h Prov. xiv. 14. » Hos. xiv. 4.
Jer. iv. 3, 4. Thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take aivay the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
THE language of the prophets is highly figurative, and therefore sometimes difficult to be understood ; but, when judiciously explained, it will always be found highly instructive. Of course, it will not be right to press a metaphorical expression too far ; nor should an idea that may seem indelicate, be so touched as to offend the nicest eara: but, when the general import of the metaphor is seen, the subject contained in it may be prosecuted to great advantage. It is
a This hint should be very strictly attended to, in preaching on such a text as this.
obvious that some very important instruction is con- veyed in the passage before us : and it will be found no less applicable to ourselves than to the Jews of old, if we consider,
I. The duties here enjoined —
These are set forth under two different images ; the one taken from breaking up fallow ground, and the other from the Jewish rite of circumcision. To ascertain the import of those images, we need only refer to a parallel passage in the Prophet Ezekiel, where the same duties are inculcated in plain and simple terms ; " Repent and turn from all your trans- gressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruinV Two duties then are here enjoined ;
1. Repentance —
[The heart of man by nature may justly be compared with uncultivated ground that is covered with thorns and briers : for it is obdurate, and altogether unfit for the reception of any good seed, till it has been " broken up," and cleared of its noxious products. Let any one examine his own heart, and he will find this representation true. As to the outward acts of men, there certainly is a great difference, yea, and in their inward dispositions too ; but in respect of love to God and delight in his service, all are on the same level; " the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can bec." It is full of " earthly, sensual, devilish " affections, which must be rooted up, before the graces of God's Spirit can grow within it. But this cannot be done by a slight and superficial work : the plough must enter into the very soul, as it did on the day of Pentecost : we must be made to feel our desert and danger, and be brought to the condition of the poor repenting publican d. Let every child of man bear this in mind; for it is " the broken and contrite heart alone, which God will not despise ;" and " except ye thus repent, ye must all inevitably perish."]
2. Amendment —
[Circumcision was not only " a seal" on God's part, marking Israel for his own peculiar people, but it was a sign also on the part of Israel, denoting their obligation to " put off the body of the sins of the flesh e," and to love and serve God with all their hearts f. In this sense, though the rite itself is superseded by Baptism, the term may justly be applied to us.
b Ezek. xviii. 30. c Rom. viii. 7. d Luke xviii. 13.
e Col. ii. 11. f Deut. xxx. 6.