But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
The verse describes a deliberate and willful refusal to listen to God, pulling the shoulder away and turning aside, and shutting the ears so as not to hear and not have to obey. Pulling away the shoulder means drawing impatiently back from earnest entreaty and counsel and refusing to take Christ's yoke and lift His burden, and stopping the ears means putting the fingers in the ears and leaving plain instruction unheeded with questioning and excuses in order to avoid obedience. What was refused was the call to execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion to every brother, to refrain from oppressing the widow, the fatherless, the stranger and the poor and from plotting evil in the heart, which was the law and the words the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Such refusal brought great wrath from the Lord of hosts, so that as He cried and they would not hear, they cried and He would not hear, but He scattered them with a whirlwind among unknown nations and left the pleasant land desolate. The warning is just as surely spoken now as a present duty to hear and obey in mercy, compassion and true judgment, for refusal does not annul God's law which remains plain and binding, and it must not become the readers' experience.
Words and Historical Rejection
The refusal was deliberate and willful, a determined turning away from hearing God so as not to have to obey Him. They pulled away the shoulder and stopped the ears, shutting themselves off from hearing and from obedience to His call. It was stubborn resistance to instruction, a closing of themselves against listening when He cried to them.
The pulling away of the shoulder was pulling away from earnest entreaty, as from a hand laid upon the shoulder. The stopping of the ears was deliberate refusal to hear in order to avoid having to obey. Pulling away the shoulder is refusing to take Christ's yoke and to lift His burden. It is drawing the shoulder away from advice and counsel, from reproof and plain light and instruction, even pulling impatiently away from the counsel of God. Stopping the ears is putting the fingers in the ears and caring not to hear the word of the Lord, leaving explanations unheeded with questioning and criticizing and excuses for going directly contrary to His plain will.
What was refused was the call to execute true judgment and to practice justice and mercy toward one another. It was the command to show mercy and compassion every man to his brother. It was the charge to refrain from oppressing the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, and to refrain from plotting evil and imagining evil against a brother in the heart. In rejecting this they rejected the law and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. They made the heart as an adamant stone against that law and those prophetic words, hardening themselves so they would not listen.
Those addressed should have been a moral light, but they disregarded the word of the Lord and lived for themselves. The teaching of true judgment, mercy, and compassion was the opposite of the course they were pursuing, and they were displeased with it. They wanted to follow their own wisdom rather than hearken.
Divine Judgment and Application
Deliberate refusal to hearken brings great wrath and judgment from the Lord of hosts. As He cried and they would not hear, so they cried and He would not hear, but He scattered them with a whirlwind among unfamiliar and unknown nations and left the pleasant land desolate with no man passing through nor returning. Persisting in walking contrary to His instruction puts men in opposition to His purposes and the principles of heaven where He cannot deliver them from the sure consequences, and He therefore permits their enemies to have power over them to humble them.
Refusal to hear does not do away with or annul the law of God. That law remains plain, decided, and binding on every soul with thou shalt and thou shalt not.
Those who refuse are disloyal, like disobedient stubborn children turning from truth to fables. They choose to remain in darkness and unbelief rather than accept truth that would separate them from the world, from neighbors, and from family. Such a course dishonors God and moves a person away from Christ to Satan's side. It leaves the tongue, a fire and a world of iniquity needing to be guarded and restrained, unguarded. What is called for is new principles of action that are true, pure, refined, and Christlike, with the motives that inspired the Saviour implanted in the heart.
In contrast with this resistance, the agencies of the natural world obey God's command. Nature is under His control to bring either blessing and mercy or judgment, including drought, famine, plague, and destruction. Even animals may suffer because of human sin.
The warning is just as surely spoken now as a present duty to hear and obey God in mercy, compassion, and true judgment, and it must not become the readers' experience. It is applied to the experience of God's people during the preceding twenty years. It is applied to those who hinder His servants and fail to support the work in the South, whose neglect bears witness against them. It is applied to unjust business dealings. It is applied to men in office who fail to act as their position demands by not setting things in order and not making full restitution for neglect and robbery of the Southern field, whose only feeble, half-hearted, unwilling works show no true sense of justice and mercy and therefore leave them under rebuke. It is joined to the call to speak no censure, lay no blame, and cheerfully and nobly redeem a heavily debt-burdened institution in great peril.
