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"Beginnings and Endings, Part VI"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iyMjeVoP8s
We are continuing in our current Series, “Beginnings and Endings.” Tonight, we are moving on in the Old Testament with our review of the word and the concept of “Endings” with one more occasion of an end taking place in the Book of Genesis. We read in Genesis 41:53: “And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.”
The Preacher's Homiletical has much to say about the seven years of plenty coming to an end, and the imminent seven years of famine and drought that God had revealed to Joseph. Pharaoh had a troubling dream which had two symbolic messages, that confused and upset him. Joseph's former proven ability to interpret dreams was brought to the Pharaoh's attention, and God revealed what was surely about to take place.
The Preacher's Homiletical tells us of this unfolding ending of the years of plenty: “The Seven Years of Famine:
I. Joseph’s administration. 1. It showed great prudence and skill. During the years of plenty he laid up for the years of famine. He was the prudent man that forseeth the evil. The time of plenty was the time of political and social salvation, and Joseph used it well. He did his work systematically and thoroughly. Consequently he has plenty of bread for the people throughout the years of famine. The policy of selling the corn, instead of giving it, was both good and wise. The people would thus have the motive for exertion, and at the same time be able to maintain the dignity of, at least, a nominal purchase.
2. It showed a spirit of dependence upon God. The meaning of the dream was given to Joseph by the inspiration of God, and he had faith that God would carry out His own word.
3. It was the exhibition of a character worthy of the highest confidence. Pharaoh could only say to the Egyptians: “Go unto Joseph, what he saith to you, do.” Both intellectual and spiritual qualities are required in a true ruler of men, and with both, in a remarkable degree, Joseph was endowed. A pious disposition, modest and retiring graces of character may adorn obscure lives, but he who has to deal much with mankind, and to take a position of command and influence in this world’s business, must possess the wisdom of the serpent as well as the harmlessness of the dove. Mere piety by itself is not sufficient. Eli was a good, but a weak man, and therefore unfit to guide and command others. The power of intellect alone may be a power for evil, but combined with piety towards God it is a power for good.
II. Lessons. There are useful and important lessons to be learned from Joseph’s administration during these seven years of famine. 1. How quickly adversity waits upon prosperity! It is thus in the experience of individual lives. God hath set one over against the other. Blessings grow out of our afflictions, and also afflictions grow out of our blessings. A man may live many years in prosperity, and rejoice in them all; “yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many.”
2. What an advantage to have a true and powerful friend in the day of calamity! This Joseph was the temporal saviour of his country, and of many surrounding nations. All stores were laid up with him, and their administration committed to him alone. We have a Saviour and Deliverer from greater evils than those which fell upon Egypt, even Jesus in whom all fulness dwells, and to whom all are invited to go who are perishing for lack of the bread of life.
3. God often brings about His purposes of love and mercy by affliction. His beneficent purposes concerning nations, families, individuals. God is represented as “calling” for a famine, and “breaking the whole staff of bread.” He “called” for it that He might bring Jacob and his whole family into Egypt, and thus prepare those great events which were at length to bring his first begotten into the world for the salvation of mankind.
When the people heard that the days of plenteousness were to be seven years, thousands would no doubt be strongly tempted to say to their souls, “Eat, drink, and be merry; to-morrow shall be as this day, and so shall the next and many following days and years be, and much more abundantly.” But the day of prosperity was now at an end, and the days of adversity had arrived. The end of all the changing things in this world of change will soon come, and then the beginning of them will appear like yesterday when it is past. “A perpetuity of bliss is bliss,” and that only.—(Bush.)
In verse 54 we read, “And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.” The Preacher's Homiletical continues, “The evils threatened by God will fall heavily upon those who use not the proper means for averting them. Joseph could look forward with a steady eye, and without terror, to the days of famine, which came at the time specified, and were as grievous as he had predicted. When they came he knew that his wisdom would be acknowledged by all the land of Egypt, and by all the people of the surrounding countries.—(Bush.) Good Jacob is pinched with the common famine. No piety can exempt us from the evils of neighbourhood. No man can tell, by outward events, which is the patriarch, and which the Canaanite.—(Bp. Hall.)
In verse 55 we read, “And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.” Continuing, “If any of the people had refused to go to Joseph, they would have despised not Joseph only, but the king who had clothed him with power. And are not the despisers of our great Redeemer in like manner despisers of His Father, who has set Him as King in His holy hill of Zion? If we need food for our souls, to whom are we to have recourse but to Jesus, whom God has appointed as the sole dispenser of that bread which nourisheth unto everlasting life? Those who will not come to Him for the bread of life are despisers of their own mercies.—(Bush.)
