evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God,

and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

LECTURE 1185.

The evil and bitter consequences of sin.

It was God's own kindness to the Jews at the beginning of their existence as a nation that He here speaks of remembering, when "Israel was holiness unto the Lord," and God was unto Israel a Protector and Avenger. And how could it be that they had forgotten benefits so great, love so free and full? What fault had they or their fathers to find, so graciously does God condescend to plead with them after the manner of men, what fault to find with his dealings, that they had so widely departed from his ways; that they made no mention of his signal benefits, in delivering them out of the land of Egypt, and in leading them in safety through the wilderness, and in bringing them into a land abounding in good things, but which they had defiled with their iniquities? There with every motive conspiring to render them faithful and obedient, they had all walked after vanity, priests and prophets, pastors and ministers of the Law, as well as the people committed to their charge, all had shared the guilt of apostasy from God.

And how forcibly does God plead against his people the practices of the heathen whose gods they sought after, but who for their parts were by far less willing to change the objects of their worship! The heathen were comparatively constant in their false religion. The Israelites were fickle in the knowledge and profession of the truth. They were guilty both of forsaking the true God, and of resorting instead to false objects of homage and of trust. And thus they did when treated by Almighty God not as bond servants but as sons. No wonder that they must in consequence meet with treatment, which might seem to befit slaves rather than children. They must be unto their enemies as the young lions' prey. The children of the cities of Egypt would bring on them a signal disaster, here called breaking the crowns of their head, which probably means the slaying of their king Josiah. And as they had brought this judgment on themselves by being apt to resort to Egypt for help, in like manner would they suffer for their intercourse with the people and monarchs of Assyria, which had been carried on not in the fear of God, but rather out of distrust of his power, and disinclination to depend upon his help. Thus did God ordain, that their own wickedness should correct them. And thus does He often make our sins to lead us by natural consequence to our punishment. And though often this result does not appear, we may be sure that the wicked shall not go unpunished in the end. We have no room to doubt, that in any case it will be found "an evil thing and bitter" to forsake the Lord our God.

The false pleas of the Jews are exposed.

20 For of old time I have that thou hast made thee? let

LECTURE 1186.

The presumptuous boldness of impenitent sinners.

The people of Jerusalem are here reminded of the mercies they had experienced, of the good professions they had made, and of the relapses they had been guilty of. They are taxed with their degeneracy, from a right seed to a strange vine. They are told that the stain of their sin is such as they could by no means wash out. They are compared for their wilfulness and unruly disposition to "a swift dromedary traversing her ways," and to "a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." And when charged to be no longer thus untamed, and to refrain from thirst after their own ways, they are represented as having been prone to answer, "There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." And they who one while thus speak, are ready to say afterwards, "Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me." And this, when they had been convicted of idolatry, like a detected thief, and brought to shame and confession in time of trouble, by then finding that the stocks and stones they had been worshipping could give them no relief. And then they had resorted in their distress to God, whom in their prosperity they had forsaken, and to whom they did not turn with true contrition in the day of their adversity. No wonder that God now charges them with their sins, instead of delivering them from their trouble. No wonder that when they plead with Him for help, He reminds them of their transgressions, their persecution of his prophets, their disparagement and forgetfulness of Himself, their spiritual adultery in loving strange gods, and their spiritual blood guiltiness in beguiling souls into sin. What gross presumption, for them that were justly chargeable with sins like these, to think that they should escape punishment in virtue of their innocency, and that too, when they had avowed a resolution to persist in sin without hope of amendment! What gross presumption! And yet how commonly does this case occur ! How often does the same person express himself as having little or no hope of thoroughly amending his life, and yet little or no fear of perishing for ever! I have loved my sins and after them will I go, for I cannot help it, this is the language of the same lips, which presently declare, surely God's anger will turn from me, for I am no worse than my neighbours, I am no such very great sinner against God. Let us learn to use, instead of words like these, the language of true Christian faith. I know that I am guilty; but I trust that God will blot out my offences, for the sake of my sinless Saviour. And I have hope, that by the help of his grace I shall be able to leave off my sins. I confess that I am a grievous sinner, justly deserving endless wrath. But I fully purpose, and confidently expect, that through God's allsufficient grace, I shall live henceforth according to the will of Christ, to the praise of the glory of his name.

LECTURE 1187.

The responsibility of having eminent privileges.

Most marvellously does God magnify his love and forbearance towards his idolatrous people, in beseeching them to return again unto Him, whilst at the same time He remarks, that this is more than any husband would do for a wife whom he had divorced. Adultery, the chief ground for divorcement, is often used in Scripture, to represent the unfaithfulness of God's people, in seeking after other gods. For marriage is a figure of God's affection for his church. He is to his people as a husband to a wife. And they justly owe to Him the dutifulness, affection, and fidelity, of a wife towards a husband. He is also to them that which a father is to his children, the guide of their youth. And accordingly after taxing them with their gross idol

atries, for which they were as eager as the Arabian in the wilderness is desirous of spoil, and after telling them that it was because of this iniquity that the rain in its season had been withholden from their land, He asks them in an unexpected strain of tenderness, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth." And He conceives of them as asking, not without hope," Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?" No, we at least may answer unto ourselves, it is not so with God. Our heavenly Father has compassion on his erring children; and if we will but earnestly repent, He will speedily and thoroughly forgive. But not if we only profess repentance, and continue all the while impenitent. In such case He who knows the heart will reply to us, as He did to Judah, "Behold thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest."

This is the burden of the charge here especially brought against treacherous Judah; she had not turned unto God "with her whole heart, but feignedly." And it is in this respect that the Lord here pronounces judgment, on a comparison of the two cases, that "The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah." And yet Judah had seen all that Israel did, and all that Israel suffered. Judah ought to have taken warning from the awful sight of her sister's sins and sorrows, idolatry and rejection, adultery and divorce. But no, her heart was hardened, and her show of turning unto God was seen by Him to be insincere. And therefore in this prophecy, which beginning at the sixth verse seems distinct from that which went before, the guilt of Judah is declared to be so much the greater, and her offence so much the more inexcusable. A decision not unlike to that of Jesus Christ our Lord, in the case of the unbelieving cities in the which his mighty works were wrought: "Woe unto thee Chorazin! woe unto thee Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you." Matt. 11. 21, 22. And how then must it fare with us, if we are unbelieving or impenitent? Confessedly we have much greater privileges than almost any people that ever lived. So much greater in proportion must be our responsibility. If Judah compared with Israel had more to answer for, if Chorazin and Bethsaida were on the like grounds more guilty than Tyre and Sidon, what must be the case of Christian nations compared with those who have not enjoyed the light of the Gospel? What must be the guilt of those who enjoy that light in all its brightness, or might enjoy it if they would, but will not, because their deeds are evil ?