A Type and Its Teaching
(No. 3523)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And Abraham said, My son, God willprovide Himself a lamb for a burnt
offering." Genesis 22:8.
How stern the trial! How striking the triumph! How sublime, both in
action and passion, was the faith of Abraham in that terrible crisis.
It pleased God to try him on a very tender point. Abraham had received
a great promise, on the fulfillment of which he greatly relied. Year
after year elapsed, but no sign of the long-looked-for child appeared.
At length old age crept over the Patriarch and his wife. Still he
looked steadfastly for the promise because he believed implicitly in
the Promiser. He considered not the infirmities of his own body, nor
the deadness of Sarah's womb–he waited patiently, not doubting that
God would, in due time, according to His promise, give him a son. What
marvel, then, that this son, when born, should be the object of
Abraham's fondest affection? Moreover, a strange halo of hope gathers
round the lad's head, for God has made him the heir of a Covenant. It
is in Isaac and in Isaac's seed that God will fulfill His Covenant
which He has made with Abraham. No, something still more mysterious is
linked with that youth's life. It is in him that all the nations of the
earth will be blessed. And now, when the Lord says, "Take your son,
your only son Isaac, whom you love," there is a cut in every word at
the most tender part of Abraham's soul. To slay his own son, to cut off
his hope of posterity, to sacrifice for a burnt-offering that son who
was a special gift of God's bounty, to kill him in whom he looked for a
further fulfillment of God's promise–to stop that golden pipe through
which mercy is to flow to the whole world, to dam up that silver stream
which is to enrich nations yet unborn–that were to blast Abraham's
brightest hopes as well as to wound his most tender affections! God has
cherished in him high anticipations. He has been pleased to give him
strength of mind and faith of heart enough to see these expectations
realized in a vision. And must that vision, after all, flit from before
his eyes? Must his faith become a delusion and all his hopes a mockery?
So it would seem! And yet mark the faith of Abraham–he not only
submits to the loss of his choicest jewel, and to tear away one who was
bound to his heart by ties stronger than flesh and blood–but in doing
it, he staggers not, for he still believes that God will be true to His
promise!
It strikes me that this was the master work of Abraham's faith. To
sacrifice Isaac was a wonder of patient submission and devout
resignation, but the faith which was at the root of it all challenges
our highest admiration! Still, to believe that God is able to raise
Isaac from the dead, or to turn the stones which were wet with Isaac's
blood into a new offspring, or, (for I know not which theory Abraham
may have adopted), to believe that the whole Covenant was spiritual and
that he must wait to see the seed of Isaac in another world, and not in
this–in any case to believe that God must be true, that though Isaac
died, God would keep His word and that He is able to do so
notwithstanding all apparent impossibilities–that He will transmute
stones to men, or raise that body after it has been slain, into newness
of life–here was the climax of a faith that realized the grandeur and
the goodness of the Divine Attributes and perfections, for he simply
and sincerely believed and relied upon God!
Ah, Brothers and Sisters, there are some men who can make great
sacrifices for God–they have done so and herein they have emulated the
example of Abraham. But the Patriarch showed a clear understanding, an
unwavering calmness, a full assurance of hope to which few have
attained. When in the very fact of presenting to God your sacrifice,
can you account that you are losing nothing, but committing your
treasure to His custody? Can you believe that the promise of God is not
compromised by your parting with the earnest that gladdened your eyes?
Has God given you a son, such an one as you can say of, "For this child
I prayed"? Is he the pride of your life and the joy of your life? Do
you think of him as the solace of your age and the perpetuator of your
name in the world? What, now, if God shall call you to devote him
as a missionary? Could you readily comply? Would you count it all gain?
Could you interpret it as a blighting of your own prospect, or as a
blooming of God's purpose? Have you Abraham's faith? Then let God be
true if Heaven should reel and earth should rock! Though the sons of
men pass away like shadows and death entombs us all, the counsel of
God's heart shall stand and His Word shall endure forever!
Stagger not, my Friends, at the promise of God through unbelief! Be
assured that whatever He has promised, He is able to perform!
Such reflections, though prolific of instruction, I must not tarry to
pursue. I rather want to impress the scene and interpret the sentence
brought before us in our text.
