Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.
Parallel Translations
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Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.
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Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
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Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place; because of the uncleanness thereof, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Micah 2:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 12:9 for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Psalms 106:38 They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Hebrews 4:1-9 Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;” and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.” Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter into it, and they to whom the good news was preached before failed to enter in because of disobedience, he again defines a certain day, today, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
- Leviticus 20:22-26 “ ‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. “ ‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- Deuteronomy 30:18 I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.
- Joshua 23:15-16 It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you, when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then Yahweh’s anger will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.”
- 1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Jeremiah 9:19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ”
- Ezekiel 36:12-14 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.” “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’ therefore you shall devour men no more, and not bereave your nation any more,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
- 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
- Psalms 95:11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
- Jeremiah 10:18 For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.”
- Leviticus 18:24-28 “ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you (for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled), that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
- Jeremiah 3:2 “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here again the Prophet checks the foolish confidence of…
Here again the Prophet checks the foolish confidence of the people. The land of Canaan, we know, had been honored by God with the distinction of being a rest; yea God called it, not only the rest of the people, but also his own rest,
‘I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,’ (Psalm 95:11.)
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The land of Canaan then was a sort of rest, hidden under the wings of God; for the Lord had assigned it as an inheritance to his chosen people. As God then dwelt in that land, and had also given it to the children of Abraham, that they might rest there in safety, and as this was also one of the blessings contained in the Law, hypocrites said, pursuing their usual course of falsely and groundlessly claiming to themselves the favors of God, that they could not be thence expelled, and that those Prophets were falsifiers who dared to change any thing in God’s covenant. This is the reason why the Prophet now says,
Arise, depart; this is not your rest. “False confidence,” he says, “deceives you, as ye think that ye are inseparably fixed in your habitation. God indeed has made such a promise, but this condition was added, — If ye will stand faithful to his covenant. Now ye are become covenant-breakers: ye think that he is fast bound to you; all the cords are loosened; for as ye have perfidiously departed from the Law of God, there is now no reason for you to think that he is under any obligation to you. There is then no ground for you to boast of being a holy people; you have indeed the name, but the reality has ceased to be: therefore arise and depart: but to sit still securely and proudly will avail you nothing, for God will now drive you afar off: and I now declare to you that you must arise and depart, for ye cannot rest in this land against the will of God: and God will now thrust you out of it.” We now perceive the real meaning of the Prophet.
He afterwards adds, For it is polluted; he will scatter you with violent scattering Here again he vindicates God from their calumny and ungodly murmurings. We indeed know how difficult it was to bring down that people, who were steeped in so great a perverseness. And we find that the Prophet had a hard contest with the hypocrites, for the multitude had ever this language in their mouths, — What! is it of no moment that God has favored us with so many and so remarkable promises? Is our adoption nothing but a mockery? Has he in vain given us this land by an hereditary right? Since then hypocrites thus brought forward their privileges in opposition to God, and yet abused them, it was necessary to convince them to the contrary, and this is what the Prophet does here, — “Ye call,” he says, “this land your rest, but how do you rest in it? God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath, for he dwells among you to sanctify you: but ye live disorderly, and carry on war with God himself: have not your pollutions obliterated that holy rest, which has been enjoined on you by God? Ye then see that this change has happened through your fault, that is, that God has ceased to call this land, as he was wont formerly to do, your and his own rest. It is not then your rest; he will therefore scatter you with violent or strong scattering: Ye in vain promise to yourselves rest in this land, since ye carry on war with God, and cease not to provoke his wrath against you.” It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Jerusalem shall not be your safeguard: but the cause…
Jerusalem shall not be your safeguard: but the cause of your destruction.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Mic 2:10 Arise ye, and depart; for this [is]…
Mic 2:10 Arise ye, and depart; for this [is] not [your] rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy [you], even with a sore destruction.
Ver. 10. Arise ye and depart] Veteres migrate coloni, make up your fardels and prepare for a deportation. Here is no longer being for you unless ye were better. Behold, "the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants," Lev 18:25.
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This is not your rest] As you falsely, fancy and vainly vaunt, binding upon the promise, but not performing the condition. It is the guile of graceless men to stuff themselves with promises, till they have made them a pillow for sin. Et sic praesumendo sperant, et sperando pereunt, they presume till they perish, as he did who died with this desperate saying in his mouth, Spes et fortuna valete, Farewell life and hope together.
Because it is polluted] sc. by your sin, which is of so sullying a nature that it defileth also the very visible heavens, which are therefore to be purged by the fire of the last day, like as those vessels that held the sin offering were either to be broken, if earthen, or to pass the fire if of better metal; they must not think to rest that let sin lie unrepented of in the conscience. But as a man that hath used himself to drink poison, at the first and second time he may do well, but the last it overcomes and destroys himself; so the next sin, though less, may set all the former to work. And as two poisons met in the stomach make a man restless, so sin and wrath, met in the conscience, raise a great garboil there. Neither must they think to dwell in God’s good land that will not live by God’s good laws, Isa 1:19 Psa 107:39-40; they walk upon fireworks every moment ready to be blown up, "brimstone also is scattered upon their habitations," that is, the fire of God’s wrath do but lightly touch it, they are suddenly consumed. Eusebius telleth us of Dioclesian, that bloody persecutor of the Church, that giving over the empire, he decreed to lead the rest of his life quietly; but he escaped not so. For after that his house was wholly consumed with lightning and a flame of fire that fell from heaven, he hiding himself for fear of the lightning, died within a little after.
It shall destroy you even with a sore destruction] Dissipatione roborata saith Calvin. Perditione praecisa, saith Tremellius. The land longs for a vomit to spue you out, and it shall do it effectually. Poison given in wine works more furiously than in water. Woe be to that people or person whom God will "destroy with a violent destruction!" This he doth not willingly, or from his heart, Lam 3:35, but men’s sins compel him to it. Surely as many a fowl is shot with an arrow feathered from her own body, and as of the blackbird’s slime is made the lime whereby he is taken; so out of the dung of men’s sins doth God make his lime twigs (his judgments I mean) to take them also. Long they might rest would they but let him rest; but pollution is the forerunner of perdition.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Arise ye, and depart; you inhabitants of Israel, especially…
Arise ye, and depart; you inhabitants of Israel, especially you oppressors, bestir yourselves. and prepare for your departure out of this land; for, will ye nill ye, so it is, you shall be carried away: the words also may fairly be applied to the oppressed, to lessen the troubles they were under, and to advise them to retire out of this land.
