Jewish Hypocrisy, Chapter 11
CAP. XI.
1. The third obſervable, That the prophets were the cauſe of the peoples hypocriſie. 2. Proved out of Micah, Iſaiah and Hoſea. 3. Out of many places in Jeremiah. 4. And of Ezekiel. 5. Their perſecution of the true prophets aroſe from hence. 6. Therefore they were firſt deſtroyed; which is proved out. of Ezekiel. 7. The fourth obſervable, That this made them ſo eaſily revolt unto Idolatry when occaſion ſerved.
1. IT is time now to come to the third of thoſe four things that I ſaid were to be obſerved; which is this, That the hypocriſie and partial dealing (which was treated of in the former Chapter,) was cheriſhed by the Generality of the Prophets and Prieſts, who had exceedingly corrupted their ways and loved nothing better then filthy lucre. The ſtudy of the prophets was to curry favour with the Rulers; and to pleaſe the people, which made them preach ſmooth doctrines, ſoft and oilely ſermons that ſhould never grate upon the conſcience, leaſt they ſhould loſe their gain, or deminiſh their worldly advantages. And the Prieſts cared for no more but that the worſhip of God at the Temple might be maintained, that it might maintain then; that there might be a multitude of offerings and ſacrifices, whereby their fees might be increaſed and made more plentiful. And ſo both the one and the other of them made the nation believe they were religious and godly enough ſo long as they worſhiped not Idols though they did all thoſe other villanies that I have been ſpeaking of.
2. For the proof of this, you may read the Prophet Micah who ſaith, Chap. 3.5. That they made Gods people to erre, and that when anything was put into their mouths, then they would cry peace; but if nothing were put into them, then againſt that man they would at all adventures proclaim war. He muſt be Gods enemy that was not a friend to their belly and purſe, and God could do him no harm, that would be kind to them. VntoUnto which you may add that which you read v 11. of the ſame chapter, where the Prieſts and Prophets (we are told) made a trade of their office, and ſold their words, as the princes did of theirs, who ſold juſtice. With whom agrees the Prophet Iſaiah, who was his contemporary as you may ſee Chap. 56.10.11. Where he likens them to a company of hungry dogs, in regard of their greedineſs, covetouſneſs and inſatiable deſire of riches and pleaſure; but otherwiſe he ſaith they were like to ſleepy curs that bark at no body; or if they do lift up their head and give a yelp or two, lay themſelves down again in their ſweet ſlumber. i. e. They were careful for their own private concernments, but they would never reprove any for their wickedneſs; or if they did, it was ſo gently as if they were afraid to diſpleaſe them. And ſo likewiſe the prophet Hoſea teſtifies, Chap 4.8. that they eate the ſin of Gods people, and ſet their heart on their iniquity, i. e. They eat the ſin offering which was not lawful duplicate page duplicate page for them to meddle withal if the blood was carried into the holy place; or they eat more of the ordinary ſin-offerings then they ſhould, feeding themſelves even with Gods portion, they ſet their heart on this iniquity; or rather they were glad not ſorrowful of the peoples ſins, and ſet their heart on the peoples iniquity, becauſe they eat of their ſin, and lived by the ſacrifices for it. They were ſo far from reproving the people for their faults, that they loved their ſins and rejoyced at their treſpaſſes, becauſe they would bring them in more large proviſions by the ſacrifices that were appointed for expiation of them.
