![]() ![]() You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the LORD sends you.Īnd you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. To this Refuge and salvation let sinners flee therein let believers rejoice, and serve their reconciled God with gladness of heart, for the abundance of his spiritual blessings.You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you. And let us be thankful that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us, and bearing in his own person all that punishment which our sins merit, and which we must otherwise have endured for ever. The fulfilling of these prophecies upon the Jewish nation, delivered more than three thousand years ago, shows that Moses spake by the Spirit of God who not only foresees the ruin of sinners, but warns of it, that they may prevent it by a true and timely repentance, or else be left without excuse. And when the other prophecies of their conversion to Christ shall come to pass, the whole will be a sign and a wonder to all the nations of the earth, and the forerunner of a general spread of true christianity. These events, compared with the favour shown to Israel in ancient times, and with the prophecies about them, should not only excite astonishment, but turn unto us for a testimony, assuring us of the truth of Scripture. They have been banished from city to city, from country to country recalled, and banished again. No rest of the mind, which is much worse. 65, but be continually on the remove, either in hope of gain, or fear of persecution. They should have no rest no rest of body, ver. Not only by the Babylonish captivity, and when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans but afterwards, when they were forbidden to set foot in Jerusalem. They have, indeed, been plucked from off the land, ver. We may justly expect from God, that if we do not fear his fearful name, we shall feel his fearful plagues for one way or other God will be feared. If they would not serve God with cheerfulness, they should be compelled to serve their enemies. It is amazing to think that a people so long the favourites of Heaven, should be so cast off and yet that a people so scattered in all nations should be kept distinct, and not mixed with others. What then will be the misery of that world where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched! Observe what is here said of the wrath of God, which should come and remain upon the Israelites for their sins. Verses 45-68 If God inflicts vengeance, what miseries his curse can bring upon mankind, even in this present world! Yet these are but the beginning of sorrows to those under the curse of God. Those who walk by sight, and not by faith, are in danger of losing reason itself, when every thing about them looks frightful. To complete their misery, it is threatened that by these troubles they should be bereaved of all comfort and hope, and left to utter despair. We may observe the fulfilling of these threatenings in their present state. Many judgments are here stated, which would be the fruits of the curse, and with which God would punish the people of the Jews, for their apostacy and disobedience. All his enjoyments are made bitter he cannot take any true comfort in them, for the wrath of God mixes itself with them. Wherever the sinner goes, the curse of God follows wherever he is, it rests upon him. ![]() ![]() It is not a curse causeless, or for some light cause. Verses 15-44 If we do not keep God's commandments, we not only come short of the blessing promised, but we lay ourselves under the curse, which includes all misery, as the blessing all happiness. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God's favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. The blessings are here put before the curses. They are real things and have real effects. Verses 1-14 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. ![]()
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