This is not your rest: though it was given this people for a rest under God’s wing, yet it was on condition of continued obedience; but since they do not observe the condition, they shall never find the expected rest; one trouble shall succeed another, until the captivity sweep them all away, both oppressors and oppressed; these therefore should grieve the less at their present trouble, nor grudge to transplant themselves.
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Because it is polluted, with many, and great, and old sins,
it shall destroy; spew them out as a burden intolerable to the earth that bears them, as Lev 18:25; this polluted land shall be destroyed.
A sore destruction; such as may well require a lamentation; such as Mic 2:4; a grievous desolation, such as never shall be repaired.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Arise ye, and depart,.... That is, out the land;…
Arise ye, and depart,.... That is, out the land; do not think of a continuance in it, but expect a removal from it; prepare for captivity and exile; look for it every moment, to hear it said to you, arise, and be gone from hence; for, since you have drove others out of their inheritances and possessions, this shall be your case:
for this is not your rest; the land in which the ten tribes then dwelt, and which was given to their fathers for an inheritance, and for a resting place, and had been so for ages past, now would be no more so, because of their sins and transgressions; they must not expect to abide here long, and enjoy rest and ease; but to be turned out, and deprived of all the blessings of it, and be carried into a foreign country, where, instead of rest and case, they should be in slavery and bondage:
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because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction; because the land that was given them to dwell in was defiled by their manifold iniquities, particularly adulteries, before hinted at: all sin is of a defiling nature; it defiled the bodies and souls of these men; defiled the estates they were possessed of, and the land on which they dwelt, and their fellow inhabitants of it; therefore utter destruction, even a sore and grievous one, should come upon them, by which their land should be laid waste, and they consumed off of it: or; "it shall corrupt you, even with a grievous corruption" (s); or you being corrupt upon it, it shall spew you out as a corrupt thing, as it did the Canaanites, the ancient inhabitants of it; when you will appear to be as you are, extremely corrupt: or, "it shall be in pain, even with sore pains" (t); such as those of a woman in travail, not being able to bear them any longer, but ease itself of them, through the judgments of God upon them. This may be applied to the present state and condition of the people of God in this world, which is not their rest; there remains one for them in another world, but they are not yet come to it; for while here they are in trouble, through indwelling sin, the temptations of Satan, divine desertions, and various fears that attend them, so that they have little rest; besides, this is a warfare state, and they are engaged with many enemies; and at best are but travellers passing through this world to their Father's house: this is also their working time, and they are attended with a variety of afflictions within and without; and since there are so many corruptions and pollutions in the world, through lust, which make it that it can be no resting place for a good man; it becomes them not to take up their rest here, but seek after it elsewhere; and to live in an expectation of being called out of it, and to be in a readiness to depart when the Lord shall call for them.
(s) "in corrumpet et corruptione acri", Moutanus; "et quidem corruptione vehementissima", Cocceius. (t) So Aben Ezra and Kimchi in Sepher Shorash. rad.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Arise ye - Ye inhabitants of Israel, prepare for…
Arise ye - Ye inhabitants of Israel, prepare for your departure out of this land. Your rest - Though it was given this people for a rest under God's wing; yet it was on condition of continued obedience. Polluted - With many, and great, and old sins. Destroy - It shall spue you out.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Arise ye, and depart] Prepare for your…
Verse 10. Arise ye, and depart] Prepare for your captivity; ye shall have no resting place here: the very land is polluted by your iniquities, and shall vomit you out, and it shall be destroyed; and the destruction of it shall be great and sore.
Some think this is an exhortation to the godly, to leave a land that was to be destroyed so speedily.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mic 2:10. Arise ye, and depart — Ye Israelites…
Mic 2:10. Arise ye, and depart — Ye Israelites prepare for your departure out of this land, for it shall be no longer yours; it is not your rest, because it is polluted — Though it was given to the posterity of Jacob for a place of rest, under my protection, yet this was on condition of their continued obedience. And because you have polluted it by your sins — You shall be cast out of it, or shall be destroyed in it; even with a sore destruction — This threatening is to the same effect with the declaration made by Moses concerning the Canaanites whom God drove out before Israel. The land is defiled, therefore do I visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. And it accords with the solemn caution which God then gave his people, saying, Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and shall not commit any of these abominations; that the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you, Lev 18:25-28.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Arise ye and depart - Go your way, as…
Arise ye and depart - Go your way, as being cast out of God’s care and land. It matters not where they went. “For this is not your rest.” As ye have done, so shall it be done unto you. As ye cast out the widow and the fatherless, so shall ye be cast out; as ye gave no rest to those “averse from war,” so shall ye have none Rev 13:10. “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.” The land was given to them as a temporary rest, a symbol and earnest of the everlasting rest to the obedient. So Moses spake, “ye are not as yet come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when He giveth you rest from your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety ...” (Deu 12:9-10, add 1Ki 8:56). And Joshua, “Remember the word which Moses commanded you, saying, The Lord your God giveth you rest” Jos 1:13. But the Psalmist had warned them, that, if they hardened their hearts like their forefathers, they too would “not enter into His rest” Psa 95:11.
Because it is polluted - (Literally, because of its pollution ) by idolatry, by violence, by uncleanness. So Moses (using the same word) says, “the land is defiled” by the abominations of the pagan; and warns them, “that the land spue you not out, when you defile it, as it spued out the nations which were before you.” Ezekiel speaks of that “defilement” Eze 36:17, as the ground why God expelled Israel. “It shall destroy you, even with a sore (literally sharp) destruction” (Eze 36:18, add Jer 2:7). . It is a sore thing to abuse the creatures of God to sin, and it is unfit that we should use what we have abused. Hence, Holy Scripture speaks, as though even the inanimate creation took part with God, “made subject to vanity, not willingly,” and could not endure those who employed it against His Will.
