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to the case of their captivity in Babylon, we cannot but be struck by its literal fulfilment in the instance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; of whom it is testified, that upon their bodies "the fire had no power," and who, though cast down bound into the furnace, were seen "loose, walking in the midst of the fire," and with them one of whom it was said, "the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Dan. 3. 25, 27.

In the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon God speaks of giving Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, for their ransom. That is to say, He would give these nations into the hands of Cyrus the Persian, who had let the Jews go free. This He mentions, as one proof of that unchangeable regard, which He had from the first shewn towards his people. And thence He would have them take courage and comfort, under the afflictions of much longer continuance, which were to follow on their rejecting the Messiah; and after which, He assures them, that He would again gather them together into one, for the glory of his holy name. Such at least seems to be the event chiefly pointed out in these gracious promises. For though they might have a primary fulfilment in the return from Babylon, we cannot confine to an event like that such terms as these, "I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have found him; yea, I have made him."

And hereupon God calls on all mankind to observe his dealings with his people. And especially He challenges the long benighted Gentiles, to say whether any such divine protection was afforded, or any such divine foreknowledge manifested, by those whom they held for gods. And He addresses his own people as his witnesses, who could testify from what they had experienced when they obeyed his will, and had no other gods but Him, how mighty He is to save, how irresistible when He purposes to destroy. And is not this same people even now a witness unto us of these very attributes of God? Is not their present actual condition, agreeing as it does so beyond all question with God's prophetic word, and with his assertion of his own omnipotence, is not this one of the most striking proofs we can conceive, that He is the one only true and eternal God? How much more, when their state shall be renewed, and their dispersion cease, and when the remnant that has survived all their calamities shall be reestablished in the favour of the Lord, how much more will they be witnesses to the word of God, so unexceptionable, and undeniable, as to compel the most reluctant to "hear, and say, It is

truth!"

The calling of the Gentiles, on the defection of the Jews.

14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

21 This people have I formed

for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.

28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

LECTURE 1152.

Duties accompany the privileges of God's people.

In proof of the regard which He felt towards his people, God here appeals to their deliverance from captivity in Babylon; speaking of a thing future as though it were already past; it being sure, when his word had spoken it. He appeals also to that which He had done in redeeming them from the land of Egypt, making for them a pathway through the sea, and overwhelming their enemies, with their chariots and horse, in the mighty waters. But marvellous as were these acts, He here speaks of them as scarcely worth remembering, compared with a

new thing which He would now next perform, a redemption which He would bring to pass, far exceeding all others that He had ever wrought, and for a people who would "shew forth his praise." This also is to be a chosen people, a people formed by God for himself, foreknown, called, justified, glorified; a people taken from them that were no people, gathered from among the wild inhabitants of the wilderness, in which God would make the rivers of his goodness to flow, and wherein the most unlikely and unpromising of his creatures would be found willing to give honour to his name.

This prophecy, of the Church to be gathered from among the Gentiles, seems designed to provoke the Jews to a holy emulation, and godly jealousy. See Rom. 11. 11. For it is straightway followed by a severe expostulation with the children of Israel according to the flesh, for neglecting to worship God as they ought to do, and for being weary of serving Him according to his will. They are charged with not offering the appointed sacrifices; instead of honouring God, rather burdening Him with their sins. In aggravation of their sinfulness, they are reminded, how often He had forgiven their transgressions, they are assured how willing He is ever to forgive. They are invited to put God in remembrance, if they could think of any one thing that would excuse their misdeeds, that so they might be justified. They are told "Thy first father hath sinned;" which words perhaps allude to Jacob's guile in obtaining Isaac's blessing. And it is added, "thy teachers have transgressed against me," as it is likewise testified in Jeremiah, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means." Jer. 5. 31. And for these things, God declares, that He has resolved to give up to profanation his sanctuary, and them that minister in it; yea, to deliver over the whole people to the curse and to reproaches.

Awfully was this divine purpose fulfilled when first their temple was levelled to the ground, after many a long intermission of the sacrifices appointed in the Law. And when in later times this people obstinately refused to acknowledge the fulfilment of the Law in the Gospel, and to honour God and worship Him accordingly, these words were still more awfully fulfilled once more. Let us then, who have been chosen in their place, "be not high minded, but fear." Rom. 11. 20. In succeeding to their privileges, we have also succeeded to their duties. And surely we shall succeed to their judgments also, if instead of shewing forth God's praise we do dishonour to his name, if instead of rendering Him our devoted service with a willing heart, we do as far as in us lies cause Him to serve with our sins, and weary Him with our iniquities.

PART VII. O. T.

God encourageth his people; denounceth image worship.

1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen :

2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

5 One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

:

9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall

not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?

11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.

12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warm

eth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven

image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my God.

LECTURE 1153.

The prevalence of idolatry ought to humble us.

Fresh assurances of safety and prosperity are here given to God's people, founded on his own purpose in electing them; in virtue of which He had formed them, and fitted them to glorify his name, and would continue to give them his protection. In the worst of their backslidings, and under the heaviest of their calamities, there would always be, as St. Paul says there was when they rejected the Messiah, "a remnant according to the election of grace." Rom. 11. 5. And there would be periods of renewal and conversion unto God, in which his Spirit being largely poured out upon his people, they would flourish in faith, and zeal, and love; and would glory in being called by his name. A gracious promise; fulfilled to no small extent on the return from the captivity in Babylon; though doubtless yet more largely to be fulfilled, when the time shall come, of which St. Paul writes in the same chapter to the Romans, when "all Israel shall be saved;" Rom. 11. 26; when the Jews throughout the world shall become converts to the Gospel.

In confirmation of these promises, God declares, that He, "the King of Israel," is "the first," and "the last," that is to say, from eternity to eternity, the God besides whom there is no other. Denying that there is any other to foretel the future, and bring it to pass, as He did, He would have his people hence derive the most full confidence in his promises, and the most implicit reliance on his protection. And in order to strengthen this impression, He points out to them most powerfully the vanity of idol gods, and the infatuation of those who worship them; giving a description of the way in which an idol is fabricated, and putting in a most striking point of view the gross foolishness of those, who worship that which their own hands have made. Humbled be the pride of human reason, at this awful account of practices, into which far the greater part of mankind have fallen, when left to their own devices in religion. Low be our esteem of our own understanding, when we consider that in all probability such would have been now our worship, such our gods, had not the Most High revealed to us the truth. Thanks be to Him for revealing it! Thanks be to Him for choosing us, and calling us to the knowledge of Himself, in Christ Jesus! Ever may we be faithful witnesses, in his behalf, against all manner of image worship, against every kind of false religion; ever faithful witnesses to his truth, ever devout doers of his will!

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