The Sins of Communities Noted and Punished.
Matthew xxiii. 36.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this
generation."
This is predicated of the judgments of God on those who had shed the
blood of his saints. The Savior declares that all the righteous blood
which had been shed on the earth from that of Abel down to the gospel
day, should come on that generation!
But is not this unreasonable and contrary to the Scriptures? "Far be
wickedness from God and iniquity from the Almighty. For the work of
man shall be render unto him, and cause every man to find according to
his ways--The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and
the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Such is the language
of revelation.
And is not that of reason the same? Will reason justify punishing some
men for other men's sins? Those who lived in the days of our Savior
had no share in the murder of Abel, or of many others who had died by
wicked hands. Those dire events had been accomplished before they had
existence. How then could they be answerable for them? To solve this
mystery we must consider man in a twofold view--as an individual and
as the member of a community.
As individuals mankind are solely accountable for the parts which they
act personally. In the judgment of the great day, they will only be
judged for the use which they shall have made of the talents committed
to them here--"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to
that he hath done, whether good or bad,"
But every individual is a member of the human race, and of some
community. The race, as such, and the larger branches of it, the
nations and empires into which it is divided, are amenable to the
Supreme Governor, and liable to punishment, if in their public
characters, they rebel against him. And righteous individuals, may be
involved in the judgments sent to punish the sins of the community to
which they belong. They often are so. Personal rectitude is not
designated by an exemption from national calamities. Discriminations
will eventually be made in its favor, but not here. Here "all things
come alike unto all, and there is one event to the righteous and the
wicked."
To _shew such to be the general rule of the divine administration in
the government of the world, is the design of the following
discourse_: Which will explain the text.
The world, and the communities into which it is divided, have their
probation no less than persons; and there are reasons in which God
enters into judgment with them and adjusts retributions to their moral
states.
In discussing the subject, we shall treat, _first of families, then of
larger communities, and of the world_.
The first family of our race affords an example to our purpose. Before
that family was increased by a single branch issuing from it, it
rebelled against God, and God entered into judgment with it, and
punished its sin upon it. And the punishments was not restricted to
the offending pair, but extended to their race in common with
themselves: All were doomed to sufferings and death _in consequence of
their sin_. And the sentence hath been executing upon them from that
period to the present time. Mankind have gone through life sorrowing;
and "death hath reigned even over those, who have not sinned after
the similitude of Adam's transgression." Neither have discriminations
been made in favor of the saints, but they have been involved in the
general calamity, and groaned with the rest of the creation.
In some respects this was an exempt case, but in the general diffusion
of punishment on the various branches of the family, it accords with
the divine administration respecting other families, as appears from
sacred history, and from the general history of the human race.
Countless examples might be adduced.
The murder of Abel was not punished solely on Cain, but also on his
family. The ground cursed for _his_ sin, did not yield _to them_ its
strength; and they were deprived of those religious instructions which
they would no doubt have received, had their father dwelt "in the
presence of the Lord," or remained in the family of Adam which
contained the church of God. Many of the evils which fell on that
sinner, fell also on his children and rested on them till the
extinction of his race by the deluge.
Similar were the consequences which followed the sins of Ham and
Esau: But these more properly rank under the head of communities: But
instances of families which have suffered, yea perished, by judgments
sent to punish the sins of their heads, often occur.
When sundry of the princes of Israel rebelled against God in the
wilderness, and attempted a subversion of the government which God had
instituted for his people, they did not perish alone, but their
families perished with them, though no intimations are given that they
were all _partakers_ in their sin--yea, though it is more than
intimated that _some of them_ were not capable of partaking in it
--"They came out and stood in the doors of their tents, and their
wives, and their sons, and their little ones." And as soon as Moses
had warned the congregation, and foretold the manner of their death,
"the ground clave asunder that was under them, and the earth opened
her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses--and they and all
that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth
doted upon them; and they perished." *
* Numbers xvi. 27-33.