The scene itself suggests to us three pictures. The first picture will
naturally rise up in your imagination without my attempting any graphic
description of it. The old man, a kind and doting father, bears in his
hands a sharp knife, and hot blazing coals of fire. The younger man,
perhaps twenty-five–so Josephus thinks–possibly 33 years of age and,
if so, very manifestly the type of Christ, who was about that age when
He came to die. The young man comes toiling up the side of the hill,
bearing a load of wood upon his back. He knows that that wood is
destined to burn some victim, for his father carries the fire and the
knife. He understands that they are about to worship God yonder in the
most solemn manner by a sacrifice of blood. On the way he puts but one
question, marveling where the victim can be. He sees the fire and the
wood, but where is the lamb? he asks. Abraham tells him with a bursting
heart, that–
I. GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF A LAMB.
Little did Isaac think that he was to be that lamb! They came to the
spot. No doubt Abraham there tells Isaac what God had bid him do. The
young man is strong–the old man has lost some of his youthful vigor.
If that young man chose to struggle, the intent would be frustrated.
But he, like his father, is ready to say to that Sovereign command of
God, "Here I am." He allows himself to be bound by his aged sire, no,
helps to put himself upon the altar! And there he lies, a willing
victim, cheerfully consenting to be bound, willing then and there to
die at God's command!
Here you have a picture of the Almighty One, whom we every day address
as, "Our Father, who are in Heaven." You see His son, His only Son,
whom He loves. His Isaac, who has filled His heart with gladness. He
bears upon his back the load of wood–the Cross–no, heavier than the
Cross is the load which the antitype of Isaac, our blessed Jesus,
bears– the sin of all His people lay heavy upon His shoulders. He
turns upwards to the hill of Calvary and there, in that thick darkness,
through which no human eye could peer, however much it might desire it,
God, the eternal Father, binds His Son! He cheerfully submits Himself
to be fastened to the tree. The Omnipotent hand unsheathes the knife to
slay His Son, and draws not back, but in Sovereign Vengeance slays Him!
That picture of Abraham–the knife in his hand, about to execute
Isaac–presents to you a picture of the God of gods about to smite His
only-begotten Son upon Mount Calvary!
Beloved, the one point an which I wish to concentrate your attention is
the emotion of the Father. Oh, what grief, what love, what pity! What
stern resolve and strong affections must have striven together in
Abraham's bosom! We read an ancient story of a father whose two sons
were taken prisoners. They were both condemned to die. The old man
appeared on the scene to offer up his life–all that he had to
offer–and to die, himself, if his sons' lives might be spared. For
some reason the soldiers, melting to pity, went as far as they could,
and told him he might have whichever of his sons he chose to be spared
for the ransom. He looked first at one, and then at the other. He would
gladly say, "Spare that one," but then they would put the other to
death! And he would gladly say, "Spare this one," but then the other
must die! And so the old man alternated between one and the other,
undecided which should be released, till both were slain! History tells
us of another case at the siege of Benda. A German nobleman, seeing a
young man charging the hosts of the besiegers, remarked to those who
stood by how valiantly he was fighting–he felt that a hero was in the
camp. The enemy gathered so thickly round the warrior that at length he
fell. "Give that young man a public funeral," said the nobleman. His
counsel was accepted, a charge was made, the body was rescued. But
judge his surprise as he looked down upon the face of the young man and
perceived it was his only son! He stood aghast for a moment, no tears
could he shed–his eyes were as though they would start from their
sockets–he seemed transfixed. He fell backward–his heart was
broken–his soul had taken its flight. Such a surprise, such a sorrow,
such a sense of the loss he had sustained overwhelmed him. In neither
of these cases had the father any hand in the death of his child. The
parent in each instance was passive.
Here, however, the knife must be handled by none other than the sire,
and plunged into the vitals of his son. Oh, Abraham! Ah, Isaac–the
tale of your trial makes my nerves tingle. But who of all the heavenly
host, what angel near the
Throne of God can tell of the Eternal Father, how His heart was moved,
how His heart yearned! Do I speak after the manner of men? How else can
I speak?
Reprove me when you can believe in a God who has no feelings, no
emotions, no affections, no life, no love. Hardly could I subscribe to
the dictum of theologians who pronounce God incapable of suffering!