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The words, “Arise, depart, ye, for this is not your rest,” became a sort of sacred proverb, spoken anew to the soul, whenever it would find rest out of God. : “We are bidden to think of no rest for ourselves in any things of the world; but, as it were, arising from the dead, to stretch upwards, and walk after the Lord our God, and say, ‘My soul cleaveth hard after Thee.’ This if we neglect, and will not hear Him who saith, ‘Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,’ we shall indeed slumber, but shall be deceived and shall not find rest; for where Christ enlighteneth not the risen soul, what seemeth to be rest, is trouble.” All rest is wearisome which is not in Thee, O our God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Corruption. Your sins will not permit you to remain…
Corruption. Your sins will not permit you to remain any longer, and strangers shall defile this land. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Arise ye, and depart--not an exhortation to the children…
Arise ye, and depart--not an exhortation to the children of God to depart out of an ungodly world, as it is often applied; though that sentiment is a scriptural one. This world is doubtless not our "rest," being "polluted" with sin: it is our passage, not our portion; our aim, not our home (Co2 6:17; Heb 13:14). The imperatives express the certainty of the future event predicted. "Since such are your doings (compare Mic 2:7-8, &c.), My sentence on you is irrevocable (Mic 2:4-5), however distasteful to you (Mic 2:6); ye who have cast out others from their homes and possessions (Mic 2:2, Mic 2:8-9) must arise, depart, and be cast out of your own (Mic 2:4-5): for this is not your rest" (Num 10:33; Deu 12:9; Psa 95:11). Canaan was designed to be a rest to them after their wilderness fatigues. But it is to be so no longer. Thus God refutes the people's self-confidence, as if God were bound to them inseparably. The promise (Psa 132:14) is quite consistent with temporary withdrawal of God from Israel for their sins.
it shall destroy you--The land shall spew you out, because of the defilements wherewith ye "polluted" it (Lev 18:25, Lev 18:28; Jer 3:2; Eze 36:12-14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. In the face of such outrages mercy and…
10. In the face of such outrages mercy and long-suffering are out of place; judgment must be executed, and in Mic_2:10 the sentence contained in Mic_2:3-4 is reiterated; the guilty ones must be cut off from their pleasant homes and cast into exile.
Arise ye, and depart — Their punishment will be according to the lex talionis; they have sold others into slavery, now they must suffer a similar fate.
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Your rest — R.V., “resting place.” “Rest was one of the chief aspects under which Canaan was regarded” (Deu_12:9), but it cannot be a resting place for such as are not on good terms with the owner of the land, Jehovah. As the text reads at present, the rest of the verse states why the land can no longer be a resting place for them. As a result of the defilement the land will “vomit out its inhabitants.” A better rendering is that of R.V., “because of uncleanness that destroyeth, even with a grievous destruction”; an even better translation would be, “because of uncleanness that brings destruction, even grievous destruction.” LXX., however, suggests a different reading, which may be original. It separates 10b more completely from 10a, and reads the former, “because of uncleanness ye shall be destroyed with a grievous destruction.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. Arise ye, and depart] As a just retribution…
10. Arise ye, and depart] As a just retribution for the expulsion of others, the oppressors shall be expelled themselves.
your rest] i.e. your resting-place (as Isa_11:10). ‘Rest’ was one of the chief aspects under which Canaan was regarded (Deu_12:9, Isa_63:14, Psa_95:11).
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because it is polluted, &c.] viz. the land, by the sin of its inhabitants. Comp. Lev_18:25-28.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) This is not your rest.—The Lord, requiting them…
(10) This is not your rest.—The Lord, requiting them for their cruelty to the poor and defenceless, declares that their own time of trouble was imminent. They should be thrust forth from the land which they polluted. It was no place of rest for them. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Arise ye, and depart. The prophet pronounces the oppressors"…
Arise ye, and depart. The prophet pronounces the oppressors" punishment they shall be banished from their land, even as they have torn others from their home. This is not your rest. Canaan had been given as a resting place to Israel, (Deu_12:9, 10 Jos_1:13 Psa_95:11) but it should be so no longer. Because it is polluted. The land is regarded as polluted by the sins of its inhabitants. The idea is often found; e.g. Lev_18:25, 28 Num_35:33 Jer_2:7. It shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. The land is said to destroy when it ejects its inhabitants, as though the inanimate creation rose in judgment against the sinners. The Revised Version, with Keil and others, translates, Because of uncleanness that destroyeth, even with a grievous destruction; Septuagint, Diefyarhte fyora , "Ye were utterly destroyed;" Vulgate, Propter immunditiam ejus corrumpetur putredine pessima . The Authorized Version is correct.
Sin, the great disturber.
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It has been so from the beginning; it will be so to the very end.
I SIN WAS THE DISTURBER OF THE EARLIEST EARTHLY PARADISE. It was not the serpent or the temptation, but Adam"s sin, that destroyed our first parents" rest. They might have known of the presence of the tempter, have seen his trail, heard his hiss, and been conscious of his solicitations, and yet have continued in the rest of unbroken confidence in God. But when sin entered their hearts, rest fled, and guilt, shame, and fear took its place. If allowed to remain in the garden, it would no longer have been an Eden, a Paradise to them. The groans of creation begin to mingle with the reproaches of their own hearts. But the voice is heard, "Arise, and depart," etc. (Gen_3:22-24)
II SIN EJECTED THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF CANAAN. Even then it was "the glory of all lands," a splendid inheritance. (Num_14:7, 8 Deu_8:7-9) But sin of the foulest kind was there. Vice and crime rendered real rest impossible. The land is represented as stained, saturated with sin, no longer able to tolerate any further iniquity; (cf. Gen_15:16) but ready to "spue out" its inhabitants. (Lev_18:24-28 Lev_20:22, Lev_20:23) The summons went forth Arise, and depart, yet not to exile, but to utter destruction.
