Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 8
THE VIII. LECTVRE.
AMOS. 2.6, 7, 8.
Thus sayth the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure, I will not turne away the punishment thereof; because they sould the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shooes.
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore; and turne aside the way of the meeke, and a man and his father will goe in vntounto the same maid, to prophane my holy Name.
And they lay themselues downe vponupon clothes layd to pledge, by eueryevery altar, and they drinke the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.
FOr Israels sake, Amos the peculiar Prophet of Israel, hath hitherto made knowne vntounto Israel, what God his pleasure was, concerning their neighbour-Nations. The iudgements of God against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites were first manifested: then followed his iudgments against Iudah. These might hauehave serued Israel in stead of so many mirrours, or looking glasses, wherein they might hauehave beheld the iudgements, that hung ouer their heads also.
From the iudgements of God denounced to forreine nations, the people of Israel might thus within themselues hauehave reasoned: Our God! All hisaDeut. 32.4. wayes are iudgement; he is a God of truth, without iniquitie; iust and right is he. The Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, must they, for their misdoings, be punished? How then shall we escape? They sillie people, neuer knew the holy will of God; and yet, must they be measured with the line of desolation? What then shall be the portion of our cup, who knowing Gods holy will, hauehave not regarded it.
Againe, from the iudgements of God pronounced against Iudah, the people of Israel might thus within themselues hauehave argued: GodbPsal. 9.7. ministreth his iudgements in vprightnesse. He threatneth destruction to our brethren, the people of Iudah: that people, whom all that saw them, acknowledged to be thecEsa. 61.9. blessed seed of the Lord; that people, that was thedEsa. 5.7. plant of the Lords pleasures; that people, with whom God placed hisePsal. 114.2. sanctuarie; vponupon that people will the Lord send a fire, to deuoure them? What then shall be the end of vsus? They our brethren of Iudah, hauehave preserued among them Religion, the worship and feare of the Lord, in greater puritie then we hauehave done; and yet will the Lord send a fire vponupon them, to deuoure them? Certainly, our iudgement cannot be farre off.
Amos hauing thus prepared his auditors the Israelites, to attention, maketh no longer delay; but beginneth to deliuer his message to them, in the words, which I hauehave now read vntounto you: For three transgressions of Israell and for foure, I will not turne away the punishment thereof, &c. Herein, for our more direct proceeding, may it please you to obserue with me,
1. Autoritatem sermonis; The authoritie of this Prophecie: Thus sayth the Lord.
2. Sermonem ipsum; The Prophecie it selfe: For three transgressions of Israel, &c.
In the Prophecie, as farre as this Chapter leadeth vsus, we hauehave,
1. Reprehensionem; A reproofe of Israel for sinne, vers. 6, 7, 8.
2. Enumerationem; A recitall of the Benefits, which God had heaped vponupon Israel, vers. 9.10.11.
3. Exprobrationem; A twitting of Israel with their vnthankefulnesse, vers. 12.
4. Comminationem; A threatning of punishment to befall Israel for their sinnes, ver. 13. to the end of the Chapter.
The Reprehension is first; and first by vsus to be considered. In it we may note,
1. A generall accusation of Israel: For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure.
2. A protestation of Almightie God against them: I will not turne away the punishment thereof.
3. A rehearsall of some grieuous sinnes, which made a separation betweene God and Israel: Because they sold the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes; and so forward to the end of the eyghth verse.
You hauehave the deuision of my Text. Now followeth the exposition. The first thing we meete with, is, Autoritas sermonis, the authoritie of this prophecie.
Thus saith the Lord] Iehovah. Now the thirteenth time is this great Name of God, Iehovah, offered to our deuoutest meditations. We met with it in the first chapter of this book nine times; and thrise before in this: and yet, by this name Iehovah, is not God knowne to vsus. We know him by the name of a strong, omnipotent, and All-sufficient God, but by his Name, Iehovah, we know him not. Abraham, Isaac, & Iacob, by this Name knew him not: it is so recorded, Exod. 6.3. Nor can we by this Name know him. For this Name is a Name of Essence. It designeth God vntounto vsus, not by any effect of his, but by his Essence: and who euer knew the Essence of God? who was euer able to define it?