In verses 56 and 57, we read, “And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.” Continuing, “Joseph did not throw open his storehouses until the people felt the pressure of hunger, else they would have wasted the fruits of his provident care. God reserves the blessings of His salvation until we feel the want of them. All that a man hath will he give for his life, and for those things that are necessary to preserve life. He will travel into the most distant regions rather than perish with hunger in the land of his nativity. Why, then, do men grudge a little labour, or a little expense, for what is no less necessary for our souls, than the bread that perisheth is for our bodies?—(Bush.)
Joseph is now filling up his generation work in useful and important labours; and like a true son of Abraham, he is blessed and made a blessing. Yet it was in the midst of this career of activity that his father Jacob said with a deep sigh, Joseph is not! What a large portion of our troubles would subside, if we knew but the whole truth!—(Fuller.)”
As the story continues to unfold, Jacob ultimately finds out not only that Joseph had not been killed, but he had been elevated to the Second in Command of the Egyptian Empire! Jacob's entire family emigrates to Egypt and takes up residence in the Land of Goshen, where they enjoy a privileged status as the relatives of the man whom God used to save not only the population of Egypt, but of all those nations that surrounded Egypt. But that privileged status came to an end...
We read in Exodus 1:8-11, “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens...”
Of this, Matthew Henry writes, “The land of Egypt here, at length, becomes to Israel a house of bondage, though hitherto it had been a happy shelter and settlement for them. Note, The place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our affliction, and that may prove the greatest cross to us of which we said, This same shall comfort us. Those may prove our sworn enemies whose parents were our faithful friends; nay, the same persons that loved us may possibly turn to hate us: therefore cease from man, and say not concerning any place on this side heaven, This is my rest for ever. Observe here, I. The obligations they lay under to Israel upon Joseph's account were forgotten: There arose a new king, after several successions in Joseph's time, who knew not Joseph. All that knew him loved him, and were kind to his relations for his sake; but when he was dead he was soon forgotten, and the remembrance of the good offices he had done was either not retained or not regarded, nor had it any influence upon their councils. Note, the best and the most useful and acceptable services done to men are seldom remembered, so as to be recompensed to those that did them, in the notice taken either of their memory, or of their posterity, after their death.
Therefore our great care should be to serve God, and please him, who is not unrighteous, whatever men are, to forget our work and labour of love, as we read in Hebrews_6:10. If we work for men only, our works, at furthest, will die with us; if for God, they will follow us. This king of Egypt knew not Joseph; and after him arose one that had the impudence to say, I know not the Lord. Note, Those that are unmindful of their other benefactors, it is to be feared, will forget the supreme benefactor.
II. Reasons of state were suggested for their dealing hardly with Israel. 1. They are represented as more and mightier than the Egyptians; certainly they were not so, but the king of Egypt, when he resolved to oppress them, would have them thought so, and looked on as a formidable body. 2. Hence it is inferred that if care were not taken to keep them under they would become dangerous to the government, and in time of war would side with their enemies and revolt from their allegiance to the crown of Egypt. Note, It has been the policy of persecutors to represent God's Israel as a dangerous people, hurtful to kings and provinces, not fit to be trusted, nay, not fit to be tolerated, that they may have some pretence for the barbarous treatment they design them. Observe, The thing they feared was lest they should get them up out of the land, probably having heard them speak of the promise made to their fathers that they should settle in Canaan. Note, The policies of the church's enemies aim to defeat the promises of the church's God, but in vain; God's counsels shall stand.
3. It is therefore proposed that a course be taken to prevent their increase: Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. Note, (1.) The growth of Israel is the grief of Egypt, and that against which the powers and policies of hell are levelled. (2.) When men deal wickedly, it is common for them to imagine that they deal wisely; but the folly of sin will, at last, be manifested before all men.
III. The method they took to suppress them, and check their growth. The Israelites behaved themselves so peaceably and inoffensively that they could not find any occasion of making war upon them, and weakening them by that means: and therefore, 1. They took care to keep them poor, by charging them with heavy taxes, which, some think, is included in the burdens with which they afflicted them. 2. By this means they took an effectual course to make them slaves.
The Israelites, it should seem, were much more industrious laborious people than the Egyptians, and therefore Pharaoh took care to find them work, both in building (they built him treasure-cities), and in husbandry, even all manner of service in the field: and this was exacted from them with the utmost rigour and severity. Here are many expressions used, to affect us with the condition of God's people.
