forth his hand against them, and hath fmitten them and the hills did tremble, and their carcafes were torn in the midft of the ftreets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is ftretched out ftill.

This verfe contains a further defcription of the pu nishment which was to be inflicted upon the pofterity of Jacob, on account of the fins above-mentioned.It is extremely difficult to conceive, how the almighty God is affected by the good or bad conduct of men; how he can be pleafed or difpleafed with their actions. As his nature is unchangeable, without variableness, and shadow of turning, fo his felicity is immutable, and cannot admit either of increafe or diminution. Notwithstanding, he hath taught us to confider obcdience to his will as highly acceptable to him; and the tranfgreffion of his law as no lefs difpleafing to him, and expofing to his wrath, which is here faid to have been kindled against his people. Anger, indignation, wrath, and fury, are afcribed to God in fcripture. Properly fpeaking, none of thefe angry paffions are in the all-perfect Jehovah; but they are attributed to him, when he acts in a manner fomewhat fimilar to men, under the influence of thefe affections. There is no change in him, but in his difpenfations toward his people, when his anger, here compared to fire, is kindled against them. The anger of God, like fire, which is the most terrible of all the elements, is the moft dreadful attribute of Jehovah; and when kindled and blown up into a flame, by the prefumptuous, perfifted-in tranfgreffions of men, it burns with vehemence, until it confume both root and branch.-This wrath of the Lord is faid to be kindled againft his people,' whom he had appropriated to himfelf as his peculiar treafure, whom he had diftinguifhed from all other na tions by the moft excellent prerogatives, and who profeffed themselves devoted to his fervice and obedience. Their wickednefs became greatly aggravated by the privileges

Rr

6

privileges which they abused, in fo much that when God declared, by the prophet, that he would plead with them, he thus fpeaks; Pafs over the ifles of 'Chittim, and fee, and send unto Kedar, and confider diligently, and fee if there be fuch a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory, for that which doth not profit. Be aftonifhed, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very defolate, faith the Lord.' So enormous were their crimes, that they were unparalleled among other nations; and therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against them.-Beware, my friends, of kindling the wrath of the Most High, of which none knoweth the power, what it can do, and how far it may go. Cordially embrace the Son of God, and yield him the most humble and dutiful homage, left he be angry, and ye perish when his wrath is kindled

but a little.

And he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and bath fmitten them. By the hand of God, is here meant, as in many other places of fcripture, his mighty power, whereby he punifhes incorrigible finners, and executes upon them righteous vengeance. This hand of the Lord is faid to be ftretched out, ready for immediate exertion, that he may inflict deferved judgments upon tranfgreffors. Thefe he fometimes difpenfes by the intervention of inftruments, which he employs for this purpofe: hence the wicked are called, God's hand +. At other times, he fends unexpected calamities upon a perfon or people, which come immediately from himfelf, whilst he acts without the inftrumentality of the creature; many instances of which occur in the courfe of divine providence. And hath fmitten them. God is faid to fmite, when he afflicts with terror, with famine, with peftilence, with the fword, with difeafes and death:

* Jer. ii. 10, 11, 12.

† Pfal. xvii. 14.

in all these various ways, he is faid to have fmitten tranfgreffors. The expreffion is used in the book of Exodus, with refpect to the deftructive plagues wherewith God vifited the Egyptians: I will ftretch out my hand (faid he to his fervant Mofes), and fmite Egypt with all my wonders.' The ftroke to which the prophet here refers, was a very fevere one, and reached to old and young, to great and fmall. The Almighty required Ifrael, when they took a city, to fmite every male with the edge of the fword, and to fpare the women, the little ones, and the cattle +. Whereas when God reached that terrible blow to the pofterity of Ifrael, which is here spoken of, no age, fex, or condition whatsoever, was exempted from feeling the effects of the out-stretched arm of Jehovah. The hoary head of the aged, the tenderness of the children, the tears of the mothers, the beauty of the maids, the wisdom of the prudent, the power of the great, the eloquence of the orator, could not procure deliverance from the ftroke of divine vengeance wherewith they were fmitten.-The confequences

