ing verfes. Under the reign of Manaffeh king of Judah, the Lord brought upon them the captains of the hoft of the king of Affyria, who took Manaffeh and many of his people to Babylon, as it is written 2 Chron xxxiii. 11. After that Jehoahaz was elevat. ed to the throne of Judah, Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah, and carried him away into Egypt, where he died, 2 Kings xxiii. 33, 34. In the days of Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Jerufalem, and befieged it, and carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes and mighty men of valour, even ten thoufand captives, and all the craftsmen, as ye may fee 2 Kings xxiv. 10. et feq. When Zedekiah was king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, with all his hoft, befieged Jerufalem, took the city, feized Zedekiah, bound him with fetters of brafs, and carried him to Babylon: and afterward Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard, a fervant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerufalem, and burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerufalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire; and the remnant of the multitude he carried away: 2 Kings xxv. In after-times the Romans treated this people in the fame manner with the Allyrians and Chaldees, and completed that captivity and deftruction which was often foretold in prophecy. Thus went the houfe of Ifrael into captivity, according to this prediction, as a juft punishment of their many aggravated tranfgreffions.Think upon the miferies that Ifrael must have fuftained in thefe captivities, and from thence learn the evil and the danger of offending God.

Because they have no knowledge. Ignorance is the certain confequence of inconfideration: inconfideration is the natural effect of luxury and diffipation, which arife from gratified avarice and ambition. According to this procefs, Ifrael had become deftitute of that excellent knowledge, more precious than gold, which confifts in intimate acquaintance with the per

fections,

fections, providence, and falvation of God, with the mifery and danger of our condition, and the means whereby the eternal enjoyment of Jehovah may be attained. Such is the fupreme excellence and inestimable value of this knowledge, that, in comparison of it, all other things ought to be efteemed only as drofs or dung. It lies at the foundation of all true godlinefs, and is abfolutely neceffary to the love of God, and giving him that homage he juftly requires. Who can love God that doth not know he is perfectly amiable? who will worship him that doth not know he is infinitely glorious? who will obey him that is not acquainted with his fupreme authority? and who will praise him that doth not know his confummate goodnefs? The want of this knowledge was the reproach and ruin of the people of Ifrael, whofe minds were blinded through the pernicious influence of carnal affections, and foolish prejudices, in fo much that they neither obferved the figns of the times, nor ftudied the word of God. On this account they are thus defcribed by the prophet Jeremiah: My people are foolish, they have not known me, they are fottifh children, and they have none understanding: they are wife to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge *.' And in after-times the apostle Paul charged them with the fame criminal ignorance, for which they had been notorious in the days of the prophets, as ye may fee Acts xiii. 27. where he affirms, That they that dwelt at Jerufalem, and their rulers, knew not the Son of God, nor yet the voices of the prophets which were read every Sabbath-day. They were willingly ignorant, becaufe they found it more difficult to increafe knowledge than to indulge in ignorance, more eafy to fin in darknefs than in the light of knowledge.Admonished of the danger arifing from the neglect of knowledge, permit me to address every one of you in the words of Solomon :

My fon, incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply ' thine heart to understanding: yea, if thou crieft after knowledge, and lifteft up thy voice for underftanding: if thou feekeft her as filver, and fearcheft for her, as for hid treafures: then fhalt thou un⚫derstand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."

And their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. These words feem intended to defcribe fome of the direful calamities which the most refpectable people, among the pofterity of Ifrael, were to experience in the time of their captivity. Their honourable men, who were most esteemed on account of the dignity of their station, the greatness of their abilities, and the usefulness of their employments; their men of glory (as the Hebrew words fignify), who were most eminent for pomp and splendour, were to be reduced to the greatest ftraits, and to become men of famine. Such perfons were to experience the reverfe of their former condition. They who frequently feafted at the most elegant entertainments, who fared fumptuously every day, and were much admired for their riches and affluence, were to feel the terrible effects of famine, and to be reduced to the utmost extremity, in want of the neceffary fupports of life.And their multitude dried up with thirst. The common people, who were addicted to drink to excefs, were to be parched with thirst, through the intenfe heat of the climate, the long journeys, and hard labour, to which they fhould be obliged to fubmit.Thefe predictions were remarkably verified about the time of the Babylonish captivity, as appears from the fecond chapter of the book of Lamentations; and were more fully accomplifhed, in the complicated miferies to which the Jews were expofed, and actually sustained from the Romans. Hence let us be inftructed to use with mo

Prov. ii. 2.-5.

deration

deration the good things of this world, fince God, in righteous judgment, often deprives thofe of the neceffaries of life, who have abufed the affluence they once enjoyed, for gratifying their corrupt appetites.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth fhall defcend into it.

This verfe reprefents the certain confequences of the preceding judgments. The word hell, in fcripture, fometimes fignifies the grave, or state of the dead : in this fenfe we understand the words of Mofes, in which he affirms, refpecting Korah and his companions, who were fwallowed up in the earth, and bu ried alive, that they defcended quick into hell *.* At other times, it denotes the state of destruction and mifery with which death and the grave are followed to the wicked and ungodly; which is its obvious meaning in these awful words, The wicked fhall be • turned into hell +.' Death, the grave, and deftruction, are frequently introduced, both in facred and profane writings, in the form of a ravenous monster, opening wide his devouring jaws, that he may quickly fwallow his prey. Of this you have an inftance in the words which the wife man puts into the mouths of finners, enticing others to join them in their wicked practices: They fay, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without caufe: let us fwallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as thofe that go down into the pit. A proud ambitious man is faid to enlarge his defires as hell; and is as death which cannot be fatisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and ⚫heapeth unto him all people .' The image is strong

*Numb. xvi. 30, 31. + Pfal. ix. 17. + Prov. i. 11, 12.

Hab. ii. 5.

and

and expreffive in the highest degree. The people, to whom this prediction relates, indulged in feafting and drinking; and, therefore, were to perifh with hunger and thirst and their avaricious conquerors were to indulge their appetite as much as they had done, and devour them all. At the periods to which this prediction looked forward, the proud monarch of Babylon, and after him the mighty Roman emperor, enlarg ed themselves, they opened their mouths without meafure, and greedily deftroyed the Jewish people, which once were the flock of God's pafture, but having become ripe for deftruction, fell a prey to their enemies.

And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, &c. Thefe expreffions may denote the power and authority, the riches and affluence, the flocks and herds, the children and fervants, by which they were enabled to make a confpicuous figure in the eyes of men, and rendered honourable and respectable in the view of the world. Their glory may comprehend whatfoever acquired for them reputation and renown, and conveyed to them a pre-eminence above others. In this fenfe, the infinite mercy of God is called his glory, and the paffing over a tranfgreflion is faid to be the glory of a man. The fons of Laban affixed this meaning to the glory of which they fpake, in their invidious complaint against Jacob, when they affirmed,

Of that which was our fathers hath he gotten all this glory *.- With their glory and pomp, their multitude is joined; which confifted of the whole body of the Jewish nation, the great bulk of the people; fo exceeding numerous, even at the time in which this prediction received its completion, that, according to Jofephus, they amounted to two millions five hundred and fifty-fix thousand perfons. be that rejoiceth fhall defcend into it: he that rejoiceth in his perfonal qualifications of ftrength and comeliness, in his external advantages of riches and honour, in

Gen. xxxi. 1.

And