ThefPet. Galatinus de arcanis Cathol. verit. lib. 2. cap. 1. schoole-men say, there are three things whereof they can giuegive no definition: One is, that first matter, out of which all things were produced: The second is, Sinne, that hath destroyed all: The third is, God, who preserueth all. The first, which is the Philosophers Materia prima, they define not obsummam informitatem, because it is without all forme: The second, which is mans bane, Sinne, they define not obsummam deformitatem, for its exceeding deformitie: The third, euen God, the prime cause of all his creatures, they define not ob summam formositatem, for his transcendēt beautie. It pleaseth the Schoolmen sometimes thus to play with words. For the matter they are in the right.
It is true:gAquin. par. 1. qu: 1. art. 7. ad 1 m. De deo non possumus scire, Quid est: We cannot attaine to so great a measure of the knowledge of God, as to define what he is. When the Poet hCic. de Nat. Deorum. lib. 1.Simonides was asked of K. Hiero, what God is? He wisely for answere desired one dayes respite, after that two, then foure; still he doubled his number: at last; of his delay he gaue this for a reason: Quanto diutiùs considero, tanto mihi res videtur obscurior; the more I consider of this matter, the more obscure it seemeth vntounto me. Cotta iniIbid. Tullie said not amisse, Quid non sit Deus, citiùs quàm quid sit, dixerim; I can with more ease tell, what God is not, then what he is. This goeth for a truth in the schooles.kAquin. par. 1. qu: 3. in principio De Deoscire non possumus quid sit, sed quid non sit: we cannot know of God what he is; but what he is not. So saith SaintlIn psal. 85. Augustine; Facilius dicimus quid non sit, quam quid sit Deus; We can more easily say, what God is not, then what he is.
And what is he not? The same father in his 23. Tract vponupon the Gospell of S. Iohn will tell you: Non est Deus corpus, non terra, non coelum, non luna, non Sol, non Stellae, non corporalia ista. God is not a bodie, he is not the earth, he is not the Heauen, he is not the Moone, he is not the Sunne, he is not the Starres, he is not any of these corporall things.
From hence sprang those Negatiue attributes of God, which we meete with, either in the sacred volumes of the New Testament, or in the writings of the ancient Fathers: from hence is God said to bem1. Tim. 1.17. immortall, invisible,nRom. 1.23. vncorruptible,oBernard serm. 6. Supra Cantica. incorporeall,pAug. de verb. Apostoli. Serm. 1. ineffable, inestimable, incomprehensible, infinite,qBernard paruorum sermonum serm. 51. immense, vndiuided, vnuariable, vnchangeable. All these shew vntounto vsus, not what God is, but what he is not. And whosoeuer thus thinketh of God, as he is set forth in these his Negatiue appellations, though hereby he cannot altogether find out what God is, piè tamen cauet, quantum potest, aliquid de eo sentire, quod non sit, saith S. Austine de Trin lib. 3. cap. 1. yet his religious care is, to conceiue somewhat of God, that he is not.
You see, it is easier for vsus to say, what God is not, then what he is: easier for vsus to conceiue of him by his Negatiue attributes, then by his affirmatiue. Yet by his affirmatiue attributes are we brought to some knowledge of God. For hereby we know, that he is therGen. 21.33. euerlasting God, thesPsal. 83.18. most high God, thetRom 16.27. onelyonly wise God; that he isuGen. 17.1. omnipotent, andxAp…c. 15.4. holy, andyDeut. 32.4. iust, andzExod. 34.6. mercifull, and gracious, and long-suffering, and good, and true.
Whatsoeuer is verified of God in either sort of his Attributes; Affirmatiue or Negatiue, it is all comprised in this one name of God in my text; his name Iehovah. For this name Iehovah, is the name of the Essence of God: and whatsoeuer is in God, it is his Essence.
