1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber. I. COVETOUSNESS MAY LEAD US INTO FORMING FORBIDDEN ALLIANCES AND ENTERING UPON UNWARRANTED SPECULATIVE ADVENTURES. There can be no doubt that an inordinate thirst for gold tempted Jehoshaphat into this ill-fated project; for we read that he had already "riches and honour in abundance." To obtain riches, indeed, there are no dangers men will not risk, no toils they will not undergo, no perils they will not brave. How often does it happen that a man of considerable capital, from the desire to make much more, enters into partnership in some promising speculation with persons of no piety, though professing godliness himself, and constructs his schemes, and lays his plans, all upon their principles, entirely forgetful that without the blessing of Heaven they can never prosper, and that the blessing of Heaven can never rest upon an enterprise in which the requirements of Heaven are disregarded. God has distinctly declared, that "a companion of fools shall be broken"; and has warned us, that if sinners entice, saying, "Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse; we shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with spoil," we consent not, lest, sharing in the sinner's godless schemes, we share in the sinner's disastrous overthrow, and reap a righteous recompense, if not in actual bankruptcy, in the wreck and ruin of our most costly equipments. Many, we are aware, are the plausible pleas and excuses which may be urged by the man of merchandise, and the adventurous moneymaker, who is greedy of gain, in justification of his joint-stock schemes, and unions of interests in speculative enterprises with men who have not the love of God in their hearts, nor "the fear of God before their eyes." II. THE PERIL THERE IS TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN ALL MERCANTILE ENTERPRISES APART FROM RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE. Be assured, that all alliances with the enemies of God, whether they be in the master of marriage, where gold is often more looked to than goodness, or whether they be in the partnerships of business, or in the undertakings of speculative enterprise; or again, whether they be for the purpose of political party, to prop up a ministry, and to gain strength, as is supposed, to a government, they will assuredly, sooner or later, bring down disaster in the desolating hurricane of Heaven's displeasure. Over and over again have we seen all such combinations broken up, and scattered to the winds, evincing, that whatever is imagined to be strong through wickedness shall be made contemptible for its weakness. No union can be strong in which God and truth are not the uniting links. Or, to take another case: when oft-occurring calamities lessen the resources of some wealthy company, and a firm in which all men placed unquestioning confidence is overtaken by the desolating tempests of misfortune upon misfortune, and their ships, which were heretofore to be found on every sea, trading for gold, are scattered and wrecked, and bankruptcy is declared, and creditors look blank with astonishment, is there not often reason to believe that the AEolus of the mischief was some ungodly partner, who, because be was thought to be powerful, was taken into the body, without any regard being had to his religious principles. It is only when such alliances are knowingly made that they can, perhaps, be considered criminal. But is there no enterprise upon which man may enter, worthy of his immortal energies, and in which there is no danger of indulging a destructive covetousness, nor of being stricken clown by any desolating disaster. Ah! yes; there is a "merchandise that is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold"; and for this ye need not voyage to the land of Ophir. Jesus Christ says to you, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich" — rich in justifying righteousness, rich in the gift of faith, rich in sanctifying influences, rich in moral graces, rich in meekness for glory. Heavenly "wisdom cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire." (S. Jenner, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber. |
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