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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> (1712)
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<! -- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H A B A K K U K.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</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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In this chapter,
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I. The prophet complains to God of the violence done by the abuse of
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the sword of justice among his own people and the hardships thereby put
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upon many good people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. God by him foretels the punishment of that abuse of power by the
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sword of war, and the desolations which the army of the Chaldeans
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should make upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:5-11">ver. 5-11</A>.
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III. Then the prophet complains of that too, and is grieved that the
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Chaldeans prevail so far
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:12-17">ver. 12-17</A>),
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so that he scarcely knows which is more to be lamented, the sin or the
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punishment of it, for in both many harmless good people are very great
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sufferers. It is well that there is a day of judgment, and a future
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state, before us, in which it shall be eternally well with all the
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righteous, and with them only, and ill with all the wicked, and them
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only; so the present seeming disorders of Providence shall be set to
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rights, and there will remain no matter of complaint whatsoever.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Hab1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_4"> </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>The Sins of the People.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 600.</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 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
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2 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! <I>even</I>
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cry out unto thee <I>of</I> violence, and thou wilt not save!
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3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause <I>me</I> to behold
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grievance? for spoiling and violence <I>are</I> before me: and there
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are <I>that</I> raise up strife and contention.
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4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go
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forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore
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wrong judgment proceedeth.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We are told no more in the title of this book (which we have,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
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than that the penman was <I>a prophet,</I> a man divinely inspired and
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commissioned, which is enough (if that be so, we need not ask
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concerning his tribe or family, or the place of his birth), and that
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the book itself is <I>the burden which</I> he <I>saw;</I> he was as
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sure of the truth of it as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes
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already accomplished. Here, in these verses, the prophet sadly laments
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the iniquity of the times, as one sensibly touched with grief for the
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lamentable decay of religion and righteousness. It is a very melancholy
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complaint which he here makes to God,
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1. That no man could call what he had his own; but, in defiance of the
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most sacred laws of property and equity, he that had power on his side
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had what he had a mind to, though he had no right on his side: The land
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was <I>full of violence,</I> as the old world was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:11">Gen. vi. 11</A>.
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The prophet <I>cries out of violence</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>iniquity</I> and <I>grievance, spoil</I> and <I>violence.</I> In
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families and among relations, in neighbour-hoods and among friends, in
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commerce and in courts of law, every thing was carried with a high
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hand, and no man made any scruple of doing wrong to his neighbour, so
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that he could but make a good hand of it for himself. It does not
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appear that the prophet himself had any great wrong done him (in losing
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times it fared best with those that had nothing to lose), but it
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grieved him to see other people wronged, and he could not but mingle
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his tears with those of the oppressed. Note, Doing wrong to harmless
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people, as it is an iniquity in itself, so it is a great grievance to
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all that are concerned for God's Jerusalem, who <I>sigh and cry for
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abominations</I> of this kind. He complains
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
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that <I>the wicked doth compass about the righteous.</I> One honest
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man, one honest cause, shall have enemies besetting it on every side;
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many wicked men, in confederacy against it, run it down; nay, one
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wicked man (for it is singular) with so many various arts of mischief
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sets upon a righteous man, that he perfectly besets him.
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2. That the kingdom was broken into parties and factions that were
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continually biting and devouring one another. This is a lamentation to
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all the sons of peace: <I>There are that raise up strife and
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contention</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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that foment divisions, widen breaches, incense men against one another,
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and sow discord among brethren, by doing the work of him that is the
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accuser of the brethren. Strifes and contentions that have been laid
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asleep, and begun to be forgotten, they awake, and industriously raise
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up again, and blow up the sparks that were hidden under the embers.
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And, if <I>blessed are the peace-makers,</I> cursed are such
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peace-breakers, that make parties, and so make mischief that spreads
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further, and lasts longer, than they can imagine. It is sad to see bad
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men warming their hands at those flames which are devouring all that is
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good in a nation, and stirring up the fire too.