It was one ofaDe Deo Not. ad Disp. 3 p. 209 Vorstius his foule errours to deny the truth of that vulgarly receiued Axiome: Nullum omnino in Deo accidens esse. It is simply and eueryevery way true: There is no accident at all in God. God he is primum ens, his being is from all eternity; he is forma simplex, a pure forme, no subiect; there is nothing in God, which is not God; there is nothing in God really diuerse from the essence of God; there is nothing in God obnoxious to imperfection, separation, or change; therefore it followeth against Ʋorstius, there is no accident at all in God. God he is Iehouah: hee is absolutely and totally essence.
Thus saith Iehouah] By this name Iehouah, we are taught three things.
First, that God of himselfe, and through himselfe, hath alwayes beene, now is and euer shall be. So is this name by a Periphrasis expounded, Reuel. 1.4. Grace be vntounto you, and peace from him, which is, which was, and which is to come. And, Reuel. 16.5. Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be. This exposition of this name Iehou…h. is giuen bybStr…mat. lib. 5. Clemens Alexandrinus, andcIn Exod. qu. 15 & Epist. Diuinorum dogmatum. Theodoretus Cyrensis, that Iehouah, for its signification is, foreign, He that is.
Secondly, we are taught by this name Iehouah, that the essence, or being of all things created is from God; according to that, Acts 17.28. In him we liue, and moue, and hauehave our being; and that, Rom. 11.36. Of him, and through him, and to him are all things.
Thirdly, we are taught by this name Iehouah, that God doth giuegive Esse reale, a reall being to his promises & threatnings: that he is veracissimus and constantissimus, most true and most constant, in doing whatsoeuer he hath promised or threatned.
This consideration of this great Name, Iehouah, may yeeld much comfort to all the Elect of God, and his faithfull ones. Though they seeme todEsa. 51.17. drinke the dregs of the cup of trembling, and to be euen swallowed vp of eRom. 8.35, 36tribulation, of distresse, of persecution, of famine, of nakednesse, of perill, of the sword; though they be as killed all the day long, and accounted as sheepe for the slaughter; yet heereby, they may be well assured, that all the good things promised to them in the holy word of God shall in their due time be accomplished. For God who hath promised, hee is the Lord, he is Iehouah.
Againe this consideration of this great name Iehouah, may strike a terror into the hearts of the reprobate and vnbeleeuers. TheyfPsal. 73.12. prosper in this world, they encrease in riches, they hauehave more then heart can wish, their eyes stand out with fatnesse, they are clothed with violence, as with a garment, they are compassed with pride, as with a chaine, they are not in trouble, they are not plagued like other men: yet may they heereby bee assured, that all the euill threatned to them in the holy word of God, shall in due time ouertake them. For God, who hath threatned hee is the Lord, hee is Iehouah.
Thus saith the Lord] Iehouah. Sundry other obseruations vponupon these verv words in so many syllables deliuered fiue times in the first chap…r of this book, and twice before in this second chapter, hauehave heeretofore been commended to your Christian considerations. They are in part published to your view: therefore I neede not spend time in repetition of them. By this which hath this time beene spoken, you see whence this prophesie against Israel hath its authority. The authority of it, is from the Lord, Iehouah: whom once to name vntounto you, should bee enough to procure your most religious attentions. Proceede wee therefore to the prophesie it selfe.
The first thing therein is the Accusation of Israel in a generality, For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure.]
By Israel heere we are to vnderstand those ten tribes of Israel, who after King Salomons death, forsooke the Kings sonne Rehoboam, and subiected themselues to the rule of Iereboam, sonne of Nebat. Those ten tribes, from the time of that rent, were commonly called the Kingdome of Israel. These in Holy Scripture are called sometimegHos. 10.15. Bethel, sometimehHos. 10.5. Bethauen, sometimeiAmos 3.9. Samaria, sometimekHos. 2.22. Iesreel, sometimelAmos 5.6. Ioseph, sometimemHos. 10.11. Ephraim, sometimenHos. 12 2. Iacob, sometimeoHos. 10.1. Israel. Israel is, their most common name, and their name in my text.