They had taskmasters set over them, who were directed, not only to burden them, but, as much as might be, to afflict them with their burdens, and contrive how to make them grievous.
They not only made them serve, which was sufficient for Pharaoh's profit, but they made them serve with rigour, so that their lives became bitter to them, intending hereby, (1.) To break their spirits, and rob them of every thing in them that was ingenuous and generous. (2.) To ruin their health and shorten their days, and so diminish their numbers. (3.) To discourage them from marrying, since their children would be born to slavery. (4.) To oblige them to desert the Hebrews, and incorporate themselves with the Egyptians. Thus he hoped to cut off the name of Israel, that it might be no more in remembrance.
And it is to be feared that the oppression they were under had this bad effect upon them, that it brought over many of them to join with the Egyptians in their idolatrous worship; for we read that they served other gods in Egypt; and, though it is not mentioned here in this history, yet we find that God had threatened to destroy them for it, even while they were in the land of Egypt: however, they were kept a distinct body, unmingled with the Egyptians, and by their other customs separated from them, which was the Lord's doing, and marvellous.
IV. The wonderful increase of the Israelites, notwithstanding the oppressions they groaned under: The more they afflicted them the more they multiplied, sorely to the grief and vexation of the Egyptians. Note, 1. Times of affliction have often been the church's growing times - Being pressed, it grows. Christianity spread most when it was persecuted: the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. 2. Those that take counsel against the Lord and his Israel do but imagine a vain thing, and create so much the greater vexation to themselves: hell and earth cannot diminish those whom Heaven will increase.”
Our next examination of “Endings” also involves the time of the children of Israel, and their suffering under cruel bondage. We read in Exodus 12:41: “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
It would be understandable if some of us just read over how this event is described. But I would like to share with you John Gill's notes on the phraseology of this “Ending.” He writes, “even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt; which was the fifteenth of Nisan; and Jarchi says it was on the fifteenth of Nisan that the decree was made known to Abraham between the pieces, concerning the affliction of his posterity four hundred years in a land not theirs; but this is not to be depended on; yet it looks as if at the close of the four hundred and thirty years, from the date of them, exactly to a day, the children of Israel, the armies of the Lord, came out of Egypt in great order:
However, it seems certain by this that they all came out the same day, which was very wonderful that such a large number should be collected together, and that they should march out of the land on one and the same day; and it is pretty plain it was in the daytime, and very likely in the midst of the day; for they were not to stir out of their houses till morning, and then they had what remained of the passover to burn, as well as many other things to do, it is very probable, and some which they could not do; so that they did not go by night, or by stealth, but openly at noon day; and the words will bear to be rendered, "in the strength or body of the day," when it is at its height, as it is at noon; and so the Jews represent the Lord speaking after this manner, "If I bring out Israel by night, the Egyptians will say, now he does his work after the manner of thieves; but behold, I will bring them out in the midst of the day, in the strength of the sun, as is said, "and it was in the selfsame day."
(r) בעצם היזם הזה "in corpore diei hujus", Pagninus, Montanus; "in the body" or "strength of that day", Ainsworth. (s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. fol. 58. 2.”
As they journeyed toward the Promised Land, Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God by which He would govern His people. Moses communed with God for forty days and nights. We read in Exodus 31:18: “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”
John Gill writes, “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him on Mount Sinai,.... After all those laws, orders, and instructions before related, which having done, he ceased to converse with him any longer in that manner he had, and at parting gave him two tables of testimony; the two tables of the law, which is a testimony of the will of God, and contained the duty of the Israelites both towards God and man, and are reducible to these two, love to God, and love to our neighbour: five of the commands of the decalogue were written on one table, and five on the other; or it may be rather four on one table, the first being the largest, and containing the duty owing to God, and six on the other, which regard the duty of men one to another;
Dr. Shaw says that part of Mount Sinai, which lies to the westward of the plain of Rephidim, consists of a hard reddish marble like "porphyry," This may denote the firmness, stability, and duration of the law, not as in the hands of Moses, from which these tables were cast and broke, but as in the hands of Christ, and laid up in him the ark of the covenant, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness: and it may also figure the hardness of man's heart, which is destitute of spiritual life, obdurate and impenitent, stupid, senseless and ignorant, stubborn and inflexible, and not subject to the law of God, and on which no impressions can be made but by the power and grace of God:
written with the finger of God: by God himself, and not by an angel, or by any creature or instrument: and it is by the finger of God, the Spirit, grace, and power of God, that the laws of God are put into the inward part, and written on the heart, to which the apostle refers. This account is given by way of transition to what is recorded in the next chapter.
