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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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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>L E V I T C U S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVIII.</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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Here is,
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I. A general law against all conformity to the corrupt usages of the
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heathen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. Particular laws,
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1. Against incest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:6-18">ver. 6-18</A>.
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2. Against beastly lusts, and barbarous idolatries,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:19-23">ver. 19-23</A>.
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III. The enforcement of these laws from the ruin of the Canaanites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:24-30">ver. 24-30</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Le18_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_5"> </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>Cautions against Idolatrous Practices.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</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 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
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2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
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3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt,
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shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan,
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whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in
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their ordinances.
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4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk
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therein: I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
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5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which
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if a man do, he shall live in them: I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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After divers ceremonial institutions, God here returns to the
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enforcement of moral precepts. The former are still of use to us as
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types, the latter still binding as laws. We have here,
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1. The sacred authority by which these laws are enacted: <I>I am the
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Lord your God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:1,4,30"><I>v.</I> 1, 4, 30</A>),
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and <I>I am the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:5,6,21"><I>v.</I> 5, 6, 21</A>.
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"The Lord, who has a right to rule all; your God, who has a peculiar
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right to rule you." Jehovah is the fountain of being, and therefore the
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fountain of power, whose we are, whom we are bound to serve, and who is
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able to punish all disobedience. "Your God to whom you have consented,
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in whom you are happy, to whom you lie under the highest obligations
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imaginable, and to whom you are accountable."
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2. A strict caution to take heed of retaining the relics of the
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idolatries of Egypt, where they had dwelt, and of receiving the
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infection of the idolatries of Canaan, whither they were now going,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Now that God was by Moses teaching them his ordinances there was
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<I>aliquid dediscendum--something to be unlearned,</I> which they had
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sucked in with their milk in Egypt, a country noted for idolatry:
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<I>You shall not do after the doings of the land of Egypt.</I> It would
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be the greatest absurdity in itself to retain such an affection for
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their house of bondage as to be governed in their devotions by the
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usages of it, and the greatest ingratitude to God, who had so
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wonderfully and graciously delivered them. Nay, as if governed by a
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spirit of contradiction, they would be in danger, even after they had
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received these ordinances of God, of admitting the wicked usages of the
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Canaanites and of inheriting their vices with their land. Of this
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danger they are here warned, <I>You shall not walk in their
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ordinances.</I> Such a tyrant is custom that their practices are called
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<I>ordinances,</I> and they became rivals even with God's ordinances,
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and God's professing people were in danger of receiving law from them.
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3. A solemn charge to them to <I>keep God's judgments, statutes, and
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ordinances,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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To this charge, and many similar ones, David seems to refer in the many
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prayers and professions he makes relating to God's laws in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119">119th Psalm</A>.
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Observe here,
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(1.) The great rule of our obedience--God's statutes and judgments.
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These we must <I>keep to walk therein.</I> We must keep them in our
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books, and keep them in our hands, that we may practise them in our
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hearts and lives. <I>Remember God's commandments to do them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:18">Ps. ciii. 18</A>.
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We must keep in them as our way to travel in, keep to them as our rule
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to work by, keep them as our treasure, as the apple of our eye, with
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the utmost care and value.
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(2.) The great advantage of our obedience: <I>Which if a man do, he
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shall live in them,</I> that is, "he shall be happy here and
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hereafter." We have reason to thank God,
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[1.] That this is still in force as a promise, with a very favourable
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construction of the condition. If we keep God's commandments in
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sincerity, though we come short of sinless perfection, we shall find
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that the way of duty is the way of comfort, and will be the way to
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happiness. Godliness has the <I>promise of life,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+4:8">1 Tim. iv. 8</A>.
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Wisdom has said, <I>Keep my commandments and live:</I> and <I>if
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through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body</I> (which are to
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us as the usages of Egypt were to Israel) <I>we shall live.</I>
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[2.] That it is not so in force in the nature of a covenant as that the
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least transgression shall for ever exclude us from this life. The
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apostle quotes this twice as opposite to the faith which the gospel
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reveals. It is the description of the <I>righteousness which is by the
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law, the man that doeth them shall live</I> <B><I>en
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autois</I></B>--<I>in them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:5">Rom. x. 5</A>),
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and is urged to prove that <I>the law is not of faith,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:12">Gal. iii. 12</A>.
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The alteration which the gospel has made is in the last word: still
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<I>the man that does them shall live,</I> but not live <I>in them;</I>
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for the law could not give life, because we could not perfectly keep
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it; it was <I>weak through the flesh,</I> not in itself; but now <I>the
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man that does them</I> shall <I>live by the faith of the Son of
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God.</I> He shall owe his life to the grace of Christ, and not to the
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merit of his own works; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:21,22">Gal. iii. 21, 22</A>.
