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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>D E U T E R O N O M Y</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Moses had charged parents in teaching their children to whet the word
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of God upon them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:7"><I>ch.</I> vi. 7</A>)
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by frequent repetition of the same things over and over again; and here
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he himself takes the same method of instructing the Israelites as his
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children, frequently inculcating the same precepts and cautions, with
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the same motives or arguments to enforce them, that what they heard so
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often might abide with them. In this chapter Moses gives them,
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I. General exhortations to obedience,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:1,6">ver. 1, 6</A>.
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II. A review of the great things God had done for them in the
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wilderness, as a good argument for obedience,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:2-5,15,16">ver. 2-5, 15, 16</A>.
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III. A prospect of the good land into which God would now bring them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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IV. A necessary caution against the temptations of a prosperous
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condition,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:10-14,17,18">ver. 10-14, and 17, 18</A>.
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V. A fair warning of the fatal consequences of apostasy from God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:19,20">ver. 19, 20</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="De8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Charge to Israel; Israel's Retrospect.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye
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observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and
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possess the land which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sware unto your fathers.
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2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
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led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee,
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<I>and</I> to prove thee, to know what <I>was</I> in thine heart, whether
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thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
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3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed
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thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers
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know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by
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bread only, but by every <I>word</I> that proceedeth out of the mouth
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> doth man live.
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4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot
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swell, these forty years.
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5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man
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chasteneth his son, <I>so</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God chasteneth thee.
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6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
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God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
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7 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land
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of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of
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valleys and hills;
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8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and
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pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
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9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou
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shalt not lack any <I>thing</I> in it; a land whose stones <I>are</I> iron,
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and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The charge here given them is the same as before, to keep and do all
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God's commandments. Their obedience must be,
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1. Careful: <I>Observe to do.</I>
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2. Universal: To <I>do all the commandments,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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And,
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3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their
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God, and particularly with a holy fear of him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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from a reverence of his majesty, a submission to his authority, and a
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dread of his wrath. To engage them to this obedience, besides the
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great advantages of it, which he sets before them (that they should
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<I>live and multiply,</I> and all should be well with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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he directs them,</P>
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<P>
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I. To look back upon the wilderness through which God had now brought
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them: <I>Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led
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thee these forty years in the wilderness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Now that they had come of age, and were entering upon their
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inheritance, they must be reminded of the discipline they had been
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under during their minority and the method God had taken to train them
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up for himself. The wilderness was the school in which they had been
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for forty years boarded and taught, under tutors and governors; and
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this was a time to bring it all to remembrance. The occurrences of
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these last forty years were very memorable and well worthy to be
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remembered, very useful and profitable to be remembered, as yielding a
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complication of arguments for obedience; and they were recorded on
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purpose that they might be remembered. As the feast of the passover was
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a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, so was the feast of
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tabernacles of their passage through the wilderness. Note, It is very
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good for us to remember all the ways both of God's providence and
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grace, by which he has led us hitherto through this wilderness, that we
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may be prevailed with cheerfully to serve him and trust in him. Here
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let us set up our Ebenezer.</P>
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<P>
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1. They must remember the straits they were sometimes brought into,
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(1.) For the mortifying of their pride; it was to <I>humble</I> them,
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that they might not be exalted above measure with the abundance of
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miracles that were wrought in their favor, and that they might not be
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secure, and confident of being in Canaan immediately.
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(2.) For the manifesting of their perverseness: to <I>prove</I> them,
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that they and others might know (for God himself perfectly knew it
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before) all that was in their heart, and might see that God chose them
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not for any thing in them that might recommend them to his favour, for
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their whole carriage was untoward and provoking. Many commandments God
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gave them which there would have been no occasion for if they had not
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been led through the wilderness, as those relating to the manna
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+16:28">Exod. xvi. 28</A>);
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and God thereby tried them, as our first parents were tried by the
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trees of the garden, whether they would keep God's commandments or not.