For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure] Diuerse are the opinions concerning these foure transgressions of Israel. Nicolaus de Lyra saith, their first transgression was, their pGen. 37.26.selling of Ioseph; the second, their qExod. 32.4.worshipping of the Calfe; the third, their r1 King. 12.16.forsaking of Dauid; the fourth, their selling of Christ. Paulus de Palatio saith, the first transgression was, their defection from the house of Dauid, and the King of Iudah; the second, their defection from the worship of God, to the worship of Idols; the third, their defection from the law of Moses, which was Gods law; the fourth, their defection from the law of nature, which is the light of Gods countenance sealed in our hearts. sDomini. 8. post Trin. Con. 1.Abraham Bronius saith, the first of these transgressions was their idolatry; the second, the slaughter of the Prophets; the third, the murther of Christ; the fourth, their contempt. They made a trade of transgressing. These expositions seeme to bee farre fetched. Albertus Magnus findes them neerer hand, in the letter of my text. The first transgression he will hauehave to be, the selling of the iust; the second, the oppression of the poore; the third, their peruerting the way of the meeke; the fourth, the violation of matrimony. These are but so many descants vponupon the words of my text, For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure.
Three and foure make seuen. It seemeth then, that Israel transgressed against God seuen times. Seuen times! It is plaine by Scripture, that they transgressed Saepiùs ac saepiùs, as Mercerus speaketh, many a time & oft: yea, from the diuision of their Kingdome vnderunder Ieroboam, sonne of Nebat, their first King, vntounto Hoshea, sonne of Elah, their last King, they did nothing but transgresse against the Lord their God, what by Idolatry, and what by other wickednesses. Heere then, by three and foure, which make seuen, we are to vnderstand many.
The rule holds true in Diuinity: A finite number is oftentimes put for an infinite. S. Austin hath obserued it, lib. 3. de doctrina Christi, cap. 35. I thus explicate it. In Leuit. 26.18. to the rebellious and disobedient, thus saith the Lord: If ye will not yet, for all this, hearken vntounto me, then I will punish you seuen times more for your sinnes. Seuen times more, that is, many times more, will I punish you. Hannah in her song, 1 Sam. 2.5. hath this straine; The barren hath borne seuen children. By seuen there, you are to vnderstand many: Shee that was barren, hath borne many children. Dauid in Psal. 119.164. sayth; Seuen times a day doe I praise thee. Seuen times, that is, many times; as if had sayd, Semper laus eius in ore meo, All the day long am I in the praises of my God. Salomon in Prou. 26, 25. aduiseth vsus not to beleeue the gracious words of an enemy, because, saith hee, there are in his heart seuen abominations. Seuen abominations, that is, many abominations, many sly purposes lie hidden in the heart of an enemy. What neede more examples? By these few the phrase in my text is plaine. The seuen transgressions of Israel (for three & foure are seuen) the seuen transgressions of Israel, are the many transgressions of Israel. In this phrase then doth the Lord obiect vntounto Israel innumera peccata, the multitude of their sinnes. For which he is vnwilling any longer to forbeare them: whereupon followeth his protestation against them, I will not turne away the punishment thereof.
For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure, I will not turne away the punishment thereof] The meaning is; if once, if twice, yea, if a third time only the Israelites had offended mee with the greeuousnesse of their transgressions, I could hauehave tolerated them, and would not hauehave cast them from out my sight: but now; whereas a fourth time, s…piùs & saepiùs, againe and againe, they relapse and fall backe to their impieties, and with a shamelesse forehead, make no end of sinning; certa stat sententia, I am resolued, no more to recall them to my fauour, but to leaue them to themselues: that obstinate and indurate, as they are, in the multitude of their abominations, wherein they hauehave so deepely plunged themselues, they may suddenly bee cast into the pit of destruction.
Now from these two first parts of this prophesie, the generall accusation of Israel for sinne, and the Lords protestation against them for the same, ariseth this lesson, God is euer in open hostility with sinners.
