xxvii. 8. _In measure, when Thou sendest it forth, &c._
(_Margin_).
We have often complained of the bitterness and depressing effects of
the "east wind." In Bible lands it was scorching and destructive (Job
xxi. 18; xxvii. 12; Gen. xli. 6). Israel is represented in this
chapter as a vineyard, of which God was the proprietor and guardian
(ver. 3). The removal of the people to Babylon seemed to contradict
this declaration. They presented the appearance of a vineyard uncared
for, forsaken, neglected, and spoiled. The east wind, sweeping over
it, marred its beauty and checked its growth, and its desolation
seemed complete. The question arises, Does God really mean what He
says when He engages to keep His vineyard with continued care? In
reply to this question the prophet speaks here. He justifies the ways
of God to man, explaining the Divine procedure, and showing the
purpose of that afflictive dispensation which He visited upon His
beloved vineyard. What a consoling subject, is here presented,--the
trials of the godly (1), in their severity, and (2), in their
mitigation.
I. THE SEVERITY OF CHRISTIAN TRIAL. Our seasons of sharp distress and
loss are fitly set forth as _"the day of the east wind,"_ biting and
piercing, when the heart is joyless and depressed. God, who sends it,
means us to feel its keenness. The severity of our trials
appears--1. _In the time when they overtake us._ The east wind
prevails with us in the early spring. So in our experience of life,
when all is full of fair promise, our hopes are blasted. A young and
tender faith is often sorely tested. We would push adversity into old
age, with youth as a course of uninterrupted joy; but at the most
unlikely periods the day of the east wind sweeps over us. 2. _In
their violence._ The wind of adversity seems to us cruel and
devastating. We speak of a reverse or bereavement as "a sad blow."
3. _In their continuance._ We could tolerate an occasional day of
east wind, but when it blows persistently for weeks, we begin to
grumble. Afflictions sometimes follow each other in rapid succession.
The night of weeping is long and dark, and it seems as if the morning
of joy would never break (H. E. I., 52, 53). 4. Because of _the
aspect in which God appears to us when we are under them._ He seems
to be contending, "debating" with us, to be opposed to us. This gives
the keenest poignancy to our griefs. How unworthy, often, is the view
we form of God's character in the day of the east wind, charging Him
with partiality and injustice. Of all ingredients that embitter the
cup of suffering, this is the most bitter, but it is an ingredient
which the sufferer puts in with his own hand. As in the time of east
winds weak and cheerless people fall into dull, moody fits, the
sighing breezes chiming in with the dull music of their own spirits,
so in the day of adversity the soul sometimes loses its sense of the
Divine Love.
II. THE MITIGATING, ALLEVIATING CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. The day of the east
wind is _well timed._ It blows at the right season, in the early
spring. It may nip a few opening buds, but if it did not come out
then, it would retard vegetation to a fatal extent afterwards. The
youth may complain of his hard struggle, but it nurses a manly
character. 2. Trial is _limited in its duration._ The east wind does
not blow all the year round. These cold blasts usher in the spring.
3. _God moderates its severity._ "In measure" (1 Cor. x. 13). Sorrow
is nicely adjusted to the heart on which it falls (H. E. I., 187,
188). 4. The following verse suggests a further alleviation,
viz.:--_The gracious purpose accomplished by trial,_ to purge
iniquity, and take away sin. God appoints our sorrow for the
uprooting of our sin. The physician finds it necessary to adopt sharp
measures, but his operation is wise and kind. A proneness to idolatry
was Israel's sin, and, to check this, the nation is sent into exile.
Though He removed it with "His rough wind in the day of His east
wind," the fruit or effect was to uproot a besetting sin (H. E. I.,
85-89, 116, 211). 5. Another mitigating circumstance is found in
verse 7. _God makes a distinction between His people and the world._
Great as Israel's sufferings were, the judgments which descended on
their enemies were far more terrible, not corrective, but destructive
(1 Cor. xi. 32). The surly blasts of the east wind may howl and chafe
and spend their rage on God's vineyard, but they are only the last
remnants of the dreary winter. To those who are in covenant with God
every wind that blows is charged with blessing (H. E. I., 108).
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 1. When the east wind of trial begins to blow
upon us, let us hasten, not to blame God, but to examine and blame
ourselves. Though trials are not always punitive, or even corrective,
they are very frequently so; and in our case, as in that of Israel,
the reason why the east wind is blowing probably is because there is
iniquity in us that needs to be purged away (ver. 8; H. E. I., 114).
2. When the east wind is blowing upon us, instead of murmuring let us
recall the mitigating circumstances of which I have reminded you, and
let us thank God that He loves us too much to leave us under the
power of iniquity (Heb. xii. 5-10; H. E. I., 162-165).--_William
Guthrie, M.A._