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Or God thereby proved them whether they would trust his promises, the
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word which he commanded to a thousand generations, and, in dependence
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on his promises, obey his precepts.</P>
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<P>
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2. They must remember the supplies which were always granted them.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) God himself took particular care of their food, raiment, and
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health; and what would they have more?
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[1.] They had manna for food
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>God suffered them to hunger,</I> and the <I>fed them with manna,</I>
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that the extremity of their want might make the supply the more
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acceptable, and God's goodness to them therein the more remarkable. God
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often brings his people low, that he may have the honour of helping
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them. And thus the manna of heavenly comforts is given to those that
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<I>hunger and thirst after righteousness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:6">Matt. v. 6</A>.
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<I>To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.</I> It is said of
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the manna that it was a sort of food which neither <I>they nor their
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fathers knew.</I> And again,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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If they knew there was such a thing that fell sometimes with the dew in
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those countries, as some think they did, yet it was never known to fall
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in such vast quantities, so constantly, and at all seasons of the year,
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so long, and only about a certain place. These things were altogether
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miraculous, and without precedent; <I>the Lord created a new thing</I>
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for their supply. And hereby he taught them the <I>man liveth not by
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bread alone.</I> Though God has appointed bread for the strengthening
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of man's heart, and that is ordinarily made the staff of life, yet God
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can, when he pleases, command support and nourishment without it, and
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make something else, very unlikely, to answer the intention as well. We
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might live upon air if it were sanctified for that use by <I>the word
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of God;</I> for the means God ordinarily uses he is not tied to, but
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can perform his kind purposes to his people without them. Our Saviour
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quotes this scripture in answer to that temptation of Satan, <I>Command
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that these stones be made bread.</I> "What need of that?" says Christ;
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"my heavenly Father can keep me alive without bread,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+4:3,4">Matt. iv. 3, 4</A>.
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Let none of God's children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful
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indirect course for the supply of their own necessities; some way or
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other, God will provide for them in the way of duty and honest
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diligence, <I>and verily they shall be fed.</I> It may be applied
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spiritually; the <I>word of God,</I> as it is the revelation of God's
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will and grace duly received and entertained by faith, is the food of
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the soul, the life which is supported by that is the life of the man,
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and not only that life which is supported by bread. The manna typified
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Christ, <I>the bread of life.</I> He is <I>the Word of God;</I> by him
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we live. The Lord evermore give us that bread which endures to eternal
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life, and let us not be put off with the <I>meat that perisheth!</I>
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[2.] The same clothes served them from Egypt to Canaan, at least the
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generality of them. Though they had no change of raiment, yet it was
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always new, and waxed not old upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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This was a standing miracle, and the greater if, as the Jews say, they
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grew with them, so as to be always fit for them. But it is plain that
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they brought out of Egypt bundles of clothes on their shoulders
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:34">Exod. xii. 34</A>),
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which they might barter with each other as there was occasion; and
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these, with what they wore, sufficed till they came into a country
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where they could furnish themselves with new clothes.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) By the method God took of providing food and raiment for them
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[1.] He humbled them. It was a mortification to them to be tied for
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forty years together to the same meat, without any varieties, and to
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the same clothes, in the same fashion. Thus he taught them that the
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good things he designed for them were figures of better things, and
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that the happiness of man consists not in being clothed in <I>purple or
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fine linen,</I> and in <I>faring sumptuously every day,</I> but in
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being taken into covenant and communion with God, and in <I>learning
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his righteous judgements.</I> God's law, which was given to Israel in
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the wilderness, must be to them instead of food and raiment.
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[2.] He proved them, whether they could trust him to provide for them
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when means and second causes failed. Thus he taught them to live in a
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dependence upon Providence, and not to perplex themselves with care
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<I>what they should eat and drink,</I> and <I>wherewithal they should
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be clothed.</I> Christ would have his disciples learn the same lesson
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:25">Matt. vi. 25</A>),
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and took a like method to teach it to them, when he <I>sent them out
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without purse or scrip,</I> and yet took care that they <I>lacked
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nothing,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:35">Luke xxii. 35</A>.