A sinner ouer-valuing the vanities wherein his delight is placed, first neglecteth God, then hateth him. Thus affected, he would, if possible, disarme God of his authority, pull his power from him, and cast him out of his state. Hee could wish, there were no immortality of the Soule, no account to be made of our actions, no reward, no reuenge, no Iudge to punish. So willing is hee to bathe himselfe in the imaginary contentment and pleasures of sinne. I can put no great difference between this sinner and an Atheist. The Atheist thinketh, there is no God; this sinner wisheth, there were no God.
Now God, who feeleth the pulse of this sinners heart, and searcheth his inmost thoughts, & seeth his traytorous affection, can he be at peace with him? King Ioram sayd to Iehu, 2 King. 9.22. Is it peace Iehu? Iehu answered, what peace, so long as the whoredomes of thy mother Iezabel, and her witch-crafts are so many? This sinner happily will looke to be at peace with God: but he is soone answered, What hast thou to doe with peace? What peace with God doest thou looke for, so long as thou castest away his feare, and liest wallowing in thy sinnes?
I must grant it: God is the God of peace; the Scripture saith it more then once, Rom. 15.33, and chap. 16.20. and in*2 Cor. 13.11. Phil. 4.9. 1 Thess. 5.23. 2 Thess. 3.16. Hebr. 13.20. other places. But what is this to the sinner? Nothing at all. For the same Scripture will assure him, there is no peace to him; Esai 48.22. and 57.12. To the sinner the Lord will shew himselfe, quasi bellator fortis, as hee is called, Ierem. 20.11. hee will shew himselfe as a stout warriour. And for such he is described, Deut. 32.41. There thus saith the Lord concerning sinners: If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on iudgement, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrowes drunk with their blood, and my sword shall deuoure their flesh? To like purpose is that, which we read of Gods dealing with sinners, Psal. 7.12. He whets his sword, he bends his bow, and makes it ready, hee prepareth for them the instruments of death, he ordaineth his arrowes against them. So hauehave you my doctrine established, God is euer in open hostility with sinners.
Is God euer in open hostility with sinners? Consider this all yee that feare God; remember it all ye, that beare the image of the Almighty. The sinner, that is ouertaken with three transgressions, and with foure, that lieth in his sinnes, and walloweth in his iniquities, his case is fearefull, his estate lamentable. God proclaimeth against him open warre, most certaine destruction, and will not turne away his punishments from him. Let it (Beloued) rouze vsus vp from that sleepe of sinne, wherein we hauehave too long rested. All the good gifts, and benefits of God, which God hath bestowed vponupon vsus for our good, we hauehave abused to sinne. God hath giuen vsus vnderstanding to meditate vponupon his holy lawes, but our vnderstanding we hauehave peruerted to the transgression of his holy Lawes. God hath giuen vsus the will to louelove him aboue all things, and our neighbours, as our selues; but we hauehave diuerted our will to the contempt of God, and the hate of our neighbours. God hath giuen vsus the tongue to powre forth his praises, but our tongues we hauehave defiled with impure oathes, and ougly blasphemies. God hath giuen vsus hands for instruments to feed the poore, and to defend them, but the strength of our hands we hauehave wasted in crueltie and rapine. In a word, God hath giuen vsus our soules, and our bodies, all the faculties of the one, all the members of the other, all, to doe him seruice; but we hauehave imployed all to his dishonor.
Dearely beloued, what shall we doe? The best aduise I can giuegive, is that, which Christ giueth his Spouse in the Canticles, chap. 6.13. Returne, returne, O Shulamite; returne, returne, that we may behold thee. I thus paraphrase it: Returne, O my Spouse, daughter of Ierusalem returne, returne to me, returne to thy selfe, returne to thy former feeling of my Grace, returne, that both my selfe and all the companie of Angels, may see thee, and reioyce in thee.