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3. That the torrent of violence and strife ran so strongly as to bid
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defiance to the restraints and regulations of laws and the
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administration of justice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Because God did not appear against them, nobody else would;
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<I>therefore the law is slacked,</I> is silent; it breathes not; <I>its
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pulse beats not</I> (so, it is said, the word signifies); it intermits,
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<I>and judgment does not go forth</I> as it should; no cognizance is
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taken of those crimes, no justice done upon the criminals; nay,
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<I>wrong judgment proceeds;</I> if appeals be made to the courts of
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equity, the righteous shall be condemned and the wicked justified, so
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that the remedy proves the worst disease. The legislative power takes
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no care to supply the deficiencies of the law for the obviating of
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those growing threatening mischiefs; the executive power takes no care
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to answer the good intentions of the laws that are made; the stream of
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justice is dried up by violence, and has not its free course.
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4. That all this was open and public, and impudently avowed; it was
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barefaced. The prophet complains that this iniquity was shown him; he
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<I>beheld it</I> which way soever he turned his eyes, nor could he look
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off it: <I>Spoiling and violence are before me.</I> Note, The abounding
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of wickedness in a nation is a very great eye-sore to good people, and,
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if they did not see it, they could not believe it to be so bad as it
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is. Solomon often complains of the vexation of this kind which he
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<I>saw under the sun;</I> and the prophet would therefore gladly turn
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hermit, that he might not see it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+9:2">Jer. ix. 2</A>.
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But <I>then we must needs go out of the world,</I> which
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<I>there-fore</I> we should long to do, that we may remove to that
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world where holiness and love reign eternally, and no spoiling and
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violence shall be before us.
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5. That he complained of this to God, but could not obtain a redress of
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those grievances: "<I>Lord,</I>" says he, "<I>why dost thou show me
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iniquity?</I> Why hast thou cast my lot in a time and place when and
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where it is to be seen, and why do I continue to <I>sojourn in
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Mesech</I> and <I>Kedar? I cry to thee</I> of this violence; I cry
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aloud; I have cried long; but <I>thou wilt not hear, thou wilt not
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save;</I> thou dost not take vengeance on the oppressors, nor do
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justice to the oppressed, as if thy arm were shortened or thy ear
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heavy." When God seems to connive at the wickedness of the wicked, nay,
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and to countenance it, by suffering them to prosper in their
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wickedness, it shocks the faith of good men, and proves a sore
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temptation to them to say, <I>We have cleansed our hearts in vain</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:13">Ps. lxxiii. 13</A>),
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and hardens those in their impiety who say, <I>God has forsaken the
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earth.</I> We must not think it strange if wickedness be suffered to
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prevail far and prosper long. God has reasons, and we are sure they are
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good reasons, both for the reprieves of bad men and the rebukes of good
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men; and therefore, though we plead with him, and humbly expostulate
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concerning his judgments, yet we must say, "He is wise, and righteous,
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and good, in all," and must believe the day will come, though it may be
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long deferred, when the cry of sin will be heard against those that do
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wrong and the cry of prayer for those that suffer it.</P>
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<A NAME="Hab1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Hab1_11"> </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>Judgment Predicted.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 600.</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>5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder
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marvellously: for <I>I</I> will work a work in your days, <I>which</I> ye
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will not believe, though it be told <I>you.</I>
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6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, <I>that</I> bitter and hasty
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nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to
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possess the dwelling-places <I>that are</I> not theirs.
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7 They <I>are</I> terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their
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dignity shall proceed of themselves.
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8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more
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fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread
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themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall
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fly as the eagle <I>that</I> hasteth to eat.
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9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up
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<I>as</I> the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the
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sand.
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10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be
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a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they
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shall heap dust, and take it.
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11 Then shall <I>his</I> mind change, and he shall pass over, and
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offend, <I>imputing</I> this his power unto his god.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an answer to the prophet's complaint, giving him assurance
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that, though God bore long, he would not bear always with this
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provoking people; for the day of vengeance was in his heart, and he
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must tell them so, that they might by repentance and reformation turn
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away the judgment they were threatened with.</P>
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<P>
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I. The preamble to the sentence is very awful
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Behold, you among the heathen, and regard.</I> Since they will not
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be brought to repentance by the long-suffering of God, he will take
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another course with them. No resentments are so keen, so deep, as those
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of abused patience. The Lord will inflict upon them,
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1. A public punishment, which shall be beheld and regarded among the
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heathen, which the neighbouring nations shall take notice of and stand
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amazed at; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:25,25">Deut. xxix. 24, 25</A>.
