Mai. i. 2, 3. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us ? Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord : yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau.
THE scope of this prophecy is, to reprove the Jews for their impiety, after their re-establishment in their own land, especially for their neglect and pro- fanation of God's ordinances. To give the greater Weight to his reproofs, he begins with reminding them of the mercies which they, above all people, had received ; and which they, therefore, should have requited in a far different manner.
To us, no less than to them, may this address be applied. In considering it, I shall be led to shew you,
I. The distinguishing mercies which we have received at God's hands —
These may be contemplated,
1. In our national capacity —
[It is in this view that our text must be primarily under- stood: for of the temporal condition of the Jews, as contrasted with that of the Edomites, the prophet evidently speaks ; the Jews having been favoured with the possession of Canaan, and restored to it after their temporary captivity in Babylon ; whilst the Edomites had a very inferior portion in Mount Seir, to which, now that they were expelled from it, no efforts of theirs should ever be able to restore thema.
And what nation under heaven has ever been more highly
a Compare Gen. xxv. 23. with ver. 4, 5. and Jer. xlix. 17. 18.
favoured than ours? What nation has more to be thankful for, than we have at this time; having for so long a period escaped the desolations with which other countries have been visited, and been so elevated amongst the kingdoms after so many and great perils b? The very constitution of our king- dom is such as no other nation in Europe enjoys, or is found capable of enjoying ; so great is the liberty possessed by every subject of the realm, and such safeguards existing in the very constitution itself for the preservation of it. As for our reli- gious advantages, they are of incalculable value. No nation under heaven possesses either more light than we, or more liberty to walk, every one of us, according to the dictates of his own conscience. Not Israel itself was more highly favoured than we, in the administration of divine ordinances, or in the communications of God's blessings by means of them.]
2. In our individual capacity —
[St. Paul evidently understood our text as comprehending this also : for, having quoted the words in proof of God's right to dispense his blessings to whomsoever he will, without any respect to their character, past, present, or future, he deduces from it this universal position : " So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy c."
Let us see then, whether, as individuals, we have not re- ceived many distinguished mercies from God's hands. If we look around us, may we not see thousands whose lot differs widely from ours, in that we are living in the enjoyment of health, and peace, and perhaps of plenty too, whilst others are pining away, under disease of body, or trouble of mind, or want of even the necessaries of life. Yet is not Esau Jacob's brother ? and are not we thus favoured solely through the good providence of our God?
But let us come to things of greater moment, even to those which affect our everlasting state. May I not say, that God has highly distinguished you, in that you have had, and that for the space of forty years, the Gospel ministered unto you, in all its freeness, and in all its fulness. If all the same truths have with the same fidelity been proclaimed in every place, whence is it that any stigma has been affixed to the ministra- tions which ye attend ? I have no wish to speak of others : but, respecting the Gospel as preached unto you, I am in duty bound to speak ; and to say, before you and the whole world, that " I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you," but " have declared unto you, as God has helped