this might be, the complaint which was founded on their obedience, is the same, and is deserving of very peculiar attention.
Let us consider this complaint,
I. Simply —
Jonadab had enjoined on his posterity not to build, or plant, or sow, or even to possess houses or vine- yards ; but to dwell in tents, and to drink no wine : and they had been observant of his injunctions now for the space of three hundred years. But on occa- sion of the Chaldean invasion, they had fled to Jeru- salem for safety d: and the Prophet Jeremiah set wine before them, and invited them to refresh them- selves with it. This was done by God's command, not with a view to tempt and ensnare them, but for the purpose of displaying their adherence to the commands of their father, and of putting to shame the whole Jewish nation for their disobedience to the commands of God. At first sight, this appears to be an insulated fact, in which we have little concern ; but there is in reality, at this day,
1. The same regard for the commands of men —
[It should seem as if a reverence for tradition were inhe- rent, as it were, in our very nature ; since we find it equally prevailing in every quarter of the world.
It is universally found in relation to civil and political insti- tutions. However different the forms of government may be which obtain amongst the various nations of the world, there exists amongst the natives a partiality in favour of it, insomuch that they are ready to fight, and even to die, in its defence. Republics, and monarchies, whether limited or absolute, are on a par in this respect : whichever has been established, has on that account a great pre-eminence in the estimation of the people.
This zeal for what has been handed down from our fore- fathers obtains, if possible, yet more strongly in reference to religious ordinances. There are many of the same traditions, and the same fixed adherence to them too, amongst the dif- ferent religious orders of the Papists at this day, as obtained formerly amongst the Rechabites. Rites, which God never
d ver. 6—11.