To these might be added the families of Achan, Eli, Saul, Jeroboam,
Baasha, Ahab and others. No special personal guilt was found on many
members of these families. They died to expiate family guilt. We know
of none chargeable on Abimelech, or the other priests who were slain
by order of Saul. The sins of Eli and his house, were punished upon
them, agreeably to the divine denunciation, first by a nameless
prophet; afterwards by Samuel. In one of the sons of Jeroboam, "were
found good things toward the Lord God of Israel:" Therefore was he
removed by an early death, and the residue of the family were
afterwards destroyed with the sword to punish the sin of the father,
"who had sinned and made Israel to sin."
The divine administration is still the same. In later ages instances
might be adduced, especially among princes, of families extirpated
(after a term of family probation, which had been abused by wickedness
and dishonored by crimes) to punish family guilt. But these might be
more liable to be disputed than those recorded in sacred history.
Though we think it evident, from common observation, that the curse of
heaven usually rests on the descendants of those who cast off the fear
of God and harden themselves in sin, and that God visits the
iniquities of fathers on their children.
We turn our attention next to larger communities. Here we find the
divine administration regulated by the same rules.
Morals are as necessary to larger communities as to families, or
individuals, alike required of them. And they are equally amenable to
HIM who is over all, and receive like returns from his impartial
hands, according to their works. The chief difference made between
communities and persons, respects the time and place, in which they
are judged and rewarded: Respecting the former, they take place in
this world; respecting the latter, in that to come. Persons will live
again after death. Communities, as such, exist only here.
Here therefore communities must be remunerated [sic]. They are so.
God tries them, and proportions retributions to their moral state.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation;" but wickedness degrades and
destroys it. The strength and happiness of a people are proportioned
to their morals, and increase and diminish with them.
Perhaps it will be said, These are the natural conferences of moral
good and evil. They are so. And these consequences are the effects of
divine order; of the constitution which God hath established. Hence
the divine declaration by the prophet: "At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to
pull down, and to destroy; if that nation against whom I have
pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I
thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning
a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do
evil in my fight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the
good wherewith I said, I would benefit them." *
* Jeremiah xviii. 7-10.
This declaration is verified in the divine administration. God often
bears with nations and communities, even to long suffering; but if
they continue to revolt, he fails not to punish their sin upon them.
When a community hath filled up the measure of its iniquity, judgment
is executed upon it; not according to the moral character of those who
then compose it, but according to its character considered as a nation
which hath been tried God's appointed time.
While a community is on trial its conduct is recorded; its acts of
disobedience to the divine Sovereign are charged to the community, and
when its probation ends, they are brought into the reckoning and
punished upon it, unless repentance and reformation intervene and
prevent it. That "the sin of the Amorites was not full," was assigned
as a reason for deferring the settlement of Abram's race in the land
of Canaan. God would not enter into judgment with them, till the
measure of their guilt had reached a certain height; but the sins of
every generation helped to swell the account, till they were ripe for
ruin. The Hebrews were then ordered to destroy them utterly--"every
thing that breathed." It was not the sins of only that generation
which occasioned this sentence, but the sins of the nations. Many
individuals who had no personal guilt were included in the sentence,
and destroyed by its execution. The infants perished with the adults.
The divine judgments executed on other wicked communities, have been
similar. Sodom, and her daughters were each of them a petty kingdom;
and when they had severally filled up the measure of their crimes,
they all perished together, old and young.
If more examples are desired, look to the seed of Jacob. That people
had a long probation; but when they had filled up the measure of
national guilt, their sins were brought to remembrance and punished
upon them. The ten tribes revolted from God, when they left the house
of David and set Jeroboam on the throne. For more than two centuries
and an half God waited with them, and warned them of the evils which
their sins would bring upon them; but they repented not. When their
iniquity was full, he gave their enemies power over them; "rooted
them up out of the good land which he had given their fathers, and
scattered them beyond the river."