This Spouse of Christ is the mother of vsus all, the holy Catholique Church, in whose bosome we are nourished. Take we then the aduise giuen vntounto her, for an aduise vntounto our selues. Returne we from our euill wayes, returne we from our three and foure transgressions, returne we from all our sinnes, returne we to the Lord our God, that both he and all the companie of Angels may see vsus, and reioyce in vsus. Mutet vitam, qui vult accipere vitam, saith S. Augustine Serm. 1. de tempore: if wee will enioy the blessed life of Heauen, we must change our wicked life on earth. If we will not change it, but will still beare about vsus whorish lookes, the euish faces, proud hearts, couetous thoughts, malicious mindes, lustfull eyes, slandering tongues, bloody hands, and drunken desires (from which God Almightie defend vsus all) our portion must bee the accursed death of Hell. God will not turne away his punishments from vsus
Thus far of the generall accusation of Israel, and the Lords protestation against them; in those words, For three transgressions of Israel, and for foure, I will not turne away the punishment thereof. It followeth, Because they sold the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes.
Here beginneth the rehersall of those grieuous sinnes, which made a separation betweene God and Israel. In these words two sinnes are specified; Crueltie, and Couetousnes. Their Cruelty I note in selling of the righteous, and the poore: their Couetousnes, in as much as they did it for siluer, and for a paire of shoes. I take the words in their order.
They sold the righteous for siluer] A man may be said to be righteous, either by imputation, or by vertue, or by comparison, or by course of law. The righteous man by imputation is he, whom Habakkuk speaketh of, chap. 2.4. The iust shall liue by his faith. There the iust or righteous man is he, to whom the Lord imputeth not his sinnes, which he hath committed. The righteous man by vertue is he, whom Dauid-speaketh of, Psal. 11.3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous doe? There the righteous man is he, whom we call virum bonum, a good man. The righteous man by comparison is he, whom Habakkuk speaketh of, chap. 1. 13. Wherefore holdest thou thy tongue, when the wicked deuoureth the man, that is more righteous, then he. There the righteous man is he, that is the lesse wicked: the Iewes, though wicked, are yet called righteous in comparison of the Chaldaeans, who were more wicked. The righteous man by course of law is he, whom Esay speaketh of, chap. 5. 23. Wo vntounto them which iustifie the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him. There the righteous is he, that hath a righteous cause: and this is the righteous man in my text; whom the Israelites are said to hauehave sold for siluer.
They sold the righteous for siluer] For siluer, that is, for money. The like phrase we hauehave in Micah, chap. 3.11. where it is said of the Prophets of Israel, they diuine for siluer, that is, they diuine only for monyes sake. For monyes sake to condemne the righteous, it is ingens piaculum; it is a very heynous offence, not to be purged without deepe satisfaction. And therefore in the forecited place of Esai, chap. 5.23. a woe is denounced to such offenders. Salomon saith they are an abomination to the Lord, Prou. 17.15. He that iustifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the iust: euen they both are abomination to the Lord. I may not now enlarge my notes.
You vnderstand, what it is, to sell the righteous for siluer It is, to to take away the righteousnes of the righteous from him; and that is, to be hired by money, bribes, or rewards, to giuegive sentence against the man, whose cause is iust, and righteous.
They sold the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes] By the poore here we may vnderstand the cause of the poore: as in Amos 5.12. They afflict the iust, they take a bribe, and they turne aside the poore in the gate. They turne aside the poore in the gate] that is, they turne the poore man out of his right: they ouerthrow the poore mans cause in iudgement.
Againe, by the poore here, we may vnderstand the man, that is in miserie; the man, that is vnworthily afflicted; the man, that is tossed, turmoiled, grieuously disquieted by some mighty wicked man.
This poore man, the Israelites did sell, foreign, say the Septuagint; pro calciamentis, saith the Vulgar Latin: they sold him for shoes. The word in the originall is foreign of the duall number. It signifieth, two shoes. Our new English translation well rendereth it, A paire of shoes.
They sold the poore for a paire of shoes] If they sold, some bought. Such buyers we finde, Amos 6.8. They tooke order to buy the needie for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes. There they are bought, here they are sold: and all for a paire of shoes.