III SIN CHANGED THE REST OF CANAAN INTO A LAND OF UNREST TO THE CHOSEN NATION. Canaan was promised as one of God"s rests not the highest, but none the less real. (Psa_95:11) What a rest it might have been, enriched with its natural resources, blessed with peace and brotherhood among the tribes, and crowned with the assurance of Divine protection. (Exo_34:24 Deu_12:10) A dim vision of the fulness of rest they might have enjoyed was seen in the reign of Solomon the peaceful. (1Ki_4:25) But throughout their whole history they allowed sin to mar their inheritance and break in upon their rest. There were periods of special demoralization, as in the days of the judges and of the later kings. They cast out the fatherless and the widow (ver. 9), they plundered the peaceable (ver. 8), they indulged in some of the abominations of the old Canaanites. (1Ki_22:46 2Ki_23:7) They could therefore have no rest themselves, but were doomed to exile. (Rev_13:10) The land is represented as once more taking sides with God and turning against those who abused his goodness. The false report of the spies (Num_13:32) received a fulfilment, as Moses foretold (Lev_26:18-35) and Ezekiel described (36:13-19), as though an earthquake or a flood drove the sinners far away. (Amo_8:8) Illust.: Pompeii. So has it been in the history of nations ever since (wars, slavery, despotism, revolutions, etc.). Illustrate from the Indian chief with his tribe fleeing from his foes. till, on the banks of a splendid river, he stuck his spear into the ground, exclaiming, "Alabama! Here we rest!" But in vain.
a. SIN BREAKS THE REST OF THE HAPPIEST HOME. A young bride and bridegroom may think they have reached the goal of earthly happiness. But unless Christ occupies in their hearts the place which he claims, and which he alone can fill, they may soon learn that sin is a great disturber, even in a domestic Eden. Augustine"s words are found to be true, "O God, thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless till it rests in thee." Sickness, suffering, death, and other fruits of sin stir up their nest, (Deu_32:11) and remind them that their rest is polluted and therefore insecure.
b. SIN INVADES AND DISTURBS EVEN THE ADOPTED FAMILY OF GOD. For "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," so that "ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves". (Rom_5:12 Rom_8:23) We rejoice to know that "here we have no continuing city," because it is polluted. But already we know of a rest in Christ, (Mat_11:28, 29 Heb_4:3) which will be perfected into a rest with Christ, (Heb_4:9) when we shall have completely" escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust," and be made fully "partakers of the Divine nature". (2Pe_1:4) To us the summons, "Arise, and depart," will be the signal of emancipation; the curse will be changed into a blessing, for we shall "depart to be with Christ, which is far better. E.S.P.
The soul"s exodus.
"Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction." "The prophet, having overthrown, in vers. 7-9, the objection to his threatening prophecies by pointing to the sins of the people, now repeats the announcement of punishment, and that in the form of a summons to go out of the land into captivity, because the land cannot bear the defilement consequent upon such abominations" (Delitzsch). This injunction does not mean either of the three following things:
1. It does not mean the termination of our mortal life. Life is a talent which we should guard. Suicide is a crime.
2. It does not mean neglect of material interests and duties. We are commanded to be diligent in business, etc.
3. It does not mean absolute retirement from the world. The life of the hermit is a sin against our social affections, the claims of our species, and the commands of the Bible. What, then, shall we take it to mean? The rising of the soul above the dominant materialism of this life. It is the setting of the "affections upon things above." It is the exodus of the soul from the Egypt of a dominant materialism. There are three reasons suggested here for this moral exodus of the spirit.
I THERE IS NO REST FOR THE SOUL IN A DOMINANT MATERIALISM. "This is not your rest." There are four forms in which this dominant materialism exists amongst us, and in neither of which can the soul find rest.
1. There is the gross, sensual form. The sensualist and the voluptuary live in this; but they have no rest. Ask the epicurean and the debauchee.
2. There is the thoroughly secular form. The man who is absorbed in the work of making money lives here; but he finds in it no rest. Ask the man who has become the creature of business, etc.
3. There is the intellectual form. The region of mere flesh wisdom, flesh arts, and flesh literature poetry and novels that appeal to the flesh. There is no rest for the soul here. Ask Byron, Burns, Dryden, Churchill, etc.
4. There is the religious form. There is a fleshly religion amongst men a religion of pictures, music, pompous rites and ceremonies, all appealing to the senses. There is no rest for the soul here. Let it "arise, then, and depart.
II THERE IS POLLUTION FOR THE SOUL IN IT. To allow the material in any form to rule us is a sin.
1. Reason shows this. Mind was made to govern matter; the senses were made to be the servants, not the sovereign, of the soul
2. Conscience testifies this. Conscience is everlastingly protesting against the dominion of the flesh.
3. Bible declares this. The carnal mind is enmity against God. (Rom_8:7)
III THERE IS DANGER TO THE SOUL IN MATERIALISM "It shall destroy you." "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption". (Gal_6:7, Gal_6:8) For to be carnally minded is death. The work of soul destruction is going on every moment; the soul decays in this state. Force of intellect, discrimination of judgment, freedom of will, sensibility of conscience, elasticity of soul, are being destroyed.
CONCLUSION. Arise, then! The voice of philosophy, the voice of history, the voice of the Bible, and the voice of departed saints, all combine in the injunction, "Arise, and depart! D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Arise ye, and depart: for this is not your…
Mic_2:10
Arise ye, and depart: for this is not your rest; because it is polluted
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No rest, and the reason why
Above all lands the land of Canaan seemed most adapted for a place of rest.
And the people whom God had so wondrously led into it, appeared most likely to find a place of rest. Yet to this people, and in respect of this very country, God says, Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest.
I. Our territorial position. This is not your rest. The body is not the resting place of the spirit. It is a house of dust, a tenement of clay, and it is more like to a tent than to a substantial dwelling. While we are in the body, and while we are resident on the globe, there is very little permanent besides change. If it is true that this is not our rest, no man should try to rest in his temporal condition. And no man should suffer himself to rest. And no man should murmur when he is disturbed. No man should live unprepared for change and disturbance.