Surely He is capable of anything! He is Sovereign of all senses and
sacred sensibilities! His benignant tender Fatherhood are as clear to
my faith as His eternal power and Godhead! How, then, can I conceive of
His putting His own Son to death without a grief that I must defer to
as possible, because I cannot describe it as actual? If we may not
liken ourselves to God, yet may God liken Himself to us! This He has
done, otherwise had we not known Him. Can you smite your own child
without feeling more anguish than you inflict? Solomon says, "Spare not
for his crying"–but it is hard to keep Solomon's advice, for the
crying of your child makes you weep more than he does! Yet, behold how
God, full of love, His very name being Love, smites even to the death
His Only-Begotten, till that Darling cries out, "My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?" And this was done out of love to us! "He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things?" Oh, what love! His love
is an indefinite quantity! It is expressed by an indefinite word–so!
"God soloved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." What
measure or gauge can compass that wonderful affirmation–He so loved
Rude as my sketch may be–royal, indeed–is the scene! Let it be
vividly portrayed on the tablet of your memories. Let its gracious
effect diffuse itself over your hearts! Oh, for such love as angels
cannot know, let us reciprocate with a love intense and vehement that
inflames our whole heart–
"Had we a thousand hearts to give Lord, they should all be Yours." Even
now, with adoring gratitude, offer your homage to the Father, who gives
His Son, and to that Son who cheerfully submits to plead by the altar
for our sins.
A second picture rises to our view. You will remember that our Lord
Jesus once said, "Abraham saw My day." When did he see it? Why, I think
it must have been on this occasion! The venerable Patriarch certainly
had in his son Isaac– II. A VIVID PICTURE OF THE SON OF GOD.
When you see that his hand is stayed, you perceive at once that the
portrait is not complete. A ram is caught in the thicket. This ram is
caught, laid hold on, dragged out and put into the place of Isaac. So
far the delineation is accurate, for the ram dies. It is really slain,
even as Christ was sacrificed for us. But the vision changes its form.
Isaac goes free– not so the ram! Isaac's blood still flows in his
veins–not so that of the poor ram, the knife sternly severs his
arteries and the blood flows out. There he is laid upon the wood, which
forthwith begins to glow and smoke for a burnt offering. Isaac gazes on
himself in a burning figure–he owes his life to the victim that was
presented as a substitute. Look earnestly, gaze intently, linger fondly
on the picture, for it represents your own salvation! Let us take the
place of Isaac–it is ours. We are children according to promise. If
we, Beloved, have "fled for refuge to the hope set before us," we are
saved. How we are saved you know. Because our Lord Jesus Christ, the
ram of God's burnt-offering, did burn upon the altar for us, we are
spared. It would baffle me to tell how Isaac felt when cords were
unbound and he saw how narrowly he had escaped from death. Nor can I
tell you how I felt when standing at the foot of the Cross–
"Ibeheld the flowing Of my dear Redeemer's blood, With assurance,
knowing He had made my peace with God." How can you perish, Believer,
now that Christ has died for you? There is not a cord on Isaac as you
see him now. He is free. So are you, my Friend–there are no bonds on
you. Most gratefully can you cry with David, "I am Your servant; and
the son of Your handmaid; You have loosed my bonds." As you gather
round the Lord's Table, let the thought of Substitution be fresh in
your mind. He bore, that we might never bear the Divine Wrath. He drank
the cup, even to its dregs, that we might never drink a drop of it. In
short, He suffered Hell's torments for us, that we might never enter
its gates. My Hearers, did Christ thus suffer for you? Yes, surely, if
so you are believing and depending upon Him, then He was your true and
proper Substitute! Or if in His life you have no interest, then in His
death you have no Redemption– and His blood shall never save you!
Alas, alas, you must perish in your sins!
Pass from that scene. Inspect it more narrowly, more privately another
time. Let me now unveil to you another picture. Behold the aged parent,
with glistening eyes and placid brow, receiving his son, as it were,
alive from the dead, when the angel stayed his hand. How joyously he
cuts those cords! How they seem to leap together! I think I see them
going homeward down the side of the hill to the tent where Sarah was.
With what elastic step, with what grateful emotion, with what heartfelt
joy they journey! And of what is this an emblem?
III. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST JESUS–and in that of the resurrection
of every Believer! The Apostle Paul says that, "Abraham received Isaac
from the dead in a figure." Now our Covenant God and Father has
received His Only-Begotten from the dead, not merely in figure, but in
reality! The morning has broken, the sun has risen on the third day. He
cannot be held by the bonds of death any longer. He snaps them asunder
and in incomparable beauty, the once slain Savior arises refreshed from
His sleep! The stone had been rolled away by the angel. He comes out
and the watchmen, in terror, fall on their faces in fright! He
manifests Himself to Mary and then to His disciples afterwards, saying,
"Peace be unto you," and in due time He ascends up to the right hand of
the Majesty in Heaven. Angel hosts escort Him with trumpets' joyful
sound–
"They bring His chariot from on high, To bear Him to His Throne! Clap
their triumphant wings, and cry, 'The glorious work is done!'"