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<I>The just shall live,</I> but they shall live <I>by faith,</I> by
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virtue of their union with Christ, who is their life.</P>
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<A NAME="Le18_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_18"> </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>Incest Defined and Forbidden; Against Marrying Near Relations.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</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>6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him,
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to uncover <I>their</I> nakedness: I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother,
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shalt thou not uncover: she <I>is</I> thy mother; thou shalt not
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uncover her nakedness.
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8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it
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<I>is</I> thy father's nakedness.
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9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or
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daughter of thy mother, <I>whether she be</I> born at home, or born
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abroad, <I>even</I> their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
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10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's
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daughter, <I>even</I> their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for
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theirs <I>is</I> thine own nakedness.
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11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of
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thy father, she <I>is</I> thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her
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nakedness.
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12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister:
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she <I>is</I> thy father's near kinswoman.
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13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister:
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for she <I>is</I> thy mother's near kinswoman.
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14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's
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brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she <I>is</I> thine
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aunt.
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15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law:
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she <I>is</I> thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
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16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife:
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it <I>is</I> thy brother's nakedness.
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17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her
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daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her
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daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; <I>for</I> they <I>are</I>
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her near kinswomen: it <I>is</I> wickedness.
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18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex <I>her,</I>
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to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life <I>time.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These laws relate to the seventh commandment, and, no doubt, are
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obligatory on us under the gospel, for they are consonant to the very
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light and law of nature: one of the articles, that of a man's having
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his father's wife, the apostle speaks of as a sin <I>not so much as
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named among the Gentiles,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:1">1 Cor. v. 1</A>.
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Though some of the incests here forbidden were practised by some
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particular persons among the heathen, yet they were disallowed and
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detested, unless among those nations who had become barbarous, and were
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quite given up to vile affections. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. That which is forbidden as to the relations here specified is
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<I>approaching to them to uncover their nakedness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. It is chiefly intended to forbid the marrying of any of these
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relations. Marriage is a divine institution; this and the sabbath, the
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eldest of all, of equal standing with man upon the earth: it is
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intended for the comfort of human life, and the decent and honourable
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propagation of the human race, such as became the dignity of man's
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nature above that of the beasts. It is <I>honourable in all,</I> and
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these laws are for the support of the honour of it. It was requisite
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that a divine ordinance should be subject to divine rules and
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restraints, especially because it concerns a thing wherein the corrupt
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nature of man is as apt as in any thing to be wilful and impetuous in
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its desires, and impatient of check. Yet these prohibitions, besides
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their being enacted by an incontestable authority, are in themselves
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highly reasonable and equitable.
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(1.) By marriage two were to become one flesh, therefore those that
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before were in a sense one flesh by nature could not, without the
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greatest absurdity, become one flesh by institution; for the
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institution was designed to unite those who before were not united.
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(2.) Marriage puts an equality between husband and wife. "Is she not
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thy companion taken out of thy side?" Therefore, if those who before
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were superior and inferior should intermarry (which is the case in most
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of the instances here laid down), the order of nature would be taken
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away by a positive institution, which must by no means be allowed. The
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inequality between master and servant, noble and ignoble, is founded in
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consent and custom, and there is no harm done if that be taken away by
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the equality of marriage; but the inequality between parents and
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children, uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews, either by blood or
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marriage, is founded in nature, and is therefore perpetual, and cannot
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without confusion be taken away by the equality of marriage, the
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institution of which, though ancient, is subsequent to the order of
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nature.