3. The prophet Jeremiah alſo lets us know that even ſuch perſons as they who ſhould have been the Fathers of the people, were guilty of ſheding the blood of the juſt in the midſt of Jeruſalem. Lam. 4.13. Their holy garments were ſtained with thoſe foule ſins of oppreſſion and cruelty; and they were as viſible upon them as in the reſt of the Nation. They cried up (it is likely) the purity of their Church, the holineſs of their ordinances, the devotion of their Rulers, and the forwardneſs of the people to divine worſhip, and thence concluded without any farther ſcruple that God would not deſtroy ſuch a people as they were, and that the King of Babylon ſhould not come into ſuch an holy City. They ſaid even unto thoſe that deſpiſed the Lord, You ſhall have peace; and unto every one that walked after the imagination of his own heart, No evil ſhall come upon you. Jer. 23.17. Every one from the leaſt even unto the greateſt was given unto covetouſneſs; from the Prophet even unto the prieſt every one dealt falſly; For they healed the hurt of the daughter of Gods people ſlighly, ſaying peace peace when there was no peace. Jer. 8.10, 11. And were they aſhamed when they had committed all theſe abominations? Nay, they were not at all aſhamed, neither could they bluſh, v. 12. If you would know the reaſon of this confidence, it is apparent that they imagined they were holy perſons, and ſaid, We are wiſe, and the law of the Lord is with us, v. 8. which words ſignifie that they laid the greateſt weight of their hopes upon that piece of Religion which hath reſpect to God, though they had no reſpect at all in their actions towards the good of one another. And the very ſame words you ſhall find in another place Chap. 6. 13, 14, 15. and that which deceived them, was, their Sacrifices wherein they truſted, as you may gather from v. 20. where God ſaith, To what purpoſe cometh there to me incenſe from Sheba? and the ſweet cane from a far countrey? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your ſacrifices ſweet to me. And you may obſerve alſo that when theſe prophets could not avoid but they muſt propheſie of ſome evil that ſo they might imitate the true prophets and not be ſuſpected for meer flatterers by ſpeaking of nothing but peace and proſperity; then they ſaw for them falſe burdens and cauſes of baniſhment, Lam. 2.14 Some little miſchief or other they foretold ſhould come if they did not amend; ſome ſmall burden they laid upon them which the people did not much dread; and ſo their threatnings were but mock burdens, like the reproof of flatterers who ſmile while they give them; like the Dogs (Iſaiah ſpoke of) who when they ſeem to bite their maſters, they do not faſt en their teeth.
4. Unto this you may add the words of Ezek. Chap. 22. v. 25, 28, 29. where he tells us of the defection which both prieſts, prophets, princes and people had made from God, ſo that there was not ſo much as a man among the people to make up the hedge and to ſtand in the gapp againſt the wrath of God, which had made a breach upon them. And particularly he ſaith of the prophets and prieſts that they were like ravening Lyons, had devoured ſouls, made many widdows, dawbed with untempered morter, ſeen vanity and divined lyes. Let me intreat you to read the whole 13. Chap. where he relates how the Prophet & Propheteſs ſeduced the people preaching peace, when there was no peace, and ſtrengthening the hands of the wicked that he ſhould not return from his wicked way, by promiſing of him life. The prophets they promiſed the people ſecurity and built an imaginary wall of defence about them v. 10. The propheteſſes they bid them be as quiet and at as much eaſe as men are when they leane their arms on a cuſhion; And if any mans head did but ache, they had a kerchief for it to bind it about, and make him ſleep in ſecurity without any fear of danger. v. 18. And all this unfaithfulneſs to ſouls they were guilty of for the vileſt, the ſmalleſt gain imaginable; For an handful of barly or a bit of bread they would pollute Gods, name and ſlay poor ſouls that depended on them. v. 19.
5. And more then this, they perſecuted the true prophets who dealt ſincerely with the people and told them the great danger that was impending over them. One place in the Prophet Jeremiah may ſerve inſtead of all for the atteſting of this charge againſt them, which is Chap. 26. where they accuſe him to the Princes for nothing elſe but becauſe he prophecied deſtruction to them. v. 8, 9.
Some of the Elders indeed were affected with his propheſie, and brought for his juſtification in what he had ſaid, the example of Micah, who had ſpoken the ſame words in the time of Hezekiah, and yet that King did not put him to death, but feared the Lord, and laboured for a reformation, ver. 18, 19.
But then the people have their ſtory to oppoſe to this, (in ver. 20. which ſeems to be their words) How that Urijah had lately taken the ſame boldneſs to propheſie in the preſent Kings reign againſt their City, but the King would not endure it, but though he fled into Aegypt, yet he ſent after him and brought him home, and ſlew him with the ſword in a diſgracefull manner. And it ſhould ſeem that had not Ahikam reſolutely ſtood his friend, this laſt ſtory had prevailed againſt Jeremiah, ver. 24. And in the next chapter, we read that ſome of them undertook to propheſie that ſhortly the veſſels of the Lords houſe ſhould be brought again from Babylon that had been lately carried thither. And though Jeremiah aſſured them of the vanity of this aſſertion, yet in the next after that, chap. 28. there aroſe a Prophet, who to pleaſe the people aſſigns the punctual time when it ſhould be done; and out of a great conceit ſure that they were Gods beloved people, whatſoever did befall them; there aroſe Prophets in Babylon among them of the firſt captivity, who foretold the ſame things with thoſe at Ieruſalem, as you may ſee chap. 29. In ſo much that it became a Proverb among thoſe that were left ſtill there, that another captivity would never come, whatſoever the Prophets ſaid, Ezek. 12.22, 23, &c. And they plainly intimate, Ier. 18.18. that they had as good Prophets as he, and ſhould alwayes have, notwithſtanding he propheſied their deſtruction; and therefore ſeeing they could well ſpare him, they deviſed how to diſpatch him out of the way, that he might not trouble them.