(s) De Deo, "prope finem". (t) Travels, p. 443. (u) See Buxtorf. in voce סנה.”
I would like to share with you a personal theory of mine about what Jesus wrote when the woman who was taken in adultery was brought to Him. Many people have wondered what He wrote as Scripture is silent about it. But I also think Scripture gives us several electrifying clues about what Jesus might have written, based on, once again, the phraseology. Let's notice the flow of events, and what the account says about what Jesus wrote. We read beginning in John 8:4: “They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”
The first clue is found in verse 6: “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground...” We just saw how God wrote The Ten Commandments on the two tablets that He gave Moses: “written with the finger of God.” Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. John 1:3 tells us, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Genesis 1:1 tells In the beginning, God created... That had to have been been the One Who became Jesus Christ! Jesus said in John 8:56, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day...” The One Who became Jesus Christ was the Creator in Genesis 1; He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He was the One Who wrote The Ten Commandments on the two tables of stone “with the finger of God.” And now that same Member of the Godhead, as a human being in the flesh, was writing in the dirt with His finger. Before He stooped down the second time to continue writing, Jesus said in verse 7, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Think about it for a second: There were two tablets which defined what God declared to be sin. Jesus stoops down twice to write with His finger. Now, I admit that I may be completely wrong, but I believe that Jesus re-wrote The Ten Commandments in two "installments," only this time in the dirt with His finger, which was, in fact, the finger of God. I don't believe that the woman's accusers were reading their own names or specific dates and times in the dirt, as some have theorized. I believe Jesus simply re-wrote The Ten Commandments for them to read, which identified the sins which each of them, at one time or another, had surely committed. The first time He stooped down, He re-wrote the first four Commandments that had to do with loving God. Then He stooped down again and re-wrote the last six Commandments that dealt with loving our neighbor. As the woman's accusers read of each Commandments, and recognized their own guilt before God ~ literally ~ they had no choice but walk away in shame and disgrace. To me, all the details fit together nicely, but, as I said I fully accept the prospect that I could be wrong. Either way, that is my theory, and I wanted to share it with you all.
As we proceed into our examination of “Endings” in the Old Testament, we move forward to that time when Moses' leadership was challenged by Korah, and 250 men of renown in Israel. We read, beginning in Numbers 16:28: “And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.”
Of this, John Gill writes, "And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these things:
As soon as he had finished his discourse, which was addressed to the congregation, and, according to Josephus, after a long prayer to God, which that writer gives at large; immediately so it was:
that the ground clave asunder that was under them; on which they stood, not from any natural cause, as by subterranean volcano, forcibly making their way and bursting the earth, and so getting vent, which has been thought to be the cause of earthquakes; but this was by the immediate hand and almighty power of God, and came to pass just as Moses suggested it would, and as soon as he had uttered his words, which made it the more observable.
(u) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 3. Sect. 2."
As we proceed, after God repeats the punishments that would come upon Israel for their unyielding disobedience, we read in Deuteronomy 32:29: “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!”
John Gill writes, “that they would consider their latter end; either the latter end of the Jews; had they wisdom, they would understand and observe that the displeasure of God against them, and his destruction of them, was for their lightly esteeming the rock of salvation; and for setting up their own righteousness, in opposition to the righteousness of Christ; and were they wise, they would be hereby cautioned against such notions; and though imbibed by them, would relinquish them; as they may justly fear some such like end will be theirs: for if God does not give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth their end must be miserable; since the errors they embrace and profess are what the apostle calls "damnable heresies"; who, denying the Lord that bought them, bring on themselves swift destruction; and whose judgment, he says, lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.
(k) לו חכמו "o si sapcrent", Tigurine version; "si sapuissent", Vatablus; "si saperent", Cocceius.”
Our next “Ending” is found as a summary statement of the Book of Job 42:12: “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.”
Matthew Henry writes, “The Lord comforted him now according to the days wherein he had afflicted him, and blessed his latter end more than his beginning. Observe,
1. The blessing of the Lord makes rich; it is he that gives us power to get wealth and gives success in honest endeavours. Those therefore that would thrive must have an eye to God's blessing, and never to out of it, no, not into the warm sun; and those that have thriven must not sacrifice to their own net, but acknowledge their obligations to God for his blessing.