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This will aggravate the desolations of Israel, that they will thereby
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be made a spectacle to the world.
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2. An amazing punishment, so strange and surprising, and so much out of
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the common road of Providence, that it shall not be paralleled among
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the heathen, shall be sorer and heavier than what God has usually
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inflicted upon the nations that know him not; nay, it shall not be
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credited even by those that had the prediction of it from God before it
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comes, or the report of it from those that were eye-witnesses of it
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when it comes: <I>You will not believe it, though it be told you;</I>
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it will be thought incredible that so many judgments should combine in
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one, and every circumstance so strangely concur to enforce and
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aggravate it, that so great and potent a nation should be so reduced
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and broken, and that God should deal so severely with a people that had
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been taken into the bond of the covenant and that he had done so much
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for. The punishment of God's professing people cannot but be the
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astonishment of all about them.
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3. A speedy punishment: "<I>I will work a work in your days,</I> now
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quickly; this generation shall not pass till the judgment threatened be
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accomplished. The sins of former days shall be reckoned for in your
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days; for now the measure of the iniquity is full,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:36">Mt. xxiii. 36</A>.
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4. It shall be a punishment in which much of the hand of God shall
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appear; it shall be a work of his own working, so that all who see it
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shall say, <I>This is the Lord's doing;</I> and it will be found a
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fearful thing to fall into his hands; woe to those whom he takes to
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task!
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5. It shall be such a punishment as will typify the destruction to be
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brought upon the despisers of Christ and his gospel, for to that these
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words are applied
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:41">Acts xiii. 41</A>,
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<I>Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish.</I> The ruin of
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Jerusalem by the Chaldeans for their idolatry was a figure of their
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ruin by the Romans for rejecting Christ and his gospel, and it is a
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very marvellous thing, and almost incredible. <I>Is there not a strange
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punishment to the workers of iniquity?</I></P>
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<P>
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II. The sentence itself is very dreadful and particular
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans.</I> There were those that raised up a
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great deal of strife and contention among them, which was their sin;
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and now God will raise up the Chaldeans against them, who shall strive
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and contend with them, which shall be their punishment. Note, When
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God's professing people quarrel among themselves, snarl at, and devour
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one another, it is just with God to bring the common enemy upon them,
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that shall make peace by making a universal devastation. The contending
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parties in Jerusalem were inveterate one against another, when the
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Romans came and <I>took away their place and nation.</I> The Chaldeans
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shall be the instruments of the destruction threatened, and, though
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themselves acting unrighteously, they shall <I>execute the
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righteousness of the Lord</I> and punish the unrighteousness of Israel.
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Now, here we have,</P>
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<P>
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1. A description of the people that shall be raised up against Israel,
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to be a scourge to them.
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(1.) They are <I>a bitter and hasty nation,</I> cruel and fierce, and
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what they do is done with violence and fury; they are precipitate in
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their counsels, vehement in their passions, and push on with resolution
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in their enterprises; they show no mercy and they spare no pains.
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Miserable is the case of those that are given up into the hand of these
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cruel ones.
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(2.) They are strong, and therefore formidable, and such as there is no
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standing before, and yet no fleeing from
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>They are terrible and dreadful,</I> famed for the gallant troops
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they bring into the field
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
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<I>their horses are swifter than leopards</I> to charge and pursue, and
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<I>more fierce</I> than the <I>evening wolves;</I> and wolves are
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observed to be the most ravenous towards the evening, after they have
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been kept hungry all day, waiting for that darkness under the
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protection of which <I>all the beasts of the forest creep forth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:20">Ps. civ. 20</A>.