6. But theſe Prophets who made the people believe the captivity ſhould never come, did themſelves firſt feel the burden of it before any other perſons. The wall of defence, that bulwark of ſecurity that they built for them in their Sermons being laid together and daubed with untempered morter, it fell down upon them that daubed it, ſo that it was ſaid, This Wall is no more, neither they that daubed it, Ezek. 13.15, 16. And theſe two things are remarkable in another viſion of his (chap. 9.) where he ſees the ſlayers ſent forth to deſtroy all thoſe in the City that did not ſadly bewail the ſins of it. Firſt that the Prieſts were firſt puniſhed; for he bids him begin at the Sanctuary, and it is ſaid they ſlew the Elders which were there, and ſo went forth and ſlew in the City, ver. 6, 7. Secondly, That they were all ſlain and deſtroyed, none of them being ſpared; for though they are bidden to mark ſome in the City, ver. 4. yet you read of none to be marked in the Sanctuary. And therefore Ezekiel complains as he if was left alone, ver. 8. i. e. in viſion he was preſent at this ſlaughter made among the Miniſters in the Sanctuary, and he could ſee no Prieſt remaining there but himſelf. So dangerous a thing it is to have a form of godlineſs without the power of it actuating the whole ſoul, that ſuch perſons run themſelves into deſtruction by their falſe hopes and dreams of Gods favour; and bring likewiſe all their credulous admirers, and thoſe that hang upon their lips, into an unexpected ruine with them. I ſhall not preſume ſo far as to tell you what examples we have of this in our age of the world; but paſs to the fourth thing obſervable, which ſhall be quickly diſpatched, becauſe I have ſtaid ſo long upon the two former.
7. From hence you may perceive the reaſon why they did ſo caſily upon any occaſion revolt from God and fall to Idolatry again. They were but half reformed, and retained the very root of Idolatry in their hearts; and therefore rather then ſuffer any thing from the diſpleaſure of a new King, they would ſet up the falſe worſhip again, and become of his Religion. For ſo you may ſee that after Hezekiahs time who had made a great change among them, Manaſſeh and the people with him returned to their Idols; and after Joſiah, it is the complaint of Ieremiah, that they went a whoring from God. Now what reaſon can be aſſigned for this, but that their hearts were rotten, and though they prided themſelves in a Religion, yet it was that which they did not underſtand; or love upon any other account but as it did maintain them in their preſent covetouſneſs and violence? Whence it came to paſs that the ſame covetous affections made them change their Religion when there was no other way to ſerve them. And as their reformation in Religion was ſometimes a cloak for their covetouſneſs; ſo in proceſs of time their covetouſneſs made them think any religion to be good enough, and to debauch the worſhip of God without any alteration of their confidence. And this run them alſo upon another miſchief, which was, that when they had forgotten God, and principles of Conſcience, though they were confident, yet it was in the power and ſtrength of men rather then in God, who uſed to defend them marvelouſly. Is Iſrael a ſervant (ſaith Ieremy, chap. 2 14.) is he an home-born ſlave? i. e. doth not God care how he uſes him, or what miſery he expoſes him unto, as men do with their ſlaves that they have full poſſeſſion of? Is he not Gods ſon, yea his firſt born? but how then comes it to paſs that he is ſpoiled? The Prophet anſwers that indeed both Aſſyria and Aegypt had devoured him, ver. 15, 16. but it was his own fault who forſook his God, and ſought to thoſe for help who rather did him harm, ver. 17, 18. And ſo it will be with every one (as it was with him, ver. 19.) who betakes himſelf to evil courſes to defend what he hath as unjuſtly gotten: His own wickedneſs ſhall correct him, and his back-ſlidings ſhall reprove him; he ſhall know that it is an evil thing and a bitter that he hath forſaken the Lord, and that his fear is not in him.