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[3.] God took care of their health and ease. Though they travelled on
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foot in a dry country, the way rough and untrodden, yet their <I>feet
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swelled not.</I> God preserved them from taking hurt by the
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inconveniences of their journey; and mercies of this kind we ought to
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acknowledge. Note, Those that follow God's conduct are not only safe
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but easy. Our feet swell not while we keep in the way of duty; it is
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the <I>way of transgression</I> that <I>is hard,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:15">Prov. xiii. 15</A>.
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God had promised to <I>keep the feet of his saints,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9">1 Sam. ii. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. They must also remember the rebukes they had been under,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:6"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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During these years of their education they had been kept under a strict
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discipline, and not without need. <I>As a man chasteneth his son,</I>
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for his good, and because he loves him, <I>so the Lord thy God
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chasteneth thee.</I> God is a loving tender Father to all his children,
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yet when there is occasion they shall feel the smart of the rod. Israel
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did so: they were chastened that they might not be condemned, chastened
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with the rod of men. Not as a man wounds and slays his enemies whose
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destruction he aims at, but as a man chastens his son whose happiness
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and welfare he designs: so did their God chasten them; he chastened and
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taught them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:12">Ps. xciv. 12</A>.
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This they must <I>consider in their heart,</I> that is, they must own
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it from their own experience that God had corrected them with a
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fatherly love, for which they must return to him a filial reverence and
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compliance. Because God has chastened thee as a father,
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<I>therefore</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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<I>thou shalt keep his commandments.</I> This use we should make of all
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our afflictions; by them let us be engaged and quickened to our duty.
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Thus they are directed to look back upon the wilderness.</P>
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<P>
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II. He directs them to look forward to Canaan, into which God was now
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bringing them. Look which way we will, both our reviews and our
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prospects will furnish us with arguments for obedience. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The land which they were now going to take possession of is here
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described to be a very good land, having every thing in it that was
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desirable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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(1.) It was <I>well-watered, like Eden, the garden of the Lord.</I> It
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was <I>a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths,</I> which
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contributed to the fruitfulness of the soil. Perhaps there was a
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greater plenty of water there now than in Abraham's time, the
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Canaanites having found and digged wells; so that Israel reaped the
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fruit of their industry as well as of God's bounty.
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(2.) The ground produced great plenty of all good things, not only for
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the necessary support, but for the convenience and comfort of human
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life. In their fathers' land they had bread enough; it was corn land, a
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land of wheat and barley, where, with the common care and labour of the
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husbandman, they might eat bread without scarceness. It was a fruitful
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land, that was never turned into barrenness but for the iniquity of
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those that dwelt therein. They had not only water enough to quench
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their thirst, but vines, the fruit whereof was ordained to make glad
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the heart. And, if they were desirous of dainties, they needed not to
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send to far countries for them, when their own was so well stocked with
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fig-trees, and pomegranates, olives of the best kind, and honey, or
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<I>date-trees,</I> as some think it should be read.
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(3.) Even the bowels of its earth were very rich, though it should seem
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that <I>silver and gold they had none;</I> of these the princes of
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Sheba should bring presents
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:10,15">Ps. lxxii. 10, 15</A>);
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yet they had plenty of those more serviceable metals, iron and brass.
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Iron-stone and mines of brass were found in their hills. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:2">Job xxviii. 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. These things are mentioned,
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(1.) To show the great difference between that wilderness through which
|
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God had led them and the good land into which he was bringing them.
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Note, Those that bear the inconveniences of an afflicted state with
|
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patience and submission, are humbled by them and prove well under them,
|
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are best prepared for better circumstances.
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(2.) To show what obligations they lay under to keep God's
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|
commandments, both in gratitude for his favours to them and from a
|
|
regard to their own interest, that the favours might be continued. The
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only way to keep possession of this good land would be to keep in the
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way of their duty.
