The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 451

question, consequently, of the cc method of the Divine government" ia hereby raised. .And here let us remark- !. Goo's JUDGMENTS, WHETBEB BEWABDB OB PUNIBHMENTS, WEBE BXEOUTBD WITH BEOOMING LEISUBB A.ND DELIBERATION. It ia along the lines of natural law, as dis- tinguished from miracle, that he proposes to execute his decisions. If the people prove obedient, then they are to have (1) bountiful harvests; (2) national triumph and con- sequent peace; (3) riddance of the beasts of the field, so far as they would injure their crops; ( 4) great increase of the population; and (5) the enjoyment of religious ordinance.'!. On the other hand, if the people prove disobedient, they are to have (1) sickness; (2) scarcity; (3) defeat; (4) devastation by wild beasts; (5) famine in its most fearful forms; and (6) a sabbatic desolation in the Lord's land. Now, it is to the leisurely and deliberate element in the rewards and the punishments that we direct attention. If God chose to execute his sentences speedily, if obedience got its reward immediately, if disobedience got its punishment without one moment's delay,-then men would have no room for question, and no room for moral education and decision. Such a childish regulation would doubtless prevent a la.rge amount of evil in the world, but it would keep men children always. It is a pitiable stage of education when the child insists on seeing its reward before it obeys, and requires the immediate "slap" to prevent disobedience. If men are to be trained morally, they must be asked to take upon credit God's promises and threatenings, and decide in the interval before be is pleased to act. Thi~ leaves room for a large amount of evil. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccles. viii. 11). Men may say, because God does not show quickly his hand, that he may possibly not show it at all. Hence they sin and say, cc The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it" (Ps. xciv. 7). The Lord's delay is interpreted as Divine indifference. This is one of the evils due to man's sinful heart exercising its freedom under a truly paternal government. Instead of God's goodness in the delay leading men to repentance, it is allowed to foster a hope that he will resign the reins of government altogether and sit indifferently by, while men do as they please. An instance of this tendency to misinterpretation is afforded by Professor Tyndall, in his ' Fragments of Science,' where he has the audacity to deduce from Matt. v. 45, "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust," as the doctrine of the Master himself, that " the distribution of natural phenomena is not affected by moral or religious causes;" 1 whereas the context shows that the whole arrangement is prompted by love towards his enemies, that they may be induced to become his friends. Men get easily warped in their interpretations, and miss the point, or want to miss it. On the other hand, God's delay in making good bis promises and tbreatenings affords an opportunity for humiliation and faith. When men believe he will be as good and as severe as he ssys, then they humble themselves under his mighty hand, and suppli- cate his forgiveness. When also, as his forgiven ones, they try to the best of their ability to obey him, then the delay of the promised blessing enables them to cultivate the " patience of hope," and thus to complete their character. If, therefore, there are drawbacks through man's sin on the one side, there are vast advantages to human character on the other attending this arrangement. II. Goo's JUDGHENTS, EVEN WHEN EXECUTED, HA VE NOT THE Am 01" FINALITY ABOUT THBH. Notwithstanding the special pleading of Warburton and his followers about the temporal character of the Divine judgments among the Jews, and their consequent ignorance about a future life,1 it is evident on the face of the judgments that they are not final. Little children perishing and eaten in the sieges (ver. 29) could not be regarded surely as a final judgment. Children suffering for their parents' sins could not be regarded as a final judgment. In truth, God's judgmeote among the Jews, like his judgments still, were imperfect, and designedly so. "For observe," says the Ilev. Charles Wolfe, "if we found every man in this life received just what he deserved, and every evil work always brought swift punishment along with it, what should we naturally conclude? There is no future puuishment in store. I see nothing 1 Page 36 of 3rd edit. 1 'Divine Legation of Moses,' bk. ,. CH. XXVL l-1G 1 THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 417