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Their squadrons of horse shall be very numerous: "<I>Their horse-men
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shall spread themselves</I> a great way, for they shall <I>come from
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far,</I> from all parts of their own country, and shall be dispersed
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into all parts of the country they invade, to plunder it, and enrich
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themselves with the spoil of it. And, <I>in making speed to spoil, they
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shall hasten to the prey</I> (as those,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:1">Isa. viii. 1</A>,
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<I>margin</I>), for they shall <I>fly as the eagle</I> towards the
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earth when she <I>hastens to eat</I> and strikes at the prey she has an
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eye upon."
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|
|
(3.) Their own will is a law to them, and, in the fierceness of their
|
|
pursuits, they will not be governed by any laws of humanity, equity, or
|
|
honour: <I>Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of
|
|
themselves,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Appetite and passion rule them, and not reason nor conscience. Their
|
|
principle is, <I>Quicquid libet, licet</I>--<I>My will is my law.</I>
|
|
And, <I>Sic volo, sic jubeo; stat pro ratione voluntas--This is my
|
|
wish, this is my command; it shall be done because I choose it.</I>
|
|
What favour can be hoped for from such an enemy? Note, Those who have
|
|
been unjust and unmerciful, among whom <I>the law is slacked, and
|
|
judgment doth not go forth,</I> will justly be paid in their own coin
|
|
and fall into the hands of those who will deal unjustly and
|
|
unmercifully with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. A prophecy of the terrible execution that shall be made by this
|
|
terrible nation: <I>They shall march through the breadth of the
|
|
earth</I> (so it may be read); for in a little time the Chaldean forces
|
|
subdued all the nations in those parts, so that they seemed to have
|
|
conquered the world; they overran Asia and part of Africa. Or, through
|
|
the breadth of <I>the land</I> of Israel, which was wholly laid waste
|
|
by them. It is here foretold,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they shall seize all as their own that they can lay their
|
|
hands on. They shall come to <I>possess the dwelling-places that are
|
|
not theirs,</I> which they have no right to, but that which their sword
|
|
gives them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they shall push on the war with all possible vigour: <I>They
|
|
shall all come for violence</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
not to determine any disputed right by the sword, but, right or wrong,
|
|
to enrich themselves with the spoil. <I>Their faces shall sup up as the
|
|
east wind;</I> their very countenances shall be so fierce and frightful
|
|
that a look will serve to make them masters of all they have a mind to;
|
|
so that they shall <I>swallow up</I> all, as the east wind nips and
|
|
blasts the buds and flowers. <I>Their faces shall look towards the
|
|
east</I> (so some read it); they shall still have an eye to their own
|
|
country, which lay eastward from Judea, and all the spoil they seize
|
|
they shall remit thither.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That they shall take a vast number of prisoners, and send them
|
|
into Babylon: <I>They shall gather the captivity as the sand</I> for
|
|
multitude, and shall never know when they have enough, as long as there
|
|
are any more to be had.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That they shall make nothing of the opposition that is given to
|
|
them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Do the distressed Jews depend upon their great men to make a stand, and
|
|
with their wisdom and courage to give check to the victorious arms of
|
|
the Chaldeans? Alas! they will make nothing of them. <I>They shall
|
|
scoff</I> (he shall, so it is in the original, meaning Nebuchadnezzar,
|
|
who being puffed up with his successes, shall scoff) <I>at the
|
|
kings</I> and commanders of the forces that think to make head against
|
|
him; and <I>the princes shall be a scorn to them,</I> so unequal a
|
|
match shall they appear to be. Do they depend upon their garrisons and
|
|
fortified towns? <I>He shall deride every stronghold,</I> for to him it
|
|
shall be weak, and <I>he shall heap dust, and take it;</I> a little
|
|
soil, thrown up for ramparts, shall serve to give him all the advantage
|
|
against them that he can desire; he shall make but a jest of them, and
|
|
a sport of taking them.