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(3.) To show what a figure it was of good things to come. Whatever
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others saw, it is probable that Moses in it saw a type of the better
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country: The gospel church is the New-Testament Canaan, watered with
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the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with the trees of
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righteousness, bearing the fruits of righteousness. Heaven is the good
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land, in which there is nothing wanting, and where there is a fulness
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of joy.</P>
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<A NAME="De8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="De8_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Cautions Relating to Worldly Prosperity.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
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11 Beware that thou forget not the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, in not keeping
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his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I
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command thee this day:
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12 Lest <I>when</I> thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built
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|
goodly houses, and dwelt <I>therein;</I>
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13 And <I>when</I> thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver
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|
and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
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14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy
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God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the
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house of bondage;
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15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,
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|
<I>wherein were</I> fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where
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|
<I>there was</I> no water; who brought thee forth water out of the
|
|
rock of flint;
|
|
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers
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|
knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove
|
|
thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
|
|
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of
|
|
<I>mine</I> hand hath gotten me this wealth.
|
|
18 But thou shalt remember the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God: for <I>it is</I> he
|
|
that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his
|
|
covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as <I>it is</I> this day.
|
|
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God,
|
|
and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I
|
|
testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
|
|
20 As the nations which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> destroyeth before your face,
|
|
so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the
|
|
voice of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Moses, having mentioned the great plenty they would find in the land of
|
|
Canaan, finds it necessary to caution them against the abuse of that
|
|
plenty, which was a sin they would be the more prone to new that they
|
|
came into the vineyard of the Lord, immediately out of a barren
|
|
desert.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He directs them to the duty of a prosperous condition,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are allowed to eat even to fulness, not to surfeiting no excess;
|
|
but let them always remember their benefactor, the founder of their
|
|
feast, and never fail to give thanks after meat: <I>Then thou shalt
|
|
bless the Lord thy God.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. They must take heed of eating or drinking so much as to indispose
|
|
themselves for this duty of blessing God, rather aiming to serve God
|
|
therein with so much the more cheerfulness and enlargement.
|
|
|
|
2. They must not have any fellowship with those that, when they had
|
|
eaten and were full, blessed false gods, as the Israelites themselves
|
|
had done in their worship of the golden calf,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:6">Exod. xxxii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. Whatever they had the comfort of God must have the glory of. As our
|
|
Saviour has taught us to bless before we eat
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+14:19,20">Matt. xiv. 19, 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
so we are here taught to bless after meat. That is our <I>Hosannah--God
|
|
bless;</I> this is our <I>Hallelujah--Blessed be God. In every thing we
|
|
must give thanks.</I> From this law the religious Jews took up a
|
|
laudable usage of blessing God, not only at their solemn meals, but
|
|
upon other occasions; if they drank a cup of wine they lifted up their
|
|
hands and said, <I>Blessed be he that created the fruit of the vine to
|
|
make glad the heart.</I> If they did but smell at a flower, they said,
|
|
<I>Blessed be he that made this flower sweet.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. When they gave thanks for the fruits of the land they must give
|
|
thanks for the fruits of the land itself, which was given them by
|
|
promise From all our comfortable enjoyments we must take occasion to
|
|
thank God for our comfortable settlements; and I know not but we of
|
|
this nation have as much reason as they had to give thanks for a good
|
|
land.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He arms them against the temptations of a prosperous condition, and
|
|
charges them to stand upon their guard against them: "When thou art
|
|
settled in goodly houses of thy own building,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>
|
|
|
|
(for though God gave them houses which they builded not,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:10"><I>ch.</I> vi. 10</A>,
|
|
|
|
these would not serve them, they must have larger and finer),--"and
|
|
when thou hast grown <I>rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
as Abraham
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+13:2">Gen. xiii. 2</A>),--when
|
|
|
|
<I>all thou hast is multiplied,</I>"
|
|
|
|
1. "Then take heed of pride. Beware <I>lest then thy heart be lifted
|
|
up,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the estate rises, the mind is apt to rise with it, in
|
|
self-conceit, self-complacency, and self-confidence. Let us therefore
|
|
strive to keep the spirit low in a high condition; humility is both the
|
|
ease and the ornament of prosperity. Take heed of saying, so much as in
|
|
thy heart, that proud word, <I>My power, even the might of my hand,
|
|
hath gotten me this wealth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, We must never take the praise of our prosperity to ourselves, nor
|
|
attribute it to our ingenuity or industry; for bread is not always
|
|
<I>to the wise,</I> nor <I>riches to men of understanding,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11">Eccl. ix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is spiritual idolatry thus to <I>sacrifice to our own net,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:16">Hab. i. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. "Then take heed of forgetting God." This follows upon the <I>lifting
|
|
up on the heart;</I> for it is <I>through the pride of the
|
|
countenance</I> that the <I>wicked seek not after God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:4">Ps. x. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that admire themselves despise God.
