To illustrate this subject, I shall shew, I. The danger of presumptuous sin under the Law —
Presumptuous sin is not to be understood of every sin that is committed wilfully ; but of those sins which, as the marginal translation expresses it, are committed " with a high hand:'1'1 such, for instance, as that of Pharaoh, when he set himself directly against God, saying, " Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord; neither will I let Israel go." It is such also as David charac- terizes under the following terms : " The tongue that speaketh proud things; namely, of those who have said, With our tongue will we prevail: our lips are our own: who is Lord over usb?"
The person committing this sin was doomed to . death. No sacrifice was appointed for him : what- ever injunction it was that he thus determinately opposed, whether it belonged to the ceremonial or moral law, he must suffer death for his offence. It is probable that the sentence executed, by God's own command, against the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath-day was intended to illustrate this. His offence might appear but slight; namely, gathering sticks on the Sabbath-day: but, as it was done in a known and avowed contempt of the divine will, he must be stoned to death0.
Now, how can it be accounted for, that so severe a judgment should be executed for doing any thing presumptuously? It was considered as reproaching, and pouring contempt on, God himself;
1. As unreasonable in his commands —
[A man who sets himself avowedly against any command, does, in fact, complain of that command as unreasonable and unjust. A man, through infirmity, may fall short in his obedience, whilst he acknowledges that the law which he violates is holy and just and good; but if he set himself against the command itself, it must, of necessity, be from an idea that it imposes an unnecessary restraint, or, at all events, that it may well be dispensed with for his convenience.]
2. As weak in his threatenings —
b Ps. xii. 3, 4. <= ver. 32—36.