Oh, you saints, celebrate the triumph afresh! Your Lord and Savior is
risen and ascended! Isaac is not dead! He, in whom all nations of the
earth shall be blessed, lives, forever lives! In Him, the Child of
promise, the Seed of the woman, are you now a heritor of the blessing
if you believe! In Him shall you rise again! Though your flesh shall
see corruption, you shall burst the bonds of death and, because He
lives, you shall live also–
"Nor does it yet appear-How great you shall be made, Yet when you see
your Savior here, You shall be like your Head."
Have these pictures impressed your minds? May the meditation they
excite prove instructive to you! But lend me your ears while I proceed
to commend to you the sweet prophetic words of Abraham.
The name of the Lord–that particular name, Jehovah-Jireh–has been the
comfort of many an indigent Believer, and sustained him under great
difficulty. Sometimes it has been to him like the cake baked upon the
coals, of which Elijah partook when he journeyed for 40 days. Oh, how
graciously God has provided Himself a burnt-offering! The choicest
Substitute for the most undeserving criminals. Lies there a wretch in
Newgate for whom a royal heir would stand surety? No novelist would
broach such a fiction! "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die;
perhaps for a good man one might even dare to die; but God commends His
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the
ungodly." If every one of us had been left to endure the penalty of our
own transgressions–had no Substitute been found to bear our sins–God
would have been unimpeachably just and infinitely glorious!
The voice of our torments would have only been a deep bass note to tell
the universe the terrible justice of the Most High! It could not have
impeached His mercy. To find a Substitute was an act of gratuitous,
undeserved Grace. Such provision was not only undeserved, but it was
most unexpected. What amazement must have wrapped the sky when
celestial creatures heard that a Substitute for man was found! Where?
Among angels, principalities, or powers? No, but at God's right hand!
The co-equal Son, Himself, becomes the Substitute for rebel man! Nor
less in dignity than the brightness of the Father's Glory, and the
express image of His Person, is He who takes upon Himself flesh and
blood and subjects Himself to our infirmities, that He, Himself, may
bear our sins in His own body on the tree! Are we indifferent, or are
incredulous, or what manner of men are we that one can talk and another
can listen to so startling a fact, to so astounding a revelation
without a thrilling emotion, a faltering tongue and tingling ears?
Throughout eternity this will be a ceaseless wonder in Heaven, that the
Creator should stoop to bear the creature's sin will never cease to be
a mystery of Mercy that challenges endless admiration! God did, indeed,
provide such a provision as makes His Providence startling! What a
Gospel it is! Great God, will You redeem sinners at such a cost, at no
less price than blood and that the blood of Imma-nuel? And is it so
that Jehovah must veil Himself in human flesh? Must the Infinite become
an Infant? Must the Omnipotent hang on a woman's breast? Must the
eternal self-existent God breathe out an expiring life in ignominy and
torture?
Must all this be experienced by the Man who is Jehovah's Fellow? Yes.
Manhood comes into such union with Deity that we cannot divide the two!
There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man, Christ
Jesus. Oh, what a step was this from the highest Throne of Glory to the
Cross of deepest woe! Well did an Apostle say, "You were not redeemed
with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ." Silver and gold? What are they in comparison with
this costly Sacrifice? The merest tinsel, the sweepings of dross, not
worthy to be thought of in the same minute as the precious blood of
Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot!
St. Augustine somewhere holds a kind of controversy with himself as to
whether Christ shall die or not. As if he said, "Yes, let the sinner
live, but Christ must die. No, He must not die! He is far too good, too
great to die! Then let the creature die. No, but we cannot let the
creature perish, God's mercy would prevent that. Then He must die."
Then he seems to say, "No, the price is too great. Sooner let them
perish than buy them at such a price! A company of worms redeemed by
the blood of the Son of God? The price is too high! Yet God paid it.
Oh, let us love and bless His name!"
