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And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds. "The prophet now returns to times near his own, and predicts the beneficial moral changes that were to be effected in the condition of his countrymen by the Babylonish conquest and captivity. They had, contrary to the express command of the Lord (Deuteronomy 17:16), kept up a formidable body of cavalry and war chariots, trusted in their fortified cities, encouraged sorcery, and indulged in abominable idolatry. These were all to be removed when the Jewish state was broken up; and after God had employed the heathen in punishing his apostate people, they in their turn should be punished for their obstinate adherence to idol worship, notwithstanding the testimony borne against their conduct by the Jews who lived among them." The grand subject of these words is God's depriving dispensation towards men. Here the Almighty is represented as taking away from Israel many things they greatly valued - "horses, chariots, cities, soothsayers, witchcrafts, graven images, groves," etc. God's providence deprives as well as bestows. "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away." He is constantly taking away from men. In relation to his depriving dispensations I offer two remarks.

I. THEY ARE VERY PAINFUL. The things here referred to were the dearest things to the hearts of Israel. They loved them, they trusted in them, and they would feel life to be perilous, if not intolerable, without them; yet they were to be taken away. The thugs he takes away are of two classes.

1. The temporally valuable. Here chariots and horses and cities are taken away. These are valuable. Whatever is dearest to the heart - property, friends, health, fame - is the most painful to lose. And is not the Almighty constantly, in his providence, taking these things from men? He takes from the rich man his property, the strong man his health, the ambitious man his power, the social man his dearest friends. And such deprivations are the constant sources of human sorrow and anguish. All temporal good must go - chariots, horses, cities, etc. The other class of things he takes away are:

2. The morally vile. Here are "witchcrafts, soothsayers, graven images," etc. Whatever man indulges in that is wrong - false worship, all the sorceries of intellectual or physical pleasure - must go, the sooner the better. It is well when all that is morally wrong is taken from us in this world.

II. THEY ARE VERY USEFUL. It is often well to be stripped of temporary good; it is always necessary to be stripped of the morally wrong. All is done in mercy for the soul. God takes away temporal property from a man in order that he may get spiritual wealth; and often does a man's secular fall lead to his spiritual life. He takes away physical health from a man in order that he may get spiritual; and often do the diseases of the body lead to the cure of the soul. Did we understand things thoroughly, see them as we shall when we have done with this mundane system, we should often acknowledge more mercy in God's depriving than in his bestowing providences. Ever should we remember that the great end of all his dealings with us is our spiritual advancement in intelligence, holiness, power, and blessedness. "Lo, all these things worketh God with man, that he may bring him back from the pit in order to enlighten him with the light of the living" (Job 33:30).

CONCLUSION. Though I know not the future - and no one does - I know that severe depriving providences are ahead, but that mercy underlies the whole.

"And so beside the silent sea
I wait the muffled oar;
No harm from him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

"I know not where his islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond his love and care.

And thou, O Lord, by whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on thee."

(J.G. Whittier.) - D.T.

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Parallel Verses

KJV: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:

WEB: "It will happen in that day," says Yahweh, "That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and will destroy your chariots.