seen how easily I brought frogs and locusts upon the land of Egypt ; and am I less able to supply flesh of any kind that I may see good? " You shall see now (presently) whether my word shall come to pass, or not."
When we see persons so eminent for the grace of faith as Abraham and Moses, yet giving way to unbelief, we need scarcely adduce any further proof of the universal prevalence of this evil. It exists, indeed, in very different degrees in men, being in some only occasional, whilst in others it is the entire habit of their minds : but there is not a man under the whole heavens who has not reason to mourn over the workings of this corruption, when he is brought into circumstances to call it forth. From other evils many persons may be accounted nearly free : but this works equally in men of every class, and every age.]
It is also the most specious of all evils —
[No one will avow a doubt of God's power to effect whatsoever he shall please : his pretext will be, that he cannot conceive how God should condescend to shew such extraordi- nary favour to one so insignificant and worthless as himself. But God himself never puts this construction upon it : he always regards it as a denial of his perfections, and resents it in that view. We have a remarkable instance of this in Ahaz. God told him, by the prophet, to " ask a sign of him, either in the depth or in the height above." But Ahaz, wishing to hide his unbelief, pretended that this was too great an honour for him, and that therefore he could not presume to ask any such thing : " Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." But was this construction admitted on God's part ? No : He viewed the evil as it really was, and not as it was glossed over by this self-deluded monarch ; and therefore, with just indignation, he replied, by his prophet, " Hear ye now, O house of David ! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God alsoc?" So, whatever we may ima- gine, a want of entire confidence in God, whatever be the circumstances under which we are placed, will appear in its true colours before God, and be condemned by him as unbelief.]
It is, moreover, the most offensive of all evils —
[There is no grace so highly honoured of God, as faith ; nor any evil so reprobated by him, as unbelief. Other evils are acts of rebellion against his authority ; but this rises against every one of his perfections. It doubts his wisdom, his power, his goodness, his love, his mercy ; yea, it questions even his veracity ; and reduces the infinite Jehovah to a level with his own creatures ; insomuch that Balaam, when checking
c Isai. vii. 10 — 13.
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the vain hopes of the king of Moab, could find no lan- guage more appropriate than this : " God is not a man, that he should lie ; or the son of man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it ? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it goodd?" What an indignity he considers it, is plain from his very answer to Moses : "Is the hand of the Lord waxed short ? Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass or not." This is no slight rebuke : it is similar to that which he gave to Sarah, when she doubted whether she should ever bear to Abraham the promised child : " Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lorde?" How Za- charias was reproved for his unbelief in the temple, you well knowf. And amongst all the provocations winch the Israelites committed in the wilderness, this was the one which God laid most to heart : " How oft did they provoke him in the wil- derness, and grieve him in the desert ! Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel : they remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy g."]