Though it was so costly a provision, it was the most suitable that
could be devised! Who else could have borne our sins but God? No mere
man could possibly have stood as the substitute for millions of the
human race! He might, if innocent, himself, suffer for one, and so save
one, but unless Deity should lend its unutterable perfections, it was
not possible for human nature to sustain the weight of human guilt! But
now by the suffering of a Man, the Law is vindicated and honored! By
the personal interposition of God, sacred validity and Sovereign
efficacy are imparted to the great work He has achieved. And oh, what
an effectual provision it is! For the blood of Christ has saved, does
save and will save millions of souls! Whatever else may be a myth, the
Atonement is a veritable fact! Whatever empty rites and worthless
pretensions may be foisted on credulous men and silly women, you cannot
exasperate the power of the blood of Christ! Come here, come here, you
blackest, foulest, vilest of mankind! Try it and see if the crimson
streams do not wash your crimson stains, and make you white as snow!
Come here, you old transgressors, steeped in infamy, quivering on the
brink of Hell, see if the drops of this blessed stream cannot cool your
fevered brow and give your troubled conscience rest! Come here, you
distracted maniacs who would gladly lay suicidal hands upon yourselves,
and rush blood-red into your Maker's awful Presence, and see if, bowing
down before that awful Cross, you do not hear a voice that says,
"Peace. Be still. Go your way, your sins, which are many, are forgiven
you." Yes, there is life in a look at the Crucified One! None shall
ever look to Him in vain! Millions of spirits around the Throne of God
rejoice in the efficacy of God's provision. Jehovah-Jireh is extolled
today in matchless songs of human praise around the starry Throne! And
here on earth we repeat their strains with glad accord–
"DDear, dying Lamb, Your precious blood Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God Are saved to sin no more."
And then, once more, it is an ample provision. God has provided a ram
for a burnt-offering and there is enough efficacy in that sacrifice for
all that seek the ransom it supplies. I do not preach a stinted
salvation, blessed be God! I have seen in my soul the vision that
Zachariah saw. He saw a young man with a measuring line in his hand.
"Where are you going? he asked. "To take the dimensions of Jerusalem,"
he replied, "to record the breadth and the length thereof." "Run, speak
to this young man," said the angels, "measure not the city! Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitudes of men
therein."
Some people have a strange disposition to use the measuring line and
count the population, and number the souls that are saved by the
precious blood of Jesus. Their estimate is commonly limited to a very
few. Let us not measure it, for we know not what countless multitudes
will be given to Christ for the travail of His soul. A multitude that
no man can number has already been gathered! To come is a host, defying
human arithmetic, that will lie marshaled there and still they muster
day by day. O Beloved, this one thing we know, without entering into
any vexed questions of Particular Redemption or General Redemption,
there is enough in Christ for every sinner that desires salvation and
comes and puts his trust in Him–enough to cleanse the vilest sin that
ever disgraced humanity–enough to wash you white, though you are ever
so begrimed! It is provision for the sins of all ages, of all ranks, of
all conditions! The harlot, cleansed here, becomes chaste and sings,
with Rahab, the new song! The thief, washed here, becomes forgiven and
is accepted in the Beloved! If you are the most abandoned of sinners
and have strolled in here to gratify curiosity or to idle away an hour,
let me tell you that He who died–the Just for the unjust–always lives
and He is mighty to save! Rest on Jesus! There is
provision here to save you! With His infinite foreknowledge He has
foreseen your case. You shall never find a case too hard for the
Master–no sin too heinous for Him to forgive, no circumstance so
extravagant in its guilt as to go beyond the Grace and the generosity
which are treasured up in Christ Jesus–and the goodness and virtue
flowing from His wounds!
I have painted the pictures. I have proclaimed the purpose. Let me
conclude with– IV. A POINTED QUESTION.
Since God has provided so great a Sacrifice, has He provided it for me?
Am I a participator in the blood of Christ? To how many thousands of
you do I speak? Let each one put the question to himself. My weak voice
will soon exhaust its emphasis. Is there no echo in your conscience?
What I say may drop from your memories. Let every soul among you
earnestly enquire, "Have I Christ?" Give yourself a candid reply
concerning yourself. Do you put your trust in Him? I do not ask you
what possessions you can boast! The poor are very welcome in God's
House. I do not ask you what reputation you have. The wise are not
elected for their wisdom with God! The foolish and the base are not
rejected for their worthlessness! What I do ask is this, "Have you
Christ for your portion?" Remember, Soul, that whoever believes in
Jesus receives Him as God's gift to his soul. Trust Christ and He is
yours! Fall flat upon your face upon the promises of God in Christ!
