Words in Season. Sin

Words in Season . BIBLE THOUGHTS . BY THE EDITOR . ' Er , the first - born of Judah , was evil in the sight of the Lord , and He slew him .'- 1 CHRON . II . 3 . HERE we have , in one brief sentence , a statement of the way in which God deals with sin and the sinner . It is the repetition of a verse in Genesis , in a very unlikely place in the midst of names and genealogies ; God thus giving us to know the stress He lays on it . It is not for nothing that He thus repeats it . Such clauses as this , flung in apparently by chance , or what is called the tran- scriber's taste , are full of meaning . This certainly contains a very distinct and awful utterance . Looking at it generally , we may say that it brings out , in a very outstanding and unambiguous form , such things as these : I. God's estimate of sin . It differs widely from man's . It is the Judge's estimate ; not the Physi- cian's merely , or the Father's . It is one of con- demnation . It is not simply disease , or misfortune , or an accidental deviation from the straight line ; but guilt , which must be reckoned for according to inexorable law . Sin , in the divine judgment , is not something vague , and loose , and shadowy , but well - defined and substantial . It is not a thing of sentiment or feeling , but a thing to be determined by the sharp test of unchanging law , -law inter- preted by an inflexible tribunal , and applied by an infinitely righteous Judge , without respect of per- sons ; without fear , or favour , or partiality ; with- out the remotest risk of mistake , or possibility of miscarriage of justice . II . Gods treatment of sin . -He does not merely pronounce a sentence or verdict , without meaning to carry it out . His deeds correspond with his words . He hates sin ; He tells us this ; He treats it accordingly . His treatment of it is- ( 1. ) Prompt . - Though He does bear with the sinner , yet this patience is not at variance with the promptitude . He is both patient and prompt ; yet is He not hasty . It does not take Him unawares , nor show Him as if at a loss how to deal with it . He is always ready to meet it and deal with it , whether open or secret , greater or lesser . ( 2. ) Decided . He does not trifle with it , as if undecided how to proceed , or hesitating as to what sentence to pronounce . There may be , for wise and gracious reasons , some delay ; but the delay does not arise from any want of decision , any changeableness or instability . He is altogether decided in words and ways . He is in one mind , and who can turn Him ? ' ( 3. ) Severe . The Lord slew him ; ' that is , struck him down , cut him off by a violent death . He did not die the death of men , but perished like Korah . God made a fearful example of him be- fore the eyes of his brethren ; though what it was we know not . When God arises to smite , He is infinitely terrible in his vengeance . He is in earnest ; and He punishes in earnest , when his wrath is kindled but a little . ( 4. ) Watchful . His eye is on the wicked , his eyelids try the children of men . Nothing escapes Him . No sin , however small , is overlooked . Though fury is not in Him , yet He is watchful . His eyes are as a flame of fire . But it is not sin merely that God would have us consider here . It is the sinner specially . For this non - information as to the sin ( we are not told what the sin was ) seems to be for the purpose of making prominent the sinner . And then the reticence as to the personal history of the sinner , fixes our eye on the other circumstances thus brought out in relief . He is a first - born son . To him would pertain peculiar honour , and in him would centre peculiar expectation . Yet he is slain - slain by God . How often do we thus find the natural order broken in upon , and human hope frustrated ! It was so in Cain ; it was so in Esau . Sin breaks up all order , and disappoints all hope . Were it not for sin , the river of human order ( family and social ) would flow on undisturbed . He is the first - born of Judah .- ' Judah , thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise . ' Judah , in God's purpose , is already the royal tribe ; and this sinner , slain by God for his wickedness , is the first of the royal line , the first link in Messiah's royal chain . As Esau and Reuben had been set aside because of their sin , so is Er . Sin breaks the line ; and the blow that severs it is dealt by God himself . ' Jehovah slew him , ' because he was wicked in the sight of the Lord . ' And if any one say , ' Why doth He yet find fault , for who hath resisted his will ? ' our answer is : ' Nay but , O man , who art thou that repliest against God ? ' Yes , God is not afraid to break Messiah's line . He can rectify the breakage in his own way . But rather than that sin should go unpunished , He does not hesitate to break that line - to set aside Judah's first - born . So infinitely does God hate sin ! But there is something yet more remarkable . The broken link was to be re - fastened by the per- mission of sin as great as that which had broken it ; the triple sin , first of Onan , then of Judah , then of Tamar ! How mysterious ! How un- searchable are his judgments , and his ways past finding out ! ' What a strange fragment of human history is this breaking and this mending of Mes- siah's royal line ! ' Oh the depth of the riches , both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! ' Sce how He hates sin ; how He smites the sinner ; how He does not spare even the first - born of Messiah's tribe ! Yet see how his purpose stands ! And see how He can make use of sin for remedying the breaches which sin makes ! What a God is ours ! So righteous , so wise , so powerful , so loving and gracious ! But how terrible the lesson regarding sin ! God cannot pass it by . On whomsoever found , it must be punished . Even when God's purpose is to remedy it , it must be punished ; first punished before it can be remedied , lest men should make light of it , or think that God is trifling with it . Yes ; and when sin is at last found ( though but by imputation ) upon his well - beloved Son , it must be punished . He must die . Yet He dies only to live ; and He lives that we may live also . Judah's royal Son , David's Lord , is our Redeemer from sin .