2. That blessing can make very rich and sometimes makes good people so. Those that become rich by getting think they can easily make themselves very rich by saving; but, as those that have little must depend upon God to make it much, so those that have much must depend upon God to make it more and to double it; else you have sown much and bring in little.
3. The last days of a good man sometimes prove his best days, his last works his best works, his last comforts his best comforts; for his path, like that of the morning-light, shines more and more to the perfect day. Of a wicked man it is said, His last state is worse than his first, but of the upright man, His end is peace; and sometimes the nearer it is the clearer are the views of it. In respect of outward prosperity God is pleased sometimes to make the latter end of a good man's life more comfortable than the former part of it has been, and strangely to outdo the expectations of his afflicted people, who thought they should never live to see better days, that we may not despair even in the depths of adversity. We know not what good times we may yet be reserved for in our latter end.
Job, in his affliction, had wished to be as in months past, as rich as he had been before, and quite despaired of that; but God is often better to us than our own fears, nay, than our own wishes, for Job's possessions were doubled to him; the number of his cattle, his sheep and camels, his oxen and she-asses, is just double here to what it was. This is a remarkable instance of the extent of the divine providence to things that seem minute, as this of the exact number of a man's cattle, as also of the harmony of providence, and the reference of one event to another; for known unto God are all his works, from the beginning to the end. Job's other possessions, no doubt, were increased in proportion to his cattle, lands, money, servants, etc. So that if, before, he was the greatest of all the men of the east, what was he now?”
Our next stop is the Book of Psalms which speaks of a variety of Endings. First, we read in Psalms 7:9: “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.”
Of this, Albert Barnes writes, “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to and end - Of all the wicked; wickedness not in this particular case only, but wickedness of all forms, and in all lands. The prayer here is a natural one; when a man becomes impressed with a sense of the evil of sin in one form, he wishes that the world may be delivered from it in all forms and altogether. But establish the just - The righteous. This stands in contrast with his desire in regard to the wicked. He prays that the righteous may be confirmed in their integrity, and that their plans may succeed. This prayer is as universal as the former, and is, in fact, a prayer that the world may come under the dominion of the principles of truth and holiness.
For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins - That is, the hearts and reins of all people. He understands the character of all people; he is intimately acquainted with all their thoughts, and purposes, and feelings. To search or try “the heart and the reins” is an expression frequently used in the Bible to denote that God is intimately acquainted with all the thoughts and feelings of people; that is, that he thoroughly understands the character of all people. The word “heart” in the Scriptures is often used to denote the seat of the “thoughts;” and the word “reins” seems to be used to denote the most secret feelings, purposes, and devices of the soul - as if lodged deep in our nature, or covered in the most hidden and concealed portions of the man. The word “reins,” with us, denotes the kidneys. In the Scriptures the word seems to be used, in a general sense, to denote the inward parts, as the seat of the affections and passions.
The Hebrews seem to have regarded the “reins” as the seat of the affections and passions, though perhaps only in the sense that they thus spoke of the “inward” parts, and meant to denote the deepest purposes of the soul - as if utterly concealed from the eye. These deep thoughts and feelings, so unknown to other people, are all known intimately to God, and thus the character of every man is clearly understood by him, and he can judge every man aright. The phrase used here - of trying the hearts and reins - is one that is often employed to describe the Omniscience of God. The particular idea here is, that as God searches the hearts of all people, and understands the secret purposes of the soul, he is able to judge aright, and to determine correctly in regard to their character, or to administer his government on the principles of exact justice. Such is the ground of the prayer in this case, that God, who knew the character of all people, would confirm those who are truly righteous, and would bring the wickedness of the ungodly to an end.”
We read, next, in Psalms 22:27: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.”