II. The echo of a voice we often hear. Arise ye, and depart. In events that happen, in circumstances that arise, we hear this voice. Hourly do we listen to it. Do not neglect events. See that the voice calls you not only to submit to change, but to acquiesce in it.
III. A reason for such exposure to charge. Because it is polluted. The body is born in sin, and is an instrument of unrighteousness, and this is the reason why the body is doomed to die. God could, if necessary, have changed the body without death. The earth has been the theatre of transgression, and it must be destroyed. Everything we touch we pollute. Nothing is really right here. Everything must be changed until everything becomes right. The removal of sin is essential to rest. We may, from Jesus Christ, find rest within. And there shall be rest in a glorious body, rest in a perfect paradise, rest in an incorruptible inheritance, and rest in the eternal God. (Samuel Martin.)
This world is not a state of happiness
This world is not and never was designed to be the place of our happiness or long abode; and it highly concerns us, whilst we are in it, to raise our hearts above it, and prepare to leave it.
I. As this world is not our rest, or the scene of our happiness, our souls should rise above it.
1. Prove the truth of this proposition. All men profess to believe this proposition, and yet look at their pursuits, views, and cares, and you would think they believed nothing less. The truth is that they do not attend to what they believe, or pursue it into its proper and practical consequences. The proposition is not the less certain for the inattention and disregard which some men pay to it, or for their practical contradiction of it. That this world is not and never was designed to be our state of rest or happiness, appears--
(1) From the certain nature and properties of all our earthly enjoyments.
(2) From the nature and circumstances of our condition in it; which is in every view a state of imperfection and trial.
(3) Setting aside all the distasteful ingredients which the many moral and natural evils of life throw into its cup of pleasures, and suppose them ever so pure and constant, yet they are by no means suited to a soul, an immortal soul, conscious of capacities which such delights can never fill, and of cravings they can never gratify. Objects of sense are ill adapted to the wants of the mind.
(4) Appeal to personal experience for a proof of the proposition before us. Did you ever taste a pleasure of earth that fully satisfied you? If this world is not our rest, we should take care not to be over fond of it. How are we to live above the world? The only way is to get our hearts fixed on heaven.
II. We must be continually endeavouring after a heavenly disposition. To have our minds habitually attempered to that blessed world. The true temper of the blessed consists of love and purity. Then let us seek that the love of God may have a prevailing influence on our hearts. The Divine image, or moral likeness to God, which consists in righteousness and true holiness, does in a degree enter into the character of all true Christians now. The more we are fit for a better world, the more we shall be out of love with this. (J. Mason, A. M.)
The souls exodus
This injunction does not mean either of the three following things.
1. It does not mean the termination of our mortal life. Life is a talent which we should guard.
2. It does not mean neglect of material interests and duties. We are commanded to be diligent in business, etc.
3. It does not mean absolute retirement from the world.
1. There is no rest for the soul in a dominant materialism. This is not your rest. There are four forms in which this dominant materialism exists amongst us, and in neither of which can the soul find rest.
(1) There is the gross, sensual form. The sensualist and the voluptuary live in this, but they have no rest. Ask the epicurean and the debauchee.
(2) There is the thoroughly secular form. The man who is absorbed in the work of making money lives here; but in it he finds no rest. Ask the man who has become the creature of business, etc.
(3) There is the intellectual form. The region of mere fleshy wisdom:--fleshy arts and fleshy literature;--poetry and novels that appeal to the flesh. There is no rest for the soul here. Ask Byron, Burns, Dryden, etc.
(4) There is the religious form. There is a fleshly religion amongst men:--a religion of pictures, music, pompous rites and ceremonies;--all appealing to the senses. There is no rest for the soul here. Let it arise then and depart. Another reason here suggested is--
2. There is pollution for the soul in it. To allow the material in any form to rule us is a sin.
(1) Reason shows this. Mind was made to govern matter--the senses were made to be the servants, not the sovereign of the soul.
(2) Conscience testifies this. Conscience is everlastingly protesting against the dominion of the flesh.
(3) The Bible declares this. The carnal mind is enmity against God.
3. There is danger to the soul in materialism. It shall destroy you. For to be carnally minded is death. The work of soul destruction is going on every moment; the soul decays in this state. Force of intellect, discrimination of judgment, freedom of will, sensibility of conscience, elasticity of soul, are being destroyed. Arise, then. The voice of philosophy, the voice of history, the voice of the Bible, and the voice of departed saints, all combine in the injunction, Arise and depart. (Homilist.)
Liberalism in religion
Cardinal Newman says that liberalism in religion is an error, overspreading as a snare the whole earth; it is sweeping into its own ranks great numbers of able, earnest, virtuous men, elderly men of approved antecedents, young men with a career before them. The Cardinal calls this condition of things a great apostasy. He thus defines liberalism in religion. It is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion,--that one creed is as good as another,--that all are to be tolerated, as all are matters of opinion; that revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste. But this condition of mind is not very widespread in England. Take each mark of this liberalism in religion, and ask, Does it denote large numbers?
1. The doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion. The Cardinal says, Every dozen men you meet in the streets represent one or other of as many as seven religions. Then, on this statement, we must conclude that seven out of twelve profess a definite religion. These seven do not hold that there is no positive truth in religion. And what may we say of the other five? They may be indifferent to religion, but they do not disbelieve it. Positivists are a very small class indeed, and even positivism has developed a religion.
2. The doctrine that one creed is as good as another. Are there many who hold this doctrine? Manifestly, if men choose one form of religion instead of another, it must be because they think one better than another. It is the deep feeling that a man has truer views of God to put before his fellows which gives him power to push his way through obstinate dulness or obstructive narrowness.
3. The doctrine that all creeds are to be tolerated because all are matters of opinion. That all are to be tolerated is certainly now a very widespread conviction. Yet for centuries coercion was the invariable custom, and not toleration. Why do the different Christian com munities now all approve of toleration? Is it because they think the faiths of the sects are all matters of opinion? They know that, in their own case, their faith is a matter of deep conviction; and if they do justice to their neighbours, they know that their faith is equally matter of deep conviction with them.