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(3.) No relations that are equals are forbidden, except brothers and
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sisters, by the whole blood or half blood, or by marriage; and in this
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there is not the same natural absurdity as in the former, for Adam's
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sons must of necessity have married their own sisters; but it was
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requisite that it should be made by a positive law unlawful and
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detestable, for the preventing of sinful familiarities between those
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that in the days of their youth are supposed to live in a house
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together, and yet cannot intermarry without defeating one of the
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intentions of marriage, which is the enlargement of friendship and
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interest. If every man married his own sister (as they would be apt to
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do from generation to generation if it were lawful), each family would
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be a world to itself, and it would be forgotten that <I>we are members
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one of another.</I> It is certain that this has always been looked upon
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by the more sober heathen as a most infamous and abominable thing; and
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those who had not this law yet were herein a law to themselves. The
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making use of the ordinance of marriage for the patronizing of
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incestuous mixtures is so far from justifying them, or extenuating
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their guilt, that it adds the guilt of profaning an ordinance of God,
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and prostituting that to the vilest of purposes which was instituted
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for the noblest ends. But,</P>
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<P>
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2. Uncleanness, committed with any of these relations out of marriage,
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is likewise, without doubt, forbidden here, and no less intended than
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the former: as also all lascivious carriage, wanton dalliance, and
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every thing that has the appearance of this evil. Relations must love
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one another, and are to have free and familiar converse with each
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other, but it must be with all purity; and the less it is suspected of
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evil by others the more care ought the persons themselves to take that
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<I>Satan do not get advantage against them,</I> for he is a very subtle
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enemy, and seeks all occasions against us.</P>
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<P>
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II. The relations forbidden are most of them plainly described; and it
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is generally laid down as a rule that what relations of a man's own he
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is bound up from marrying the same relations of his wife he is likewise
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forbidden to marry, for they two are one. That law which forbids
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marrying a brother's wife
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
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had an exception peculiar to the Jewish state, that, if a man died
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without issue, his brother or next of kin should marry the widow, and
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raise up seed to the deceased
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:5">Deut. xxv. 5</A>),
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for reasons which held good only in that commonwealth; and therefore
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now that those reasons have ceased the exception ceases, and the law is
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in force, that a man must in no case marry his brother's widow. That
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article
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
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which forbids a man to <I>take a wife to her sister</I> supposes a
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connivance at polygamy, as some other laws then did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+21:10,De+21:15">Exod. xxi. 10; Deut. xxi. 15</A>),
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but forbids a man's marrying two sisters, as Jacob did, because between
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those who had before been equal there would be apt to arise greater
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jealousies and animosities than between wives that were not so nearly
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related. If the sister of the wife be taken for the concubine, or
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secondary wife, nothing can be more vexing in her life, or as long as
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she lives.</P>
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<A NAME="Le18_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le18_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Laws against Iniquity.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</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>19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her
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nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
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20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's
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wife, to defile thyself with her.
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21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through <I>the
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fire</I> to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God:
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I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it <I>is</I>
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abomination.
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23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself
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therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie
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down thereto: it <I>is</I> confusion.
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24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all
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these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
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25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity
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thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her
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inhabitants.
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26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and
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shall not commit <I>any</I> of these abominations; <I>neither</I> any of
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your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
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27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done,
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which <I>were</I> before you, and the land is defiled;)
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28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as
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it spued out the nations that <I>were</I> before you.
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29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even
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the souls that commit <I>them</I> shall be cut off from among their
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people.
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30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that <I>ye</I> commit not
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<I>any one</I> of these abominable customs, which were committed
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before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I <I>am</I> the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. A law to preserve the honour of the marriage-bed, that it should not
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be unseasonably used
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
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nor invaded by an adulterer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. A law against that which was the most unnatural idolatry, causing
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their children to <I>pass through the fire to Moloch,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
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Moloch (as some think) was the idol in and by which they worshipped the
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sun, that great fire of the world; and therefore in the worship of it
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they made their own children either sacrifices to this idol, burning
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them to death before it, or devotees to it, causing them to pass
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between two fires, as some think, or to be thrown through one, to the
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honour of this pretended deity, imagining that the consecrating of but
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one of their children in this manner to Moloch would procure good
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fortune for all the rest of their children. Did idolaters thus give
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their own children to false gods, and shall we think any thing too dear
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to be dedicated to, or to be parted with for, the true God? See how
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this sin of Israel (which they were afterwards guilty of,
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notwithstanding this law) is aggravated by the relation which they and
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their children stood in to God.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:20">Ezek. xvi. 20</A>,
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<I>Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne
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unto me, and these thou hast sacrificed.</I> Therefore it is here
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called <I>profaning the name of their</I> God; for it looked as if they
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thought they were under greater obligations to Moloch than to Jehovah;
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for to him they offered their cattle only, but to Moloch their
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children.</P>
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<P>
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III. A law against unnatural lusts, sodomy and bestiality, sins not to
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be named nor thought of without the utmost abhorrence imaginable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>.
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Other sins level men with the beasts, but these sink them much lower.
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That ever there should have been occasion for the making of these laws,
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and that since they are published they should ever have been broken, is
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the perpetual reproach and scandal of human nature; and the giving of
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men up to these vile affections was frequently the punishment of their
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idolatries; so the apostle shows,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:24">Rom. i. 24</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Arguments against these and the like abominable wickednesses. He
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that has an indisputable right to command us, yet because he will deal
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with us as men, and <I>draw with the cords of a man,</I> condescends to
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reason with us.
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1. Sinners defile themselves with these abominations: <I>Defile not
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yourselves in any of these things,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
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All sin is defiling to the conscience, but these are sins that have a
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peculiar turpitude in them. Our heavenly Father, in kindness to us,
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requires of us that we keep ourselves clean, and do not wallow in the
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dirt.
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2. <I>The souls that commit them shall be cut off,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
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And justly; for, <I>if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
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destroy,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:17">1 Cor. iii. 17</A>.