For a paire of shoes] It is a prouerbiall speech; a speech fit to be vsed, if we would signifie a thing to be litle or nothing worth, of small estimation, of vile price. The like prouerbiall speech we hauehave, Prou. 28.21. There it is said of the man, that respecteth persons, that he will transgresse for a peece of bread. For a peece of bread, that is, for the vilest gift, for the basest commoditie. In which sence Cato said once to Coelius: frusto panis conduci potest, vel vt taceat, vel vt loquatur: A man may hire him with a peece of bread, either to speake, or to hold his peace.
We now vnderstand what our Prophet meaneth in these words; They sold the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes. They] The Israelites, the*Micah 3.11. heads of Israel, the Iudges of Israel; they sold] they circumvented, they beguiled, they betrayed the righteous] him, whose cause was righteous, and iust: they sold the righteous for siluer] for money, for a bribe, for a reward: and they sold the poore] the needy man, the man afflicted, or his honest cause, for a paire of shoes] for a morsell of bread, for any base commoditie, for a trifle.
They sold the righteous for siluer, and the poore for a paire of shoes] Here the Iudges of Israel are taxed for Crueltie, and Couetousnesse: for Cruelty, because they sold the righteous, and the poore: for Couetousnes, because they sold them for siluer, and for a paire of shoes. The lesson which we may take from hence, is this, Cruelty and Couetousnes in Iudges and Magistrates, are two of the sinnes, for which God bringeth States to ruine.
You see it plaine in my text. God would not turne away his punishments from Israel, because of the Cruelty and Couetousnes in the Iudges of Israel. These sins are most eminent in Iudges and Magistrates, but are reproveable in all sorts of men. The Cruell and the Couetous, be they of whatsoeuer rancke in a Common wealth, they are very burdensome to God himselfe. God himselfe in this chapter vers. 13. cryes out against them: Behold I am pressed vnderunder you as a cart is pressed, that is full of sheaues.
The time will not suffer me to inlarge my meditations vponupon the discouerie of these two sinnes; Cruelty and Couetousnes. I shall hauehave occasion to meete with them againe in the beginning of the next verse; where they are amplified, and may hope for the benefit of your new attention.
For the present, let vsus be admonished, that we suffer not our selues to be ouercome of these or any other sins.
Sinne! It produceth very sad and dolefull effects. It blindeth our vnderstanding, while it taketh from vsus the supernaturall light of diuine grace; it staineth and defileth our consciences, with its filthinesse; it accuseth vsus before the Lord of grieuous iniuries done against his Maiestie: it impouerisheth vsus, when it spoiles vsus of all spirituall good; it dishonoreth vsus, when it diffameth vsus in the sight of the Angels, and the whole Court of Heauen; it holdeth vsus captiue, and depriueth vsus of all liberty of well-doing; it bindeth vsus with the chaines of euill custome; and brings vsus within the danger of falling daily from bad to worse; vulnerat nos in bonis naturalibus, occidit in gratuitis, saith Cornelius Mussus B. of Bitonto: it woundeth vsus in all the good faculties of our nature, and slayeth vsus in the free graces, wherewith God hath beautified our soules.
You see (dearely beloued in the Lord) you see what a tyrant Sinne is. It stoppeth vp the fountaines of Grace, and hindereth the streames of heauenly comfort from comming to vsus. Yet; yet our life is nothing, but a trade of sinning. In vsus, in our flesh, there dwelleth no good. Day by day, yea many times a day, we transgresse Gods holy Commandements, we heape sinne vponupon sinne, and repent not.
What remaineth, but that we powre forth our prayers to Almightie God, that he will be pleased to giuegive vsus true repentance for the wickednes of our fore-passed liues, and in his good time to loose vsus from this bodie of sinne, and to couple vsus to himselfe in Heauen: where we may with the whole multitude of Saints, sing vntounto him an Halleluiah: Blessing, saluation, honor, glory, and power be vntounto him that fitteth on the throne, and to the Lambe for euer and euer. Euen so be it.