4. The doctrine that revealed religion is not a truth but a sentiment or taste. Who is it that professes this? It is almost confined to a single person, if indeed even he would admit it,--Mr. Matthew Arnold. If religion fundamentally is a sentiment, it is a sentiment towards something; that something is something we believe exists; we believe in that something, and that is the beginning of a creed; the sentiment postulates an object; the sentiment is love, and the great object is God. Religious liberalism does cling to positive truth, but she will away with positive lies. It does teach that though all creeds are not equally good, there is some good in all creeds, and this is a very different thing. (W. Page Roberts, M. A.)
This is not your rest
Canaan was given to Israel on condition of their faithful obedience. That obedience they had failed to render. It is allowed by commentators that these words may be properly applied to the state of men in the present world. Expand them thus--
1. This world would have been a rest had sin never entered it: but since it is polluted, there is neither contentment nor continuance here, neither solid happiness in the enjoyments it offers, nor an abiding city in any of its domains. It is no longer our permanent abode, but our passage to another country; our inn, not our home.
2. To attempt to rest in the creature after God has commanded us to give it up is sinful. To rest in a connection with unrighteous men--satisfied with a world corrupt through divers lusts--is still more polluted.
3. Through the selfish passions and oppressive conduct of men, through the numerous troubles which beset this vale of tears,--the pilgrim can find no rest on earth. It is a relief to think of departing to that world where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.
I. This is not our home. Our life is as a handbreadth. Regular and rapid, like the waves of the sea, one generation sweeps off another into the gulf of oblivion. This is but the threshold of your being, and all before you is a boundless eternity.
II. The world cannot satisfy. Never were the things of the world intended to fill the human mind. In the original formation of man he received a capacity which nothing but God could fill: and though by the fall he lost his relish for God, the same capacity still remains, and all creation cannot fill it now. Many minds, broken loose from their centre, have wandered in search of rest in the creatures; but none have ever found it.
III. An attempt to rest in the creature is sinful. The first command is, Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me. To make a God of anything, is to set the heart supremely upon it, and to attempt to rest in it as a chief source of happiness. To love the creature more than the Creator. and to look to that for our chief comfort, is to idolise the creature. We may value the creature for the purposes for which it is given to us. To attempt to rest in the creature is to seek a guilty rest.
IV. No alliance can be formed with men of the world without hazard of pollution. Evil communications corrupt good manners. A great part of the feelings, opinions, conversation, and customs of the world are opposed to the genuine spirit of the Gospel.
V. No rest can be found in a world full of injustice and oppression. The collisions of selfish passions keep the world in a flame, and drench it in blood.
VI. No rest can be found in a world inundated with the floods of affliction. Ever since sin entered, this world has been a vale of tears, a house of correction, to break stubborn spirits to submission, to drive wayward children to obedience by the rod, to humble the proud, and to discover Gods severity against sin. Why then should we wish to continue here? (E. D. Griffin, D. D.)
Rest
The prophecy of Micah stands conspicuous for the bright anticipations it gives of Messiahs days. It is to the desolation of the ten tribes add their scattering among the nations that the text refers.
I. A truth which we are all very reluctant to admit. This is not your rest. A just estimate of human life is a very rare thing, and seldom attained but at the price of painful experience.
1. It was never designed to be our rest. We are not forbidden to seek happiness; we are only forbidden seeking it in the wrong direction. The grand mistake of human nature is to suppose that there is some other good, some higher path to happiness than that which God has made coincident with human duty. God has given us on earth every requisite for our pilgrimage, but nothing adequate to our home. Things on earth are too poor to make us rich; too low to raise us to happiness; too limited and shortlived to fill the capacities of our nobler nature. Life, there fore, is a scene of progress towards something better.
2. It is never found to be our rest in actual experience. At our very best estate the world is altogether vanity. All experience tells us, This is not your rest. Every broken hope, every unsatisfied desire, every withered rose, every opened grave, says, This is not your rest.
3. Our religion tells us that this is not our rest, for it is polluted.
II. A change for which we are most reluctant to prepare.
1. Our love of life induces us to linger. Like Lots wife in Sodom. Trials, disappointments, bereavements, and the heaviest personal afflictions, instead of teaching us to take wing, by a perverse alternative seem to root us faster to the soil.
2. Our fears of death induce us to linger. We aim to put the subject far from us. Because the future is dreadful, and the realm unknown.
3. Our neglect of the great salvation heightens our reluctance.
III. It is a command which it is our interest to obey. Because the command comes from One who is the Lord of both worlds, and who has the highest interest in our welfare. He knows us better than we know ourselves, as He loves us better too. He knows how poor is this world, and how rich is the next. (Homiletic magazine.)
The true resting place
The land of Canaan is here spoken of as a land not designed for the rest of the people that dwelt in it. Apparently, if any land was properly designated a land of rest Canaan was. It is evident that the land had been defiled, polluted by the people, by their idolatries, and by their rebellion against the Most High; and therefore it could no longer be their rest. We may apply the text to ourselves in regard to our own land. Life upon this earth cannot be regarded as mans rest or resting place.
1. Because mans life on it is brief and short. Scripture images are--fleeting as a shadow; vanishing as the vapour; unsettled and shifting as a pilgrimage; swifter than the transit of a weavers shuttle, or the arrow that is directed to its mark; transient as a tale that is told, as a dream when one awaketh. To the young, entering upon life, it presents an interminable vista--something in their eye like a little eternity that will hardly ever be passed; and before they have time to realise it, the frost of age is upon their heads, and they count the graves of the companions of their youth.
2. Because even that short life is so changing. External circumstances and relationships are ever changing.
3. Look at the images by which life is repre sented, and we come to the same conclusion. A pilgrimage, a journey, a warfare, a voyage.