John Gill writes of this verse, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,.... That is, all the elect of God among the Gentiles, who live in the farthermost parts of the world, for whom Christ is appointed to be their salvation, and whom he calls to look to him for it; these shall remember the Lord whom they have forgotten, and against whom they have sinned, how great and how good he is; they shall be put in mind of their sins and iniquities committed against him, and call to mind their latter end; and consider, that after death will come judgment to which they must be brought; they shall be apprised of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, in providing and sending him to be the Saviour of lost sinners, by his sufferings and death, at large described in this psalm;
which will encourage them to turn unto the Lord, since they may hope for full pardon of sin, through his blood and sacrifice; and to turn from their idols, and from all their evil ways, and from all dependence on themselves or on creatures, to trust in and serve the living God in faith and fear; which turning is usually brought about under and by the ministry of the word; which is appointed to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; and has this effect when it is attended with the Spirit and power of God; for conversion is not the work of man, neither of ministers nor of men themselves, but of God, in which men are at first passive;
they are turned, and then, under the influence of grace, become active, and turn to the Lord, by believing in him, and so cleave unto him: and likewise remembrance of the above things is not owing to themselves, but to the Spirit of God, who puts them into their minds; and which is very necessary and essential to conversion, even as a remembrance of past things is necessary to a restoration after backslidings, which is a second conversion;
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee; not only externally, by praying before the Lord, and attending on his word and ordinances; but internally, in spirit and in truth, which worshippers the Lord seeks; such spiritual worship being suitable to his nature, and such worshippers believers in him are; this must be understood of some of all nations, kindred and tongues, whom Christ has redeemed by his blood, and calls by his grace.”
As we continue in the Book of Psalms, we read in Psalms 37:37: “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”
Albert Barnes writes, “Mark the perfect man - In contrast with what happens to the wicked. The word “perfect” here is used to designate a righteous man, or a man who serves and obeys God. The word “mark” here means “observe, take notice of.” The argument is, “Look upon that man in the end, in contrast with the prosperous wicked man. See how the close of life, in his case, differs from that of a wicked man, though the one may have been poor and humble, and the other rich and honored.” The point of the psalmist’s remark turns on the end, or the “termination” of their course; and the idea is, that the end of the two is such as to show that there is an advantage in religion, and that God is the friend of the righteous. Of course this is to be understood in accordance with the main thought in the psalm, as affirming what is of general occurrence.
And behold the upright - Another term for a pious man. Religion makes a man upright; and if a man is not upright in his dealings with his fellow-man, or if what he professes does not make him do “right,” it is the fullest proof that he has no true piety.
For the end of that man is peace - DeWette renders this, 'For a future has the man of peace.' It may, therefore, refer to anything future; and would be well expressed by the word “hereafter;” the “hereafter” of such a man... The connection - the contrast with what happens to the wicked, would seem to imply that it is used here particularly and especially with reference to the close of life. The contrast is between the course of the one and that of the other, and between the “termination” of the one course and of the other. In the one case, it is ultimate disaster and ruin; in the other, it is ultimate peace and prosperity. The one “issues in,” or is “followed by” death and ruin; the other is succeeded by peace and salvation.
The word “peace” is often employed in the Scriptures to denote the effect of true religion: (a) as implying reconciliation with God, and (b) as denoting the calmness, the tranquility, and the happiness which results from such reconciliation, from his friendship, and from the hope of heaven. The meaning here, according to the interpretation suggested above, is, that the future of the righteous man - the whole future - would be peace; (a) as a general rule, peace or calmness in death as the result of religion; and (b) in the coming world, where there will be perfect and eternal peace. As a usual fact religious men die calmly and peacefully, sustained by hope and by the presence of God; as a univeral fact, they are made happy forever beyond the grave.”
The next verse reads in Psalms 37:38: “But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.”
John Gill writes, “Psalms 37:38: But the transgressors shall be destroyed together,.... This is to be understood of obstinate and continued transgressors, who live and die in their transgressions; otherwise all men are transgressors in Adam, and sinned and fell with him in his transgression; and are justly called transgressors from the womb; and are guilty of actual transgressions, nor are any clear from them; and are arraigned, convinced, and judged by the law as transgressors; and for many of these Christ died, and makes intercession; and who are converted, and turned from their transgressions; and these are pardoned, and saved, and not destroyed: but stubborn and perverse transgressors are destroyed;
not only with a temporal destruction of their substance, and of their names, and they themselves are rooted out of the earth; but with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power; for this seems to refer to the day of judgment, when all the wicked will be "together"; and shall in a body stand at Christ's left hand, and be bid to go, "ye cursed into everlasting fire,” and shall be turned into hell at once, and together;
the end of the wicked shall be cut off; meaning either their posterity, as the word is rendered in Psalm 109:13; or their hope and expectation of good things here and hereafter; when the righteous man receives the end of his faith, hope, and expectation, even the salvation of his soul; but these shall be disappointed and frustrated of their end; or their last end is cutting off from the presence and sight of God, utter ruin and destruction; and so it stands opposed to the end of the perfect and upright man, which is eternal peace and happiness.”
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Beginning and Endings, Part VI.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on August 8th, 2018.