island in the deep “with echoing straits between us thrown.” The
solemn consciousness of personality
of responsibility unshared by any
of a
separate destiny parting us from our dearest. Arms may be twined
but they must
be unlinked some day
and each in turn face the awful solitude of death
as
each has really faced that scarcely
less awful solitude of life alone. But “he that is joined to the Lord is one
flesh
” and our kinsman
Christ
will come so near to us
that we shall be in
Him
and He in us
one spirit and one life. He is our nearest relation
nearer
than husband
wife
parent
brother
sister
or friend. He is nearer to you
than your very selves. He is your better self. This is His qualification for
His office. Because He is man’s kinsman
He buys back His enslaved brethren.
The bondage from which “one of his brethren” might “redeem” the Israelite was a
voluntary bondage into which he had “sold himself.” And such is our slavery.
None can rob us
of our freedom but ourselves. The world and the flesh and the devil cannot put
their chains on us unless our own will hold out our hands for the manacles.
And
alas! it is often an unsuspected slavery “How sayest thou ye shall be made
free? We were never m bondage to any man
” boasted the angry disputants with
Christ. And if they had lifted up their-eyes they might have seen from the
Temple courts in which they stood
the citadel full of Roman soldiers
and perhaps
the golden eagles
gleaming in the sunshine on the loftiest battlements. Some of us are just as
foolish
and try as desperately to annihilate facts by ignoring them
and to
make ourselves free by passionately denying that we are slaves. But “he that
committeth sin is the slave of sin.” Did you ever try to kill a bad habit
a
vice! Did you find it easy work? Was it not your master? You thought it was a
chain no stronger than a spider’s web that was round your wrist till you tried
to break it; and then you found it a chain of adamant. Many men who boast
themselves free are tied and bound with the cords of their sins. Dreaming of
freedom
you have sold yourself
and that “for nought.” Is that not true
tragically true? What have you made out of sin? Is the game worth the candle?
Will it continue to be so?--“And ye shall be redeemed without money
for Jesus
Christ laid down His life for you and me
that by His death we might receive
forgiveness and deliverance from-the power of sin.” And so your Kinsman
nearer
to you than all else
has bought you back. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Another pleads for us
Says Charles Garrett: “During the cotton famine I went to many a
man m need and said: ‘Why don’t you go to the committee and get what you
require?’ And the reply was
‘I can’t
I have never asked for help in my life
If I were to try to speak for myself I should be choked. I can’t do it; I’ll
starve first.’ And I have said
‘I don’t want you to speak.
I only want you to come. I will do all the talking
’ and at the
appointed time he has come
and I have said
‘This is the person of whom I
spoke
’ and they at once relieved him.”.
──《The Biblical Illustrator》