|
|
|
|
(5.) By all this he shall be puffed up with an intolerable pride, which
|
|
shall be his destruction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then shall his mind change</I> for the worse. The spirit both of the
|
|
people and of the king shall grow more haughty and insolent. Those
|
|
that will not be content with their own rights will not be content when
|
|
they have made themselves masters of other people's rights too; but as
|
|
the condition rises the mind rises too. This victorious king shall
|
|
<I>pass over</I> all the bounds of reason, equity, and modesty, and
|
|
break through all their bonds, and thereby <I>he shall offend,</I>
|
|
shall make God his enemy, and so prepare ruin for himself by
|
|
<I>imputing this his power to his god,</I> whereas he had it from the
|
|
God of Israel. <I>Bel</I> and <I>Nebo</I> were the gods of the
|
|
Chaldeans, and to them they gave the glory of their successes; they
|
|
were hardened in their idolatry, and blasphemously argued that because
|
|
they had conquered Israel their gods were too strong for the God of
|
|
Israel. Note, It is a great offence (and the common offence of proud
|
|
people) to take that glory to ourselves, or to give it to gods of our
|
|
own making, which is due to the living and true God only. These closing
|
|
words of the sentence give a glimpse of comfort to the afflicted people
|
|
of God; it is to be hoped that they will change their minds, and grow
|
|
better, and ripen for deliverance; and they did so. However, their
|
|
enemies will change their minds, and grow worse, and ripen for
|
|
destruction, which will inevitably come in God's due time; for a
|
|
haughty spirit, lifted up against God, <I>goes before a fall.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Hab1_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prophet's Plea; The Prophet's Complaint.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 600.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 <I>Art</I> thou not from everlasting, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> my God, mine Holy
|
|
One? we shall not die. O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou hast ordained them for
|
|
judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for
|
|
correction.
|
|
13 <I>Thou art</I> of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not
|
|
look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
|
|
treacherously, <I>and</I> holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth
|
|
<I>the man that is</I> more righteous than he?
|
|
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping
|
|
things, <I>that have</I> no ruler over them?
|
|
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in
|
|
their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice
|
|
and are glad.
|
|
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense
|
|
unto their drag; because by them their portion <I>is</I> fat, and
|
|
their meat plenteous.
|
|
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare
|
|
continually to slay the nations?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet, having received of the Lord that which he was to deliver
|
|
to the people, now turns to God, and again addresses himself to him for
|
|
the ease of his own mind under the burden which he saw. And still he is
|
|
full of complaints. If he look about him, he sees nothing but violence
|
|
done by Israel; if he look before him, he sees nothing but violence
|
|
done against Israel; and it is hard to say which is the more melancholy
|
|
sight. His thoughts of both he pours out before the Lord. It is our
|
|
duty to be affected both with the iniquities and with the calamities of
|
|
the church of God and of the times and places wherein we live; but we
|
|
must take heed lest we grow peevish in our resentments, and carry them
|
|
too far, so as to entertain any hard thoughts of God, or lose the
|
|
comfort of our communion with him. The world is bad, and always was so,
|
|
and will be so; it is out of our power to mend it; but we are sure that
|
|
God governs the world, and will bring glory to himself out of all, and
|
|
therefore we must resolve to make the best of it, must be ourselves
|
|
better, and long for the better world. The prospect of the prevalence
|
|
of the Chaldeans drives the prophet to his knees, and he takes the
|
|
liberty to plead with God concerning it. In his plea we may
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The truths which he lays down, which he resolves to abide by, and
|
|
with which he endeavours to comfort himself and his friends, under the
|
|
growing threatening power of the Chaldeans; and they will furnish us
|
|
with pleasing considerations for our support in the like case.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. However it be, yet God is <I>the Lord our God,</I> and <I>our Holy
|
|
One.</I> The victorious Chaldeans impute their power to their idols,
|
|
but we are taught to tell them that the <I>God of Israel is the true
|
|
God, the living God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:10,11">Jer. x. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He is <I>Jehovah,</I> the fountain of all being, power, and
|
|
perfection. <I>Our rock</I> is not <I>as theirs.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) "He is <I>my God.</I>" He speaks in the people's name; every
|
|
Israelite may say, "He is <I>mine.</I> Though we are thus sore broken,
|
|
and <I>all this has come upon us, yet have we not forgotten the name of
|
|
our God,</I> nor quitted our relation to him, yet have we not disowned
|
|
him, nor hath he disowned us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:17">Ps. xliv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are an offending people; he is an offended God; yet he is ours, and
|
|
we will not entertain any hard thoughts of him, nor of his service, for
|
|
all this."
