v. 24. _Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and
the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as
rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because
they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and
despised the word of the Holy One of Israel._
Shut God out of the heart, and _this_ is what it comes to at last. In
Jewish history, we have a commentary on the judgments announced in
the text, written in fire and blood. We have here--+I. God's merciful
approaches to the soul.+ 1. God begins with _law._ In the present day
there is a nervous dread of law, as if it were the offspring of
severity rather than of grace.[1] But law checks, rectifies, and
blesses in innumerable ways (Ps. xix. 7-11; cxix. 105, &c). 2. To His
law, He adds His _word;_ His "word" of persuasion, exhortation,
promise, and especially the great "word" of the Gospel. +II. God's
merciful approaches rejected.+ "They have cast away the law," &c. Man
meets God's law with resistance, His love with contempt. +III. God's
merciful approaches giving place to indignation and wrath.+
"Therefore as the fire devoureth," &c. Law being resisted, and love
despised, things cannot be as they were before; one of two things
must happen--there must be either pardon or punishment. If pardon be
rejected, only punishment remains. The images under which this is set
forth in the text are most alarming. They show--1. _That at last
God's anger strikes at the root of our being_--at the very substance
of our life. The wrath of man at the worst rages only on the surface,
but God strikes at the root (Luke xii. 4; Matt. x. 28). 2. _God's
anger smites the blossom of our being._ All that constitutes the
show, promise, and pride of our life, is scattered like dust.
3. _When God smites in anger, He smites suddenly and swiftly,_ "as
the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff."
4. _When God smites in anger, man can offer no resistance._ What
power to resist a hurricane has a tree whose roots are not only
rotten, but "rottenness"? How can the stubble withstand the fire, or
the chaff defend itself against tongues of flame?--_J. R. Wood._