Vers. 15.-18.-Jeshwun. I. A Goon NAME DELIED. Jeshurun, equivalent to righteous. An honourable name, but sadly falsified by the conduct described. How many Jeshuruns have thus forsaken the God of their early vows! Notice, a good name is of no account without the good character. Balaam praised Israel's righteousness, and wished to" die the death of the righteous" (Numb. xxiii. 10, 21); but it is the being rigl,teous, not the being called so, which makes the happy deathbed. II. AN EVIL EFFECT OF PROSPERITY. "Waxed fat-kicked." How common I The elfect foretold or warned against in earlier chapters (eh. viii. 12-18, etc.). Prosperity, then pride, then stubborn self-willedness. 'fhe self-willed heart refuses to submit to God's government; throws off the memory of past obligations, and treats God with ill-concealed indifference and dislike; turns from the true God to gods of its own choosing. Two steps in the great apostacy-forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out broken cisterns, etc. (Jer. ii. 13). Such conduct is (1) wicked, (2) ungrateful, (3) irrational, (4) fatal (vers. 22-25). III. REsULT OF ill ITCH FOB NOVELTY. (Ver. 17.) The newness of the gods was a ciiief attraction. The worship of them was a change, a novelty. It pleased then:i ~y variety. 1. When God has been abandoned, men are at the mercy of the most trlVlal influences. "Itching ears"-" every wind of doctrine" (Eph. iv. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 3). 2. When God has been abandoned, novelty is greedily accepted as a substitute for truth, in theories, in creeds, in styles of worship, in religious nostrums. 3. Apostacy from God means transference of the affections to that which is degrading. In this case to " destrovers," so the word means; devils, malignant deities. But we worship devils, or the devil (Matt. iv. 9), when we bow in spirit to the world's modes and shows; when we serve gold, or fashion, or the opinion of society; when we are slaves to lust of power; when we bow to a false gnosis, etc.-J. O. Vera. 19-27.-..4. God provoker/. Consider here- L THE B.EALlTI' OJ' WRATH rn Goo. Let it not be minimized or explained away. CU, X.Xllll. 1-62.] 'l'IJI,; eooK 011' DEU'l'ElKl~O~IY.
"Instead of bein~ shockctl Bt the thought that God is wrathrnl, we should rather ask, Witli whom 1 Bnd For what 1 A Gorl without wrath, and a God wh0 is wratl,f"11l c)n other accounts than for sin, is not a God, but a.n idol" (Hcn~stcnberg). It is only, ns this writer observes, when " ma.n himself is not displeased with sin, when it nssnme, to him the a.ppeamnco of a bagatelle,'' tha.t he no longer perceives why Go,1 shonl,l feel wrath at it, But man, we may observe, is by no means disposed to treat li"l,tly sins a,gainst himself. He never feels that he docs not "do well to be angry " on ~ccou nt of these or against the person who does them. A very slight wound to his hon0ur makes him clamour for satisfaction. A God who is incapable of moral indignation wnul,l bo equally inca.pa.ble of moral love, and could not, with truth, be spoken of as dispensing mercy. Wrath and love a.re opposite poles of one a.ffer.tion. ·where there is no offence, there ueeds no forgiveness. II. WRATH IN GOD, WHEN IT BURNS AGAINST MEN, IS TEltRIBLE IN ITS EFFECTS. Two aspects of its operation: 1. Leaving men to themselves (ver. 20). When God hides his face from them, there need be little doubt wha.t the" end" will be. Yet can the sinner complain if he is at length permitted to eat the fruit of the device3 which nothing will persuade him to give up? 2. Rea.ping on them positive inflictions (vcrs. 22-25). It is a fire, burning to destroy them. It is noteworthy tha.t the conflagration of the Divine wrath is represented a.s not only taking in sheol, but as widening till it embraces the whole earth (ver. 22). 'l'his, in connection with the glimpse at the calling of the Gentiles in ver. 21, points to the future universal extension of the out- ward dispensation of grace. 'l'he extension of the kingdom of God brings all nations within the range of the Messianic judgment (Ma.tt. xxv. 31). 'l'he wrath of God is not cepresented in less terrible colours in the New Testament tha.n it is in the Old. 'l'he individualized description of these verses (vers. 24, 25) figures out terrors of a. futurn life too painful to allow the mind to dwell upon them. III. WRATH IN GoD IS, IN THIS LIFE, NOT DIVORCED FROM MERCY. Not a.t least so long as hope of recovery remains. He would fain make punishment subservient to conversion. 'l.'his iH the thought in ver. 21. Israel is not cast off for ever. God is seeking to provoke it to jealousy by a. transference of his regard to the Gentiles. His retaliation has a. merciful as well as a wrathful design. Mercy waits on every sinner, courting his repentance. IV. THE MANIFESTATION OF WRATH IN Gon IS LmITED BY REGARD TO HIS HOSOUll. (Vers. 26, 27.) God is jealous of his honour. He will take from his adversaries the power of boasting against him, by marvellously restoring those who, had they receive,l their full deserts, would have been utterly destroyed. This stays his hand from expend- ing his wrath against them to the uttermost. We ma.y read this otherwise, a.nd say that zeal for his honour leads God to spare them, that he may glorify his Name by causing mercy to rejoice over judgment. 'l.'here is more honour to God in ~aving men than in destroying them. And what provokes this wrath in God? Sin-sin only. Most especially the sins of his own people. 1. «No faith "-want of fidelity to vows. 2. "Frowardness"- persistence in sin (ver. 20). Those who have stood in nearest relations to him, who have enjoyed most favours, are those who will be most severely punished (Amos iii. 2). -J.O. V ers. 28, 29.-The true wisdom. Consider- I. IN WHAT WISDOM CONSISTS. 1. The choice of right ends. 2. Of right means to secure these ends. 3. In harmony with a just and proportioned Yiew of a.11 the circum- stances of our situation. Wben essential circumstances are omitted in the calculation, when the horizon is unJ.uly narrowed, when all-important factors of the situation are left wholly out of account,-it is vain to speak of wisdom. Absolutely, and as regards our standing as moral beings, wisdom embraces: 1. The choice of a trne ~nd, i.e. ~he choice as our end in life of that end for which we were created. 2. The practical shaping of conduct with a view' to tltat. end, and in the way be~t ca.!cula~ed to attain it.. And this: 3. In view ,of all the circumstances of the case, 1.e. with nght a.pprehens1011s of God of the issues of moral conduct, of eternity. What wisdom is•more to be desired tha~ this? What efforts ought to be put forth to attain it I What incalculable value ought to be set upon it I r.20 'l'HE 130OK OF DBU1'EHONOMY. [en. xxxu. 1-62.