|
|
|
|
(3.) "He is <I>my Holy One.</I>" This intimates that the prophet loved
|
|
God as a holy God, loved him for the sake of his holiness. "He is
|
|
<I>mine</I> because he is a <I>Holy One;</I> and <I>therefore</I> he
|
|
will be my sanctifier and my Saviour, because he is <I>my Holy One.</I>
|
|
Men are unholy, but <I>my God is holy.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Our God is from everlasting. This he pleads with him: <I>Art thou
|
|
not from everlasting, O Lord my God?</I> It is matter of great and
|
|
continual comfort to God's people, under the troubles of this present
|
|
life, that their God is from everlasting. This intimates,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The eternity of his nature; if he is from everlasting, he will be
|
|
to everlasting, and we must have recourse to this first principle, when
|
|
things seen, which are temporal, are discouraging, that we have hope
|
|
and help sufficient in a god that is not seen, that is eternal. "Art
|
|
thou not from everlasting, and then wilt thou not make bare thy
|
|
everlasting arm, in pursuance of thy everlasting counsels, to make unto
|
|
thyself an everlasting name?"
|
|
|
|
(2.) The antiquity of his covenant: "Art thou not <I>from of old,</I> a
|
|
God in covenant with thy people" (so some understand it), "and hast
|
|
thou not done great things for them <I>in the days of old,</I> which we
|
|
have heard with our ears, and which our fathers have told us of; and
|
|
art thou not the same God still that thou ever wast? Thou art <I>God,
|
|
and changest not.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. While the world stands God will have a church in it. Thou art from
|
|
everlasting, and then <I>we shall not die.</I> The Israel of God shall
|
|
not be extirpated, nor the name of Israel blotted out, though it may
|
|
sometimes seem to be very near it; like the apostles
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+6:9">2 Cor. vi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>chastened, and not killed; chastened sorely, but not delivered over
|
|
to death,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+118:18">Ps. cxviii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
See how the prophet infers the perpetuity of the church from the
|
|
eternity of God; for Christ has said, <I>Because I live,</I> and
|
|
therefore as long as I live, <I>you shall live also,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:19">John xiv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is the rock on which the church is so firmly built that the <I>gates
|
|
of hell shall not, cannot, prevail against it. We shall not
|
|
die.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Whatever the enemies of the church may do against her, it is
|
|
according to the counsel of God, and is designed and directed for wise
|
|
and holy ends: <I>Thou hast ordained them; thou hast established
|
|
them.</I> It was God that gave the Chaldeans their power, made them a
|
|
formidable people, and in his counsel determined what they should do,
|
|
nor had they any power against his Israel but what was <I>given them
|
|
from above.</I> He gave them their commission <I>to take the spoil and
|
|
to take the prey,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:6">Isa. x. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Herein God appears a mighty God, that the power of mighty men is
|
|
derived from him, depends upon him, and is under his check; he says
|
|
concerning it, <I>Hitherto shall it come, and no further.</I> Those
|
|
whom God ordains shall do no more than what God has ordained, which is
|
|
a great comfort to God's suffering people. Men are God's hand, the rod
|
|
in his hand,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
And he has <I>ordained them for judgment,</I> and <I>for
|
|
correction.</I> God's people need correction, and deserve it; they must
|
|
expect it; they shall have it; when wicked men are let loose against
|
|
them, it is not for their destruction, that they may be ruined, but for
|
|
their correction, that they may be reformed; they are not intended for
|
|
a sword, to cut them off, but for a rod, to drive out the foolishness
|
|
that is found in their hearts, though they <I>mean not so, neither does
|
|
their heart think so,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:7">Isa. x. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, It is matter of great comfort to us, in reference to the troubles
|
|
and afflictions of the church, that, whatever mischief men design to
|
|
them, God designs to bring good out of them, and we are sure that
|
|
<I>his counsel shall stand.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Though the wickedness of the wicked may prosper for a while, yet God
|
|
is a holy God, and does not approve of that wickedness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil.</I> The prophet,
|
|
observing how very vicious and impious the Chaldeans were, and yet what
|
|
great success they had against God's Israel, found a temptation arising
|
|
from it to say that it was vain to serve God, and that it was
|
|
indifferent to him what men were. But he soon suppresses the thought,
|
|
by having recourse to his first principle, That God is not, that he
|
|
cannot be, the author or patron of sin; as he cannot do iniquity
|
|
himself, so he is <I>of purer eyes than to behold it</I> with any
|
|
allowance or approbation; no, it is that <I>abominable thing which the
|
|
Lord hates.</I> He sees all the sin that is committed in the world, and
|
|
it is an offence to him, it is odious in his eyes, and those that
|
|
commit it are thereby made obnoxious to his justice. There is in the
|
|
nature of God an antipathy to those dispositions and practices that are