4. Look at mans pursuits, what do they bring? Do they satisfy the wants and cravings of mans immortal soul? One mans pursuit is wealth; another man is bent on enjoying life. Another mans desire is fame. Where then shall rest be found? There can be no consistency between sin and real rest or happiness. The text says the land was polluted, therefore it was not a place of rest. There can be no rest--true, real, abiding rest--except that which is found in God, its only source. (Joseph Bardsley, M. A.)
Rest indeed
In deep anger Amos intimated that the Lord would command Israel to arise and go forth into a land of captivity; their own land should no longer be their rest and quiet habitation, for they had polluted it by their idolatry, excess, and iniquity. He would bring upon them enemies who should be His instruments for removing them from their then quiet habitation. Canaan is, when spiritually applied to the condition of the children of God, a very apt type of the heavenly country; and the rest which the children of Israel therein enjoyed, is a type of that rest which remaineth for the people of God. Regard then the text as addressed to every one of us in reference to our present condition in this fallen world, and our future condition in the kingdom of glory.
I. The meaning of rest. By rest we understand cessation from labour, accompanied with peace, quiet, ease, and everything that can mark and constitute comfort, happiness, security. When in a state of rest we do not expect to be troubled with the ordinary perplexities of life. To enjoy rest is to enjoy quietness, security, ease, and peace.
II. The certainty of not finding rest here. How stands the case with us in this world, fallen, and shattered, and disorganised as it is, beautiful though it be in its very ruins? Can we be said to find substantial, solid rest in this world? Has the world no disappointments to meet our best laid schemes? Nothing here is certain. And should worldly possessions and worldly enjoyments remain undisturbed, yet to the man who sets his heart on them, and wishes to be satisfied with them, there is one evil ever near and calculated to mar his enjoyment, and that is the fear of death, which is to such an one a monster evil, which he can find no means of averting.
III. The promise of rest to the people of God. The rest is complete and substantial; it is rest from sin. The departed saint is at once removed from the influence of sin and the power of Satan; nothing can then disturb his tranquillity; no counteracting agency can then affect him; he is in Gods keeping, he is safe and safe forever. This rest the redeemed soul is capable of enjoying.
IV. The way in which this rest is to be obtained. The Israelites had one leader given to them to lead them into the land of Canaan. A Joshua has been given to us. He leads those who will submit to His guidance into the heavenly rest prepared for the people of God. To effect this He condescended to take our nature upon Him, and to become man. As such He went in and out among His creatures; and after a life of self-denial and active benevolence, died upon the Cross to make atonement for mans sin. The door to this rest has been thrown wide open by Him. (T. R. Redwar, M. A.)
This world not our rest
Human beings seem universally characterised by a spirit of restlessness. This spirit, existing either as an obvious passion or as a smothered feeling, is inseparably connected with our fallen state, and though very liable to abuse, is yet very capable of producing excellent effects. It excites a propensity to look forward, and to go forward. Hence, the soul refuses to settle into inactivity, and is ever pressing on to the attainment of some future good, real or imaginary. It is very desirable, then, that this restlessness should always be excited by a right cause, and always urge us forward to a right end.
I. Why we never can have our rest in this world.
1. Because our continuance on earth is short and uncertain. What is our life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
2. Even while life lasts it is full of trouble--it has many changes, labours, disappointments, and sorrows. To what changes are we exposed here below! This is not a place of rest but of labour. Think, too, of the disappointments and reverses of life. In view of these various forms of bodily distress, how foolish it appears to look on this state as a state of rest! Can it be said that though we are exposed to trouble ourselves, we may find rest in our friends? But though it is our duty to love them, and to be grateful to them, we shall suffer for it severely if we idolise them as the authors of our happiness, or look to them as our ultimate resource. Instead of finding rest in them, we may suffer doubly in sympathising with them, and the time is coming when we must part.
3. Though our whole life were steady, prosperous, honourable, and pious in the highest degree, still it would not be a satisfying portion to the soul. Some seem to be, almost through life, free from trouble. But we cannot be sure of this. Each heart knoweth its own bitterness. And when there are no real troubles men are sure to find imaginary ones. And he who lives many days, and rejoices in them all, yet fears at times that the days of darkness will be many. To be altogether at rest we must be sure that our rest will never be disturbed. Nor can the continuance of positive prosperity and ever-increasing wealth satisfy the mind. Equally unsuccessful is the pursuit of mental tranquillity in scenes of frivolity and mirth. Nor is the more rational pursuit of human knowledge found to secure rest to the soul. As speculation and theory cannot satisfy the mind, so neither can great works, in their undertaking, progress, or accomplishment. It is necessary to add that even the people of God, however spiritually-minded and however advanced in the Divine life, cannot find rest here. However happy they may be, they are still subject to some uneasiness; however calm they may feel, their quiet is sometimes disturbed.
4. We never can have our rest in this world because of the prevalence of sin, because it is polluted. By an unalterable decree of heaven, sin is inconsistent with happiness. As this is a world of rebellion, it cannot be a world of peace. How can they whose minds have been enlightened to see the evil of sin, and in whom its power is in a great measure broken, be at rest while living in such a world as this?
II. Address to you the exhortation, Arise ye, and depart.
1. Arise and depart in the spirit of your minds. Depart from the idea that the world can give you rest. From all trust in others. But the mind must have something whereon to rest. Without some prop it would sink down into utter despondency. Arise and depart and seek rest directly from God in Christ. Set your hearts on heaven. So depart in the spirit of your minds as to be willing to depart literally from this life, whenever God shall call you. Cultivate that spirit of faith and hope which, when death is comparatively at a distance, will sometimes fill you with a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.
2. Arise and depart in the tenor of your conduct. Depart from all such pursuits as interfere with the concerns of eternity. Cease from excessive eagerness in the pursuit of worldly gain. Be found at last actively engaged as becomes those who profess that this is not their rest.
III. Address three different classes of persons.
1. Congratulate those who have ceased to seek their rest in the world--who have arisen and gone to God through Jesus Christ for rest. Recollect that you are only on the way to perfect happiness. Endure, without murmuring, the hardships of the way.
2. Speak to those who are still seeking rest on earth. Boast not of your happiness. The outward appearance is not always the genuine index of the heart.