Have done with all the props on which you were known to lean, with all
the pleas on which you were known to rely, with all the works of which
you were known to boast! Go as you are to Christ, trust Him. To Him the
Spirit of God leads every earnest, anxious seeker. If you trust Him,
Heaven and earth may pass away, but the promise of Your salvation shall
not fail. You shall be His in life, in death, in judgment, and all
eternity, safe from Hell, secure in Heaven!
What if you struggle with all your natural feelings as Abraham did? The
more simple your faith, the more sure will be your triumph! Believe in
the dark and you shall soon come into the light. As soon as you
believe, there are signs following. Venture today to lay your hands
upon that dear head of the victim Lamb, and tomorrow I will summon you
as witnesses who can testify to others that there is joy and peace in
believing! "He will deliver your soul from going down into the Pit, and
your life shall see the light. Lo, all these things God often works
with man, to bring his soul back from the edge of the Pit to be
enlightened with the light of the living!" May this be yours! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HOSEA 11.
1. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt
God remembers what He did for us when we were young. And sin against
Him is much aggravated by His long kindness to us. He brings this up
against His rebellious people, "When Israel was a child, I loved him."
Some of you may remember your childhood with deep regret–when you used
to sing your hymn and bow your knees on your mother's lap. Times have
greatly changed since then, but God remembers them.
2. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto
Baalim, and burned incense to carved images. These people only had to
be called away, and away they went. There are some of that sort. You
have only to beckon them anywhere. Like a dog that is whistled to, they
will follow anybody's call. They leave God for anything, for nothing.
These people went and forgot the true God and burned incense to carved
images.
3. I taught Ephraim also to walk, taking them by their arms: but they
knew not that I healed them. God describes Himself as acting like a
nurse that holds a child up by its arms and teaches it its first steps.
Yet they did not know what God was doing for them! God has done great
things for many of us, and perhaps we have never recognized His
command. Years of mercy, and yet never a day of gratitude! It is sad
that it should be so.
4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to
them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I stooped and
fed them. As the good farmer, when the oxen come to the end of the
field, takes off the yoke and puts on the nosebag, so has God often
done with us in the day of our trouble. He has unyoked us and He has
relieved our needs and fed us. Yet we have forgotten Him.
5. 6. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian
shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the sword shall
abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them,
because of their own counsels. When men will have their own way, God
sometimes lets them have their way–and that turns out to be the most
unhap-
py thing that can be! They make a rod for their own backs. They pile
the firewood for their own burning. It is a great pity that it should
be so, but often and often have we seen it.
7. And My people are bent on backsliding from Me: though they called on
the Most High, none at all would exalt Him. There is a propensity in
the human heart to go away from God–even in the hearts of God's own
people! Oh, how sad it is that, though often called to God by the voice
of Providence, and by the call of His Word, yet none at all would exalt
Him!
8. How shall I give you up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver you, Israel?
How shall I make you as Admah? How shall I set you as Zeboim? My heart
is turned within Me, My sympathy is stirred. God represents Himself as
holding a controversy within Himself. "These people I must punish.
These people I love. I shall have to give them up. I cannot give them
up." Justice debating with Mercy, and Mercy triumphant over Justice!
9. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger, I will not return to
destroy Ephraim: for I am God and not man: the Holy One in the midst of
you; and I will not enter into the city. Remember that when God entered
into Sodom and saw its sin, then He destroyed it! But He determines to
have pity upon Samaria, and not to enter into it, lest, seeing it, He
should feel compelled to destroy it.
10. They shall walk after the LORD: He shall roar like a lion–If God
can make His people follow Him when He roars like a lion, how we ought
to follow Him who is the Lamb of God, who takes our sins upon Him!
10. When He shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
When God puts on the lion's form and His grave, majestic voice is
heard, full of thundering threats–then men are constrained and
tremble!
11. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the
land of Assyria. They shall come on hasty wings, trembling along, to
find a shelter.
11, 12. And I will place them in their houses, says the LORD. Ephraim
compasses about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit It is a
dreadful thing when men go to God and, as it were, make a ring round
about Him and compass Him about with falsehood and with lies. Many
profess to worship God when they are not worshipping at all. Their
bodies are in the assembly of the saints, but their minds are far away.
12. But Judah yet rules with God, and is faithful with the saints. And
it was to the honor of Judah that it was so. When others are false,
then is the time for God's servants to be true. If you held your tongue
before, speak out for God and His Truth in the day when God is
compassed about with deceit!