|
|
contrary to his holy law; and, though an expedient is happily found out
|
|
for his being reconciled to sinners, yet he never will, nor can, be
|
|
reconciled to sin. And this principle we must resolve to abide by,
|
|
though the dispensations of his providence may for a time, and in some
|
|
instances, seem to be inconsistent with it. Note, God's connivance at
|
|
sin must never be interpreted into a giving countenance to it; for
|
|
<I>he is not a God that has pleasure in wickedness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+5:4,5">Ps. v. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The iniquity which, it is here said, God does not look upon, may be
|
|
meant especially of the mischief done to God's people by their
|
|
persecutors; though God sees cause to permit it, yet he does not
|
|
approve of it; so it agrees with that of Balaam
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+23:21">Num. xxiii. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>He has not be held iniquity against Jacob,</I> nor <I>seen,</I> with
|
|
allowance, <I>perverseness against Israel,</I> which is very
|
|
comfortable to the people of God, in their afflictions by the rage of
|
|
men, that they cannot infer God's anger from it; though the instruments
|
|
of their trouble hate them, it does not therefore follow that God does;
|
|
nay, he loves them, and it is in love that he corrects them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The grievances he complains of, and finds hard to reconcile with
|
|
these truths: "Since we are sure that thou art a holy God, why have
|
|
atheists temptation given them to question whether thou art so or no?
|
|
<I>Wherefore lookest thou upon the Chaldeans</I> that <I>deal
|
|
treacherously</I> with thy people, and givest them success in their
|
|
attempts upon us? Why dost thou suffer thy sworn enemies, who blaspheme
|
|
thy name, to deal thus cruelly, thus perfidiously, with thy sworn
|
|
subjects, who desire to fear thy name? What shall we say to this?" This
|
|
was a temptation to Job
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:7,24:1"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 7; xxiv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
to David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:2,3">Ps. lxxiii. 2, 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
to Jeremiah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:1,2"><I>ch.</I> xii. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. That God permitted sin, and was patient with the sinners. He
|
|
<I>looked upon them;</I> he saw all their wicked doings and designs,
|
|
and did not restrain nor punish them, but suffered them to speed in
|
|
their purposes, to go on and prosper, and to carry all before them.
|
|
Nay, his looking upon them intimates that he not only gave them no
|
|
check or rebuke, but that he gave them encouragement and assistance, as
|
|
if he smiled upon them and favoured them. He <I>held his tongue</I>
|
|
when they went on in their wicked courses, said nothing against them,
|
|
gave no orders to stop them. <I>These things thou hast done, and I kept
|
|
silence.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. That his patience was abused, and, <I>because sentence</I> against
|
|
these evil works and workers <I>was not executed speedily,</I>
|
|
therefore <I>their hearts</I> were the more <I>fully set in them to do
|
|
evil.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) They were false and deceitful, and there was no credit to be given
|
|
them, nor any confidence to be put in them. They deal
|
|
<I>treacherously;</I> under colour of peace and friendship, they
|
|
prosecute and execute the most mischievous designs, and make no
|
|
conscience of their word in any thing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They hated and persecuted men because they were better than
|
|
themselves, as Cain hated Abel because <I>his own works were evil and
|
|
his brother's righteous. The wicked devours the man that is more
|
|
righteous than he,</I> for that very reason, because he shames him;
|
|
they have an ill will to the image of God, and <I>therefore</I> devour
|
|
good men, because they bear that image. Though many of the Jews were as
|
|
bad as the Chaldeans themselves, and worse, yet there were those among
|
|
them that were much more righteous, and yet were devoured by them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They made no more of killing men that of catching fish. The
|
|
prophet complains that, Providence having delivered up the weaker to be
|
|
prey to the stronger, they were, in effect, made as <I>the fishes of
|
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the sea,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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So they had been among themselves, preying upon one another as the
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greater fishes do upon the less
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and they were made so to the common enemy. They were <I>as the creeping
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things,</I> or <I>swimming</I> things (for the word is used for
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<I>fish,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:20">Gen. i. 20</A>),
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<I>that have no ruler</I> over them, either to restrain them from
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devouring one another or to protect them from being devoured by their
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enemies. They are given up to the Chaldeans as fish to the fishermen.
