The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 22

mind, or body, or estate, or social relations, but leaves it inevitably somewhere. The wood from which a nail has been drawn can never be as if the nail had not been driven. 'l'he nail-hole is there, and there remains, do what we will. When, as witc Jonah, the sin is against God directly, it has no physical concomitant, and the punish- ment in its physical aspect can show no connection with it. But it is neither moro nor less the doing of God and the result of sin on that account. And, although in regions out or sight, a radical and natural connection still exists between penalty 1md crime. Its moral necessity and significance and tendency remain the same. Hence the certa.inty of its coming and the folly of striving to evade its stroke. Not till law natural and moral has had its amends, and all injured interests been recouped, can escape for the law-breaker come. Come then it fitly and fairly may, and come then, and only then, it will (l's. lx:uix. 30-33). 1. It is not enough to confess sin in general, we must confess it in particul,ar, There is a kind of impersonal guilt which many will freely acknowledge, by whom personal guilt is altogether ignored. If we say generally, "Your nature is corrupt," they will own it without hesitation and without emotion, If we say, " Your conduct is bad," they will deny the impeachment and resent it. That was not Jonah's way. He unaffectedly confessed guilt as to the matter in hand. And it is not the way of true conviction. You confess and deny in one breath; deny in the particular what you confess in the general; which amounts to saying that a certain number of whites will make a black. But the fact is your acknowledgment is mechanical and formal, and therefore worthless. The denial, on the other hand, is intelligent and in earnest, and the deliberate expression of your mind and feeling, Accordingly, your confession as a whole means just what it says, and that is-nothing, 2. Mercy shou,l,d move us to confession of sin as strongly as fudgment. Who will say that it was altogether the severity of God in punishing at last, and in no degree his goodness in refraining till now, that led the prophet to repentance? Not so speaks the Scripture (Rom. ii. 4). Mercy tonches a bad heart and breaks it, a. cold heart and warms it, a closed mouth and opens it. That is its normal, and ought to be its actual, effect on you. Your mercies have been neither few nor small. 'l'hey supply a basis for the in.spired appeal, "We beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God," etc. 'l'hey supply an impulse more than adequate to bring you to the kingdom. If you have resisted them, what will persuade you? The resources of grace have been well-nigh expended. God's time of striving has almost run ont. Strive to enter while you see the gate ajar, or the clang of it.s closing bolts may be the knell of your immortal soul.-J. E. H. Vers. 13-16.-Swrm-stilling eztraordinany. We see in this passage, under favour- able circumstances, the workings of the heathen mind in its first glimpses of God. And the study is one of lively interest, and important withal. The sailors have, innocently and involuntarily, been made act.ors in a drama that is not unlike to turn out a tragedy. A stranger, pursued by the vengeance of his (to them) unknown God, has got on board their ship, and mixed them up in his troubles to the extent of bringing them to the very brink of death. From their standpoint it was rather a hard case. They mi11;ht well have felt resentment and given the cold shoulder to the not guiltlees oocasion of their evil plight. '£heir prudence, their considerateness, their conscientioUBness, and their ultimate devoutnees are qualities that come on us 1111 an agreeable but complete surprise. There is a philosophy of these qualities, however, which it will be worth our while to endeavour to trace out. L THEY SHOWED AN ENLIGHTENED BEGABD FOB HUKAN Lin:. They might well have been excused if, in imminent danger of death through the guilty Jonah's presence in their ship, they had jumped at his proposal to throw him overboard, They knew, for he-an inspired prophet-had told them, that he had deserved it by hie crime, and that to do so would calm the sea forthwith. Yet they make no movement in that direction, but redouble their efforts at the oar in their last desperate attempt to reach the land. This course was unlike a heathen crew. Heathenism has alwayil been reckless about shedding blood, It is the Bible that teaches, and believers in it who recugnae, the sacredness of human life. Its command, "Thou 1halt not kill," is lilW!trated and enforced by its history and entire legislation, The murderer was to suffer dta.Lb, though he should be dragged to it from the very horns of the altar (Numb. ux ':. 31; 1 Kings ii. 29). The very ox that took a human life must die, and might OU. r.1-17.] THE BOOK OF JONAH. 19