3. Address those who have lost their former rest and have not found another. We would not have you look again to the world for rest. We would not have you remain where you are. Why not proceed another step and lay hold of those consolations that never fail? In order to this, it is necessary that you do indeed receive the Gospel, and positively join the company of pilgrims. If you would be happy, be decided. Yield yourself up, without reserve, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has pledged His Word that He will give you rest. (James Foote, A. M.)
No rest here
This was the drum beat of a prophet who wanted to arouse his people from their oppressed and sinful condition; but it may just as properly be uttered now as then. Our great want is rest. God did not make this world to rest in. This world would be a very different world if it were intended for us to lounge in. It does right well for a few hours. You and I have seen men who tried to rest here. In trade. In seeking fame. If there is no rest on earth there is rest in heaven--perfect rest, unending rest. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The economy of renewal
The arising and the departure, as the passage stands, referred to a visible residence; there was to be a literal change of place. But even there the act was required as part of a religious discipline and for a Divine purpose. The national condition that made such a migration necessary was one incident in a peculiar providential history. The outward removal was the result of an inward state,--a state of moral deterioration and danger. Domestic comfort must be abandoned for the sake of the spiritual safety, purity, and progress of a corrupt, imperilled people. The call is made in the name and by the Spirit of the Lord God. There is no violence in transferring it from a Hebrew to a Christian age. The need that a self-absorbed heart should bestir itself and arise--should go forth and follow Gods call, should be moulded into a new form and born into a new life, through separation, travail, and sacrifice, is as independent of the differences of time and country as any attribute of humanity. Indeed, this permanence of the essential realities of life through all social changes, wherever a human soul lives, sins and suffers, furnishes the starting point in this subject.
1. The true growth of every really progressive character is made through a succession of decided departures out of positions, habits, estates of thought and feeling, which have once been familiar, into untried territories. There is the passage from the com paratively irresponsible, and dependent period of early childhood, into the greater self-determination of youth. Within the safe enclosures of a guarded external innocence the moral purposes will not stay any longer. They would not be fulfilling the Creator s design if they did. That is not their rest; they must arise and depart. Youth must see its visions, dream its dreams, and taste its awful liberty. Again, later, there is a transition from youth into maturity. The dream is broken. That graceful, airy tent which the uncommitted thought reared for itself at will is dissolved. A more real habitation, of severer shape, supplants it. Or rather, it is now a field of outdoor service. Chilly as the future looks, the least enterprising must go to meet it. In some vague, indefinite way this decree of departure makes itself felt in all thoughtful souls. Beyond these early and successive departures, from one period of our age to another, there are a great variety of other changes, having the same general purpose and illustrating the same plan of God. Sometimes the dissolution of our former order of life is made unavoidable by conditions beyond our control. A particular line of employment is found to have furnished all of opportunity, or stimulus, or trial, that the great former of our characters intended, and it is broken off. A particular place of residence has exhausted all its helps and ministries upon us: and we must take up the little parcels that we call our goods, and go to be schooled in some new neighbourhood, etc. In other cases, with less visible signals, but not less effectually, we are moved out of our moral and mental habitations. So long as we are in them nothing seems more fixed than our opinions, tastes, and estimates. But they may become too fixed. Estimates of men and things stiffen into prejudices. And hence by one process and another we are led to give many of them up, or to modify them. Events are ordered to that end.
2. These turns of the inner life will often be painful, demanding something more than a natural, or Stoic courage. Religious indifference wishes only to be let alone. But no. Pain comes. The insensible heart must be startled. The earthly and the Divine fight together within us, and we suffer under the conflict. Sometimes this separation from familiar evil is a struggle as between life and death, shaking the whole soul, and tearing its shrinking quick in torture. And yet, such is the power of the conviction of the spirit of truth when humility has once begun its holy and honest work within us, how many even go out to meet that saving sorrow! Blessed is the mind that springs with alacrity and thanksgiving to its better ministry!
3. All true souls, really touched with the Spirit and consecrated to the fellowship of Christian obedience, will be ready for this sacrifice. Not all equally. This, in fact, is the test of the sincerity of faith: the willingness to give up all that has been precious, but not holy, and launch out upon the future, trusting only to an unseen hand. So, through familiar analogies, we are led to see how the sacred provision is made, in our fallen but still aspiring nature, for that one only radical and complete transformation which changes the governing motive of life,--the regeneration of the Gospel. It has been said that no period of our life becomes quite intelligible to us till we quit it for the next. And there is certainly truth here. But retrospect is not all our outlook: Our best wisdom is not gained from what is behind us, but from what is above. When the heart is really made new, and is filled with all the holy life of its Lord, it matters nothing what the outward place or scenery may be. To this, then, we are brought, that there is one migration of the soul more complete and adventurous than all besides: that which takes it over from every kind of self-direction into a pure self-renunciation to the Spirit of God; one going forth more decisive and sublime than all journeys and discoveries--from the miserable effort to satisfy ourselves into the liberty of the sons of God; one central and all transforming change--that which refashions us, by a new principle of life, from the likeness of sinful men into the likeness of Gods Son. All other transitions touch us at certain points or parts of our nature: this transfuses another spirit through the whole; old things pass away, because the old evil is gone, and all things are new. (F. D. Huntington, D. D.)
A resting place for the soul
Years ago there came to the late Canon Hoare, of Tunbridge Wells, a rich man, then in his old age, to arrange with him about his burial place, and after they had gone carefully over the churchyard, and had chosen the spot where he was to lie, Canon Hoare turned to him and said: You have chosen a resting place for your body, but have you yet found a resting place for your soul? Turning round, and looking him full in the face, the old man answered: You are the first clergyman who ever asked me that question. He went with Canon Hoare into his study, and, to make a long story short, he gave his heart to Christ, and found his resting place, and in Canon Hoares study to the day of his death a well-known picture representing the saving of a life from a wreck hung. It was the gift of the grateful man, who had found a resting place not only for his body but for his soul. Ask yourself the question now, before you turn to another page: Have I found a resting place for my soul?
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.