were,

And the hills did tremble. Similar expreffions to this frequently occur in fcripture, in which thofe actions are attributed to inanimate creatures, which, properly speaking, are peculiar to thofe only which are endowed with life. The words feem to allude to the tremour occafioned by the ftroke of the workman's hammer upon fome hard body; and, in their lowest sense, intimate the great effects which were to be produced by the powerful arm of Jehovah ftretched to fmite his people. Viewing the hills in the figurative fenfe, in which they are often mentioned in the prophetic writings, they denote great men, confpicuous on account of their eminent flation, and diftinguifhed dignity. As in the difpofition of this earth, the great Creator made fome places of it

*Exod, iii. 20.

+ See Deut. xx. 13, 14.

plain and low, others high and mountainous, fo in like manner he hath formed fociety. Some men ftand upon level ground, in the middle ranks; others are fituated in a low and depreffed condition, like the valley and meadow grounds; whilft a few, like hills and mountains, are elevated far above thofe around them. Such were to be the extenfive effects of God's finiting his people, that perfons of the highest rank, emperors, kings, and princes, were to be truck with dread and trembling, at the fudden unexpected approach of the terrible judgments which the hand of God would inflict.

And their carcafes were torn in the midst of the Streets. Thofe who were to fall victims to the im pending deftruction, were to be deprived of the bene fit of a decent burial, which is generally esteemed a defirable privilege. Their dead bodies were to be barbarouffy treated by their cruel enemies, and ex pofed as a prey to the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, by whom they fhould be mangled and devoured.If the divine judgments here mentioned, were executed at the time this prophecy was delivered, they must have been thofe which befell the Jews in the days of Ahaz, of which we read, 2 Kings xxviii. 6, 7. 17, 18. et feq. Some of the neighbouring princes and ftates, with their great men, then tottered and fell: the king of Affyria overthrew the kingdom of Syria, and greatly weakened Ephraim. If the prophecy looked forward, as I rather fuppofe, to times which were then at a great diftance, it may relate to the calamities which were inflicted upon the Jews at the deftruction of their state by the Romans, which was attended with great commotions among various empires and ftates.Be admonished then to ftand in awe of God's righteous judgments. Though we fee them not, though we feel them not, the information we receive concerning them, ought to excite in our minds a holy fear and dread. This proper effect the awful threatenings fulminated against the old

world

world produced in Noah, the preacher of righteouf nefs, as affirmed by the apostle, writing to the Hebrews: By faith Noah being warned of God of ⚫ things not feen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the faving of his house. Surely if we ought to stand in awe of threatened judgments, we ought to fear and glorify God on account of his judg ments already made manifeft, especially when the following words are fubjoined :-For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is ftretched out ftill. After a man hath been greatly incenfed, and hath fe verely punished the objects of his displeasure, his wrath. commonly begins to fubfide, and he ceafes farther to exert himself for their correction. His anger then seems to be turned away. It was otherwife here. Notwithstanding the above dreadful threatenings which God had denounced against his people, his difpleafure was not abated: his hand which was.stretched out to fmite, he still retained in that posture, in immediate readiness farther to afflict them, for thofe complicated tranfgreffions from which they would not defift. These words are thrice repeated in the ninth, and once in the tenth chapter of this prophecy, where the truth of them is fully evinced by the connection in which they stand.

26 And he will lift up an enfign to the nations from far, and will hifs unto them from the end of the earth: and behold, they fhall come with speed fwiftly.

In this and the following verfes, we are acquainted with fome circumftances relative to the forces which the Almighty was to employ in fmiting his people for their fins. He was to convene them ípeedily, by erecting a standard for this purpofe, and by calling them to his fervice, fo as to give them intimation of

• Heb. xi. 7.