The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 298

.,.rith011t. blnrne before him in love." 2. What commands they disobeyed. All God's rommandmmts were for their own good. They were rational and wise commandments. To forbid idolatry was t~ forbid a sin which in itself was ungrateful and dishonouring t.o the true God, and which was degrading and demoralizing in its coo~equences, Oh the.t men were wise, the.t they would consider the consequences of sin tor time and for eternity I "The fear of the Lord is the beginnin<> of wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding." " II. WARNINGS DISREGARDED. Note: 1. Gorrsfo,·bearance and mercy. God did not cut them off at once for their sin. Time after time he forgave them. He sent them his prophets to invite them to return to him, to give them promises of pardon and blessing, to pomt out to them what must be the inevitable consequence of perseverance in sin. His anxiety to save them was very great. The phr11Se used in Jeremiah is a remarkable one. "They have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, risin9 up early and sendincr them." 'What a wonderful and touching description of God's desire to save 1-" Rising up early." As if he wanted to be before men. As if he wanted to anticipate their temptations by his messages of warning and of guidance. If we make God's Word our morning study, what a help we shall find it in the difficulties and temptations and duties of each day! 2. Man's folly and blindness. "Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God" (ver. 14). All the warnings were in vain. "They sold them- selves to do evil in the sight of the Lord" (ver. 17). Is it not a true description of the life of the sinner? He imagines that sin is freedom, and he finds it to be the most grinding and oppressive slavery. He is "led captive by the devil at his will." The sinne1· serves a hard master. "They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire" (ver. 17). How cruel is heathenism I How it crushes out the tender feelings of humanity and kindness I Look upon the picture of it as presented in its Molochs, in its J uggemauts, in its suttees. See how the aged and the sick are left alone to die. Contrast with all this the spirit and work of Christianity, its care for the sick and the poor, its sympathy for the oppressed. Heathenism makes slaves; Christianity emancipates them. This is true alike of the slavery of the body and the slavery of the mind. 3. Sin's bitter fruit. "And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he bad cast them out of his sight." Calamity is never causeless. If we are afflicted, let us see whether the cause may not be in our own hearts, in our own lives. What a warning is here to Ohivrches ! What a warning against unfaithfulness, against setting up human ordinances in the worship of God! "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the :first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.'' What a warning is here against neglecl, of opportunities! If we fail to use our opportunities and privileges, they will be certainly taken from us, Let us give an attentive ear to the warnings of God's Word, to the everyday warnings of God's providence. "Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and wonld none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. . . . They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of thefrivil of their own wag, and be filled with their own devices."-C. H. L ' Vers. 24--41.-Samaria and its religion. I, 1TB EARLY GODLEBBNF:S.B, The land of Samaria was now deprived of its lsraelitish inhabitants. The King of Assyria colonized it with heathen immigrants. ".At the beginning of their dwelling there, they feared not the Lord." What a mistake to go anywhere without taking God's presence with 118 ! How many journeys are undertaken, how many a business is entered on, without ever a word of prayer being offered to God I How many a home life is commenced without a family altar! As the young Scotch la<l said of a house where he stayed for some time, and where there was no family prayer, "There, is no roof on that house." "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." II. 1TB SUDBEQUENT JUDGMENTB. "'l'herefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of the10. Wherefore they spake to the King of Assyria, saying, OH, x\r1I. 1-41.) THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 345