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Fleshly lusts war against the soul, and will certainly be the ruin of
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it if God's mercy and grace prevent not.
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3. <I>The land is defiled,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
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If such wickednesses as these be practised and connived at, the land is
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thereby made unfit to have God's tabernacle in it, and the pure and
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holy God will withdraw the tokens of his gracious presence from it. It
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is also rendered unwholesome to the inhabitants, who are hereby
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infected with sin and exposed to plagues and it is really nauseous and
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loathsome to all good men in it, as the wickedness of Sodom was to the
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soul of righteous Lot.
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4. These have been the abominations of the former inhabitants,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:24,27"><I>v.</I> 24, 27</A>.
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Therefore it was necessary that these laws should be made, as antidotes
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and preservatives from the plague are necessary when we go into an
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infected place. And therefore they should not practise any such things,
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|
because the nations that had practised them now lay under the curse of
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God, and were shortly to fall by the sword of Israel. They could not
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|
but be sensible how odious those people had made themselves who
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wallowed in this mire, and how they stank in the nostrils of all good
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men; and shall a people sanctified and dignified as Israel was make
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themselves thus vile? When we observe how ill sin looks in others we
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should use this as an argument with ourselves with the utmost care and
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caution to preserve our purity.
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5. For these and the like sins the Canaanites were to be destroyed;
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these filled the measure of the Amorites' iniquity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:16">Gen. xv. 16</A>),
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and brought down that destruction of so many populous kingdoms which
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the Israelites were now shortly to be not only the spectators, but the
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instruments of: <I>Therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon
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it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
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Note, The tremendous judgments of God, executed on those that are
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daringly profane and atheistical, are intended as warnings to those who
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profess religion to take heed of every thing that has the least
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appearance of, or tendency towards, profaneness or atheism. Even the
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ruin of the Canaanites is an admonition to the Israelites not to do
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like them. Nay, to show that not only the Creator is provoked, but the
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creation burdened, by such abominations as these, it is added
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
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<I>The land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.</I> The very ground
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they went upon did, as it were, groan under them, and was sick of them,
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and not easy till it had discharged itself of these <I>enemies of the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24">Isa. i. 24</A>.
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This bespeaks the extreme loathsomeness of sin; sinful man indeed
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<I>drinks in iniquity like water,</I> but the harmless part of the
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creation even heaves at it, and rises against it. Many a house and
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many a town have spued out the wicked inhabitants, as it were, with
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abhorrence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:16">Rev. iii. 16</A>.
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Therefore take heed, saith God, <I>that the land spue not you out
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also,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
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It was secured to them, and entailed upon them, and yet they must
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expect that, if they made the vices of the Canaanites their own, with
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their land their fate would be the same. Note, Wicked Israelites are as
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abominable to God as wicked Canaanites, and more so, and will be as
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soon spued out, or sooner. Such a warning as was here given to the
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Israelites is given by the apostle to the Gentile converts, with
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reference to the rejected Jews, in whose room they were substituted
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:19">Rom. xi. 19</A>,
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&c.); they must take heed of falling <I>after the same example of
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unbelief,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:11">Heb. iv. 11</A>.
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Apply it more generally; and let it deter us effectually from all
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sinful courses to consider how many they have been the ruin of. Lay the
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ear of faith to the gates of the bottomless pit, and hear the doleful
|
|
shrieks and outcries of damned sinners, whom earth has spued out and
|
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hell has swallowed, that find themselves undone, for ever undone, by
|
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sin; and tremble lest this be your portion at last. God's threatenings
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and judgments should frighten us from sin.</P>
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<P>
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V. The chapter concludes with a sovereign antidote against this
|
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infection: <I>Therefore you shall keep my ordinance that you commit not
|
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any one of these abominable customs,</I>
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
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This is the remedy prescribed. Note,
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1. Sinful customs are abominable customs, and their being common and
|
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fashionable does not make them at all the less abominable nor should we
|
|
the less abominate them, but the more; because the more customary they
|
|
are the more dangerous they are.
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|
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2. It is of pernicious consequence to admit and allow of any one sinful
|
|
custom, because one will make way for many, <I>Uno absurdo dato, mille
|
|
sequuntur--Admit but a single absurdity, you invite a thousand.</I> The
|
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way of sin is downhill.
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3. A close and constant adherence to God's ordinances is the most
|
|
effectual preservative from the infection of gross sin. The more we
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|
taste of the sweetness and feel of the power of holy ordinances the
|
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less inclination we shall have to the forbidden pleasures of sinners'
|
|
abominable customs. It is the grace of God only that will secure us,
|
|
and that grace is to be expected only in the use of the means of grace.
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Nor does God ever leave any to their own hearts' lusts till they have
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first left him and his institutions.</P>
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