And from what hath been discoursed it appears, both of what great importance it is unto our faith and obedience, to be well instructed in the chief principles of religion, as also what an inexcusable fault it is, in those who for any season have enjoyed the means of instruction, to be found defective herein.
Obs. VI. Those who live under the preaching of the gospel are obnoxious to great and provoking sins, if they diligently watch not against them. Such was that of these Hebrews here mentioned, But hereof, as also of the danger of such sins, we must treat more
afterwards,
580 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. V.
THIRDLY, It follows, as an illustration of what was before charged on the Hebrews, and to the same purpose, “And are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” This allusion the apostle chose, to represent unto them the state or condition whereinto they were brought by their sinful negligence, as also to give life and strength unto his reproof; and therefore pursues it to the end of the chapter.
Teyévars, “ye are become.” The word may be taken in a twofold sense; for,—
1. It may signify, ‘It appears what you are, and what you stand in need of. It may be some have had other thoughts of you, by reason of your profession, and the time of instruction you have enjoyed. You have had “a name to live,” and possibly to be in a very flour- ishing condition, as being the first church in the world, the mother in some sort of all other churches, and such as have had privileges which no other church ever had, or ever shall enjoy. But, upon trial, it is made manifest how dull and slothful you have been, how ignorant you are, and how little you have improved your season.’ And it will in like manner be one day evident, that many churches and persons who make a goodly appearance, on the account of their outward privileges and enjoyments, will be found, when they are brought into the balance of the sanctuary, to be light, empty, dead, and every way insufficient. But things are changed in the world. Churches are now esteemed of, or pretend unto an esteem, by their pleas of antiquity, outward order, solemnity of forms, and a seem- ingly sacred grandeur, without the least respect unto the light, knowledge, and holiness of their members. In the days of the apostles it was not so. Unless churches in their members did thrive in grace, knowledge, and holiness, they had no respect unto outward things, though never so good in their place and order, but as aggra- vations of the sin and judgment of unprofitable professors, And this may be the sense of that expression, yeyévare, “ye are become ;” for so are many things in the Scripture said then to be, when they are made manifest, or appear so to be.
2. It may be the apostle by this expression denotes a decay and declension in them, ‘ You are become,’ that is now, ‘ what formerly you were not... So Chrysostom on the place: Odx sire ypefav exer, GAA yeydvare ypelav exovres rovreors tuers ilednoure, duels Eaurods iG rovro xareor7 care,— This is that which you have now brought your- selves unto.” They had been taught, and they had learned the things of the gospel; but now, through their carelessness, forget- fulness, and want of industry to grow in grace and knowledge, they were decayed into great darkness, ignorance, and confusion. And it is known that this is no unusual thing among professors. Through their inadvertency, sinful negligence, worldly-mindedness, they lose
Teyovers.
VER. 12-14.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 581
the knowledge which they had attained; and, on a perverse con- tinuance in such an evil course, through the righteous judgment of God, even all that they seemed to have is taken from them. Knowledge may be lost as well as holiness, at least as unto the degrees of it. And it is most probable, from the nature and tenor of his whole discourse, that this is the evil which the apostle chargeth them withal; which sufficiently manifests the greatness of their sin and the danger of their condition. For it is worse with _ them who have, through their own default, lost what they had attained in the ways of God, than with those who never attained what was their duty so to do; for the loss of light and knowledge proceeds from causes of a more enormous guilt than a mere igno- rance of them ordinarily doth, or indeed can do.
What they were thus become, as to their state and condition, the apostle in the same similitude expresses. 1. Positively; they were such as had need yéAuxros, of “milk.” 2. Negatively; xa) ob orepsig rpopys, “and not of strong meat.” Xpefay eyovres, in the same sense as ype/av éxere before; only, as joined with yeyévure, it may intend their decay and declension into a worse estate than what they were in formerly: ‘You are come to stand in need.’ In the similitude proposed, the word of God is compared to food, and the several sorts of it, both as to their nature and use; for it is the food of our souls. And natural food is distinguished by the apostle in this place into “milk” and “strong meat ;” which gives us a distribution of the oracles of God into two general heads also, answering in respect of use unto these two sorts of food.