The kingdom of Judah remained about an hundred and thirty years after
"Ephraim was broken that he was not a people." Those, who adhered to
the house of David did not revolt so early as those who seceded at the
division of the kingdom. Divine worship according to the law of Moses,
was kept up among them; and several pious princes reigned over them.
But though the progress of impiety was less rapid than in the other
kingdom, there was a departure from the living God, and idolatry and
immorality prevailed, till they also filled up the measure of their
sins. Then, impartial heaven "stretched over Jerusalem the line of
Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab." *
* 2 Kings xxi. 13.
The generation on which those judgments were executed was greatly
depraved, and like the men of Sodom, sinners exceedingly; but their
sins alone would not have occasioned those desolations; they were
added to the national account, and filled up the measure of national
guilt. One of their kings did much to swell that account. Mention is
made, more than once, of his sins, particularly of the innocent blood
which he shed, as fixing the doom of the nation, rendering prayer for
it unavailing and its ruin inevitable. "Though Moses and Samuel stood
before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people: Cast them out
of my sight; I will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of
the earth, _because of Manassah, the king of Judah, for that which he
did in Jerusalem_." * Wantonly shedding the blood of his subjects, was
one of the sins charged upon him. This sin is, in a sense,
unpardonable. "Blood defileth the land; and the land cannot be
cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that
shed it." + Manasseh's blood was not shed. Therefore was the land
destined to suffer, Josiah, who reigned after Manasseh, was pious; but
after he had done every thing in his power to atone for the sins of
his fathers, and reclaim the nation, and not wholly without effect, it
is expressly noted that "the Lord turned not from the fierceness of
his wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of
all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal." And after
the judgments had been executed, it is again remarked that they were
sent to punish the sins of that wicked ruler--"Surely at the
commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, _for the sins of
Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent
blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which
the Lord would not pardon_." ++
* Jeremiah xv. 1-4. + Numbers xxxv. 33. ++ 2 Kings xxiii. 26,
xxiv. 3, 4.
Manasseh was gone off the stage; so were all who had shared in his
guilt; that prince had, moreover, repented and obtained personal
forgiveness; but his crimes had filled up the measure of national
wickedness, and judgment must follow. There was no remedy.
These are conclusive evidence that the sins of a people, and
especially of the rulers of a people, which are not punished by the
civil arm, are charged to the people, and eventually punished upon
them.
As there are seasons in which God judgeth nations and communities, and
renders to them according to their works, there are also seasons in
which he doth the same by the world. That this will be done at the end
of the world, or at the judgment of the great day, is not matter of
doubt with believers in revelation. But some other seasons of divine
judgment are now more particularly intended. For there are seasons in
which God's judgments are abroad in the earth--in which the sins of
the world seem to be brought to remembrance, and punished on its
inhabitants.
Eminently such was the six hundredth year of the life of Noah. "When
the earth was corrupt before God, and filled with violence," he
entered into judgment, and punished the sin of the world, in the
destruction of its inhabitants. God did not "do his work, his strange
work, or bring to pass his act, his strange act," as soon as "the
wickedness of man was great, and every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart only evil continually." He waited long. But when the vast
term allowed to antediluvian sinners was expired, he swept off a race
who had been disobedient while long suffering mercy waited with them.
The sin of the world was then full. Human guilt had long been
augmenting, and at length occasioned that awful display of divine
justice. Many who were at that time destroyed were, no doubt great and
old offenders; but many others differed from them, were but entering
on life, not capable, of personal guilt, yet they were involved in the
general calamity. Those of every character perished together, "The
flood came and took them all away."
There hath been no other season in which the divine judgments toward
the whole world have been so signally manifest as at the deluge. There
have however, been times in which they have been very general and very
severe. One of those times was at hand in our Savior's day. On the
generation which lived when he suffered for the sins of men, were some
of the vials of divine wrath poured out, though not those in which
the wrath of God was filled up. Perhaps at no period yet past, that of
the deluge excepted, hath God visited the sins of men with greater
severity. If the divine judgments fell then more particularly on the
Jews, the other nations did not escape. If the Jews suffered more than
others, there were reasons; nor are they wholly concealed.