|
|
|
|
(1.) "Forget not thy duty to God."
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
We forget God if we keep not his commandments; we forget his authority
|
|
over us, and our obligations to him and expectations from him, if we
|
|
are not obedient to his laws. When men grow rich they are tempted to
|
|
think religion a needless thing. They are happy without it, think it a
|
|
thing below them and too hard upon them. Their dignity forbids them to
|
|
stoop, and their liberty forbids them to serve. But we are basely
|
|
ungrateful if the better God is to us the worse we are to him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "Forget not God's former dealings with thee. Thy deliverance out
|
|
of Egypt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The provision he made for thee in the wilderness, that great and
|
|
terrible wilderness." They must never forget the impressions which the
|
|
horror of that wilderness made upon them; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:6">Jer. ii. 6</A>,
|
|
|
|
where it is called the very <I>shadow of death.</I> There God preserved
|
|
them from being destroyed by the fiery serpents and scorpions, though
|
|
sometimes he made use of them for their correction: there he kept them
|
|
from perishing for want of water, following them with water out of a
|
|
rock of flint
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
out of which (says bishop Patrick) one would rather have expected fire
|
|
than water. There he fed them with manna, of which before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
taking care to keep them alive, that he might <I>do them good at their
|
|
latter end,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, God reserves the best till the last for his Israel. However he
|
|
may seem to deal hardly with them by the way, he will not fail to do
|
|
them good at their latter end.
|
|
|
|
(3.) "Forget not God's hand in thy present prosperity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Remember it is he that giveth thee wealth; for he <I>giveth thee power
|
|
to get wealth.</I>" See here how God's giving and our getting are
|
|
reconciled, and apply it to spiritual wealth. It is our duty to get
|
|
wisdom, and above all our gettings to get understanding; and yet it is
|
|
God's grace that gives wisdom, and when we have got it we must not say,
|
|
It was the might of our hand that got it, but must own it was God that
|
|
gave us power to get it, and therefore to him we must give the praise
|
|
and consecrate the use of it. The <I>blessing of the Lord</I> on the
|
|
<I>hand of the diligent</I> makes rich both for this world and for the
|
|
other. He <I>giveth thee power to get wealth,</I> not so much to
|
|
gratify thee, and make thee easy, as that he may establish his
|
|
covenant. All God's gifts are in pursuance of his promises.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He repeats the fair warning he had often given them of the fatal
|
|
consequences of their apostasy from God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How he describes the sin; it is forgetting God, and then worshipping
|
|
other gods. What wickedness will not those fall into that keep thoughts
|
|
of God out of their minds? And, when once the affections are displaced
|
|
from God, they will soon be misplaced upon lying vanities.
|
|
|
|
2. How he denounces wrath and ruin against them for it: "If you do so,
|
|
<I>you shall surely perish,</I> and the power and might of your hands,
|
|
which you are so proud of, cannot help you. Nay, you shall perish as
|
|
the nations that are driven out before you. God will make no more
|
|
account of you, notwithstanding his covenant with you and your relation
|
|
to him, than he does of them, if you will not be obedient and faithful
|
|
to him." Those that follow others in sin will certainly follow them to
|
|
destruction. If we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners
|
|
fare.</P>
|
|
|
|
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