Micah 2:10 Arise you, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. 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 man's rest or resting place. 1. Because man's 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 weaver's 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 man's pursuits, what do they bring? Do they satisfy the wants and cravings of man's immortal soul? One man's pursuit is wealth; another man is bent on enjoying life. Another man's 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.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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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