The Jews had enjoyed greater religious privileges than others--had
more means of instruction in divine things, and had neglected and
abused them, and seem to have more completely filled up the measure of
their iniquity than any other people. "To whom much is given, of them
is the more required; and those who know their duty and yet do things
worthy of stripes shall be beaten with many stripes."
God was also at that time avenging "the righteous blood which had
been shed upon the earth"--the blood of his saints who had been
martyred, of which more than a double portion was chargeable
on that people. They had of old killed the prophets, and persecuted
those who had been sent of God to warn them from their ways. The same
was still their governing temper, and to a greater degree than at any
former period of their history.
They were also the church of God; and he was now entering into
judgment with his church, as a community the measure of whose iniquity
was full. This was nearly their situation when the Savior addressed
them, as in our context--"Fill ye up the measure of your fathers."
THIS was not a command, but a prediction of what was then nearly
accomplished; and he told them how it would be completed--by their
killing and crucifying the messengers of heaven, at whose head was the
divine messenger who then addressed them--that when they should have
done these things, God would enter into judgment with them, and avenge
on them "all the righteous blood which had been shed in his church
from the foundation of the world." _Verify I say unto you, all these
things shall come on this generation_. And he assured them that it
would desolate their country, and that it would remain destitute of
those religious privileges which they then enjoyed, till they should
become of another spirit--"Behold your house is left unto you
desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye
shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
As soon as Christ was alone with his disciples he gave them a
description of those desolations which is recorded in the following
chapter, and is so plain, and made such an impression on the
Christians of that day, who were mostly Jews, that they fled at the
approach of the Roman armies and escaped the calamities which
overwhelmed their nation. Whoever reads the history of that age will
be convinced of the truth of that prediction--Then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to that
time, no, nor ever shall see. "Those were the days of vengeance, that
all things which were written might be fulfilled."
Another of the seasons of divine judgments occurred at the subversion
of the Roman empire by the Northern barbarians. That mighty empire
comprehended a very large portion of the then known world. It had
become exceedingly populous. Italy, in particular was chiefly covered
with the dwellings of men, like one continued city; and almost the
whole empire swarmed with inhabitants, and many parts were cultivated
like a garden. But when those savages broke into it, they carried fire
and sword wherever they went. Like the armies of God's judgments
described by the prophet Joel, they carried terror and destruction
--"A fire devoured before them, and behind them a flame burned: The
land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; and nothing escaped them." * The most populous and
fruitful parts of that vast empire were literally made desolate, and
became a wilderness; and many places have never recovered their former
lustre, and few become equally populous to this day.
* Joel ii. 3.
Waving the particular mention of other periods in which the judgments
of God have been made manifest, would only observe, that we are taught
by the prophets, to expect desolating judgments before the beginning
of the latter day glory, and that they will be very general--that the
sins, not of this, or that community, but of the world will come into
remembrance before God; and that the full vials of his wrath will be
poured out, not barely to avenge the sins of that generation, but the
sins of the world, the measure of their iniquity being then full.
The most terrifying metaphors are used to prefigure the judgments
which will then be executed on mankind. The destruction of men is
compared to the harvest and vintage! But the language of prophecy, if
we consider the human race as the objects of the harvest and vintage,
admits no augmentation of terror. "And I looked, and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud one sat, like unto the Son of Man, having on
his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another
angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice, to him that
sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap: For the time is come
for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that
sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was
reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven,
he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the
altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him
that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clutters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are
fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press
of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden without the city;
and blood came out of the wine press, even unto the horses bridles,
by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." *
* Revelation xiv. 14-22.
The scenes here depicted are yet future. They are confirmed, and in
some measure illustrated by other prophecies; but as our understanding
of prophecies must remain partial till explained by their
accomplishment, we leave the intelligent reader to his own reflections
upon them.