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Those proud oppressors make no conscience of killing them, any more
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than men do of pulling fish out of the water, so small account do they
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make of human lives. They make no difficulty of killing them, but do it
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with as much ease as men catch fish, that make no resistance, but are
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unguarded and unarmed, and it is rather a pastime than any pains to
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take them. They make no distinction among them, but all is fish that
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comes to their net; and they reckon every thing their own that they can
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lay their hands on. They have various ways of spoiling and destroying,
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as men have of taking fish. Some they <I>take up with the angle</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
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one by one; others <I>they catch</I> in shoals, and by wholesale, <I>in
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their net,</I> and <I>gather them in their drag,</I> their enclosing
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net. Such variety of methods have they to destroy those by whom they
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hope to enrich themselves.
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(4.) They gloried in what they got, and pleased themselves with it,
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though it was got dishonestly: <I>Their portion is fat, and their meat
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plenteous;</I> they prosper in their oppression and fraud; they have a
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great deal, and it is of the best; their land is good, and they have
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abundance of it. And therefore,
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[1.] They have great complacency in themselves, and are very pleasant;
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they live merrily
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
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<I>Therefore they rejoice and are glad,</I> because their wealth is
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great, and their projects succeed for the increase of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:25">Job xxxi. 25</A>.
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<I>Soul, take thy ease,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:19">Luke xii. 19</A>.
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[2.] They have a great conceit of themselves, and are great admirers of
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their own ingenuity and management: They <I>sacrifice to their own net,
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and burn incense to their own drag;</I> they applaud themselves for
|
|
having got so much money, though ever so dishonestly. Note, There is a
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|
proneness in us to take the glory of our outward prosperity to
|
|
ourselves, and to say, <I>My might, and the power of my hands, have
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|
gotten me this wealth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:17">Deut. viii. 17</A>.
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This is idolizing ourselves, sacrificing to the dragnet, because it is
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our own, which is as absurd a piece of idolatry as sacrificing to
|
|
Neptune or Dagon. That which makes them adore their net thus is
|
|
because by it <I>their portion is fat.</I> Those that make a god of
|
|
their money will make a god of their drag-net, if they can but get
|
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money by it.</P>
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<P>
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III. The prophet, in the close, humbly expresses his hope that God will
|
|
not suffer these destroyers of mankind always to go on and prosper
|
|
thus, and expostulates with God concerning it
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
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"<I>Shall they therefore empty their net?</I> Shall they enrich
|
|
themselves, and fill their own vessels, with that which they have by
|
|
violence and oppression taken away from their neighbours? Shall they
|
|
empty their net of what they have caught, that they may cast it into
|
|
the sea again, to catch more? And wilt thou suffer them to proceed in
|
|
this wicked course? Shall they not <I>spare continually to slay the
|
|
nations?</I> Must the numbers and wealth of nations be sacrificed to
|
|
their net? As if it were a small thing to rob men of their estates,
|
|
shall they rob God of his glory? Is not God the king of nations, and
|
|
will he not assert their injured rights? Is he not jealous for his own
|
|
honour, and will he not maintain that?" The prophet lodges the matter
|
|
in God's hand, and leaves it with him, as the psalmist does.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:22">Ps. lxxiv. 22</A>,
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<I>Arise, O God! Plead thy own cause.</I></P>
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