Vers. 29-35.-The short-sightedness of sinners. "Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" Such is the moan with which this paragraph begins. By" this" is meant ~he conseque~c? which will certainly follow on their departure from God. By "their latter end 1s meant the latter days of their history, when sins which were beforehand in germ should have wrouaht out to full development. We need not again recount the historical aspects of this serious outloo~. We will but note, i11 a series of consecutive thoughts, the 510 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [ce. xxxn. 1-62.
truths which are here indicated, and which are of universal and perpetual application to individuals, families, and nations. l. lT IS A MARK OF A VIOIOUS SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS TO TAKE NO HEED TO TIIR CONSEQUENCES OF A COURSE OF OONDUCT. If men t.ako no reckoning of their " lnttor end," it is the revorse of wise. Our Saviour asks," 'What shall it profit B man?" etc. To take heed only to presont appoarances and to avoid all preparations for the future, is folly in the extreme. Il. •.WHETHER WE WILL OR NO, CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES ARE BOUND UP WITH CON• DUCT DY A LAW WHICH NO CREATED POWER CAN AVERT OR MODIFY. 'l'hey may be "sealed up "-hidden from sight at present, but they are" laid up in storo" (Hom. ii. 5 ; 1 Thcss. v. 3). IU. THE l\iosT HIGH RESERVES TO HIMSELF THE EXECUTION OF HIS OWN LAWS. "To me bclongcth vengeance." Vengeance cannot safely bo entrusted to frail and passionate man. Only in the ha.nds of "the Judge of all tho earth" is there an absolute guarantee that in its infliction there will be neither excess nor defect. No weakness will cause delay or halt. No vindictiveness will induce any variation from the right. IV. HOWEVER LONG VENGEANCE MAY BE DET,AYED, IT WILL NOT BE POSTPONED TOO LONG. "Their feet shall slide in due time." 1 'l'ime is on God's side. In the moral world there is not a moment's pause. Character is ripening for good or for ill, and great issues are working out at every tick of the dial. _ V. IN THE RIPE1'"ING OF CHARACTER AND THE ADVANCED ISSUES OF CONDUCT THERE WTI,L DE AWFUL RESULTS ON THE SIDE OF EVIL. The figura.ti ve expressions in each clause arc of terrific significance. They indicate: 1. The failure of the refuge to which they had fled. 2. 'l'he collapse of their strength in great emergencies. 3. Bitterness of misery. 4. Venomous poison as the fruit of their vine of Sodom. Now is the day for accumulating; hereafter will be the da.y for the manifestation, of these hidden treasures of ill. ,I. 'l'ms DAY OF AWFUL RECOMPENSE WILL COME UPON SINNERS SUDDENLY. "The things that shall come upon them make haste" (cf. Matt. xxiv. 36-44; Mark xiii. 35-37; 2 Pet. iii. 10). It is one remarkable feature of the Mosaic outlook, that the lawgiver scarcely ever refers to another life,.but to the working out of God's judgments in this. The future life comes into view in the New Testament. The law of sowing and reaping holds good for both worlds (Gal. vL 7). VIL WITH AN OUTLOOK SO GRIEVOUS, THE THOUGHTLESSNESS OF BmNERS IS AN ETTL GREATLY TO DE LAMENTED. "Oh that they were wise!" etc. (cf. Jer. ix. 1; Ps. cxix. 136). IN CONCLUSION. There is at least a threefold application of the text, which should be made use of to warn men against sin. 1. Those who have to direct or influence national affairs should remember that a wrong policy is a foolish one. No nation will continue to thrh-e that fights against God. 2. Heads of families should remcm ber that, by a course of disloyalty to God, they are sowing the seeds of dishonour, grief, and shame in their families, and are entailing sorrow on the children of their ca~e. 3. Let each individual learn that whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap, both m this world and in that which is to come. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker I"
V ers. 36-43.-Jeliovah reigns; be glad I This paragraph ha.s about it a remarkably martial ring. It is not to be looked at as bald and literal prose. It is part of a song; it is laden with imagery, in which the God of Israel is set forth as a mighty Warrior, whose march none can hinder, whose inflictions none can withstand or evade. 'l'he ~tyle of the song was precisely appropriate to the age in which it was composed, and suited to the people in whose hearing it was addressed. 'l'he truths clothed in such Oriental garb are for all lands and for all time. For though there ie an abundance of figure, yet not all is figurative. There a.re at least two phrases which are plain in their pbra.i;eology, and which furnish us with the key for the right interpretation of the others. One of these is found at the beginning of the passaj!e, the other towards its close. 'l'ho first is in ver. 36, "The Lord shall judge his people." 'l'he other is in ver. 43, "Rejoice, 1 See a sermon of great power on this text in President Edwards's work,, Oil, XXXII, 1-62,] 'fHE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 511