The verse describes a deliberate and willful refusal to listen to God, pulling the shoulder away and turning aside, and shutting the ears so as not to hear and not have to obey. Pulling away the shoulder means drawing impatiently back from earnest entreaty and counsel and refusing to take Christ's yoke and lift His burden, and stopping the ears means putting the fingers in the ears and leaving plain instruction unheeded with questioning and excuses in order to avoid obedience. What was refused was the call to execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion to every brother, to refrain from oppressing the widow, the fatherless, the stranger and the poor and from plotting evil in the heart, which was the law and the words the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Such refusal brought great wrath from the Lord of hosts, so that as He cried and they would not hear, they cried and He would not hear, but He scattered them with a whirlwind among unknown nations and left the pleasant land desolate. The warning is just as surely spoken now as a present duty to hear and obey in mercy, compassion and true judgment, for refusal does not annul God's law which remains plain and binding, and it must not become the readers' experience.
Words and Historical Rejection
The refusal was deliberate and willful, a determined turning away from hearing God so as not to have to obey Him. They pulled away the shoulder and stopped the ears, shutting themselves off from hearing and from obedience to His call. It was stubborn resistance to instruction, a closing of themselves against listening when He cried to them.
The pulling away of the shoulder was pulling away from earnest entreaty, as from a hand laid upon the shoulder. The stopping of the ears was deliberate refusal to hear in order to avoid having to obey. Pulling away the shoulder is refusing to take Christ's yoke and to lift His burden. It is drawing the shoulder away from advice and counsel, from reproof and plain light and instruction, even pulling impatiently away from the counsel of God. Stopping the ears is putting the fingers in the ears and caring not to hear the word of the Lord, leaving explanations unheeded with questioning and criticizing and excuses for going directly contrary to His plain will.
What was refused was the call to execute true judgment and to practice justice and mercy toward one another. It was the command to show mercy and compassion every man to his brother. It was the charge to refrain from oppressing the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, and to refrain from plotting evil and imagining evil against a brother in the heart. In rejecting this they rejected the law and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. They made the heart as an adamant stone against that law and those prophetic words, hardening themselves so they would not listen.
Those addressed should have been a moral light, but they disregarded the word of the Lord and lived for themselves. The teaching of true judgment, mercy, and compassion was the opposite of the course they were pursuing, and they were displeased with it. They wanted to follow their own wisdom rather than hearken.
Divine Judgment and Application
Deliberate refusal to hearken brings great wrath and judgment from the Lord of hosts. As He cried and they would not hear, so they cried and He would not hear, but He scattered them with a whirlwind among unfamiliar and unknown nations and left the pleasant land desolate with no man passing through nor returning. Persisting in walking contrary to His instruction puts men in opposition to His purposes and the principles of heaven where He cannot deliver them from the sure consequences, and He therefore permits their enemies to have power over them to humble them.
Refusal to hear does not do away with or annul the law of God. That law remains plain, decided, and binding on every soul with thou shalt and thou shalt not.
Those who refuse are disloyal, like disobedient stubborn children turning from truth to fables. They choose to remain in darkness and unbelief rather than accept truth that would separate them from the world, from neighbors, and from family. Such a course dishonors God and moves a person away from Christ to Satan's side. It leaves the tongue, a fire and a world of iniquity needing to be guarded and restrained, unguarded. What is called for is new principles of action that are true, pure, refined, and Christlike, with the motives that inspired the Saviour implanted in the heart.
In contrast with this resistance, the agencies of the natural world obey God's command. Nature is under His control to bring either blessing and mercy or judgment, including drought, famine, plague, and destruction. Even animals may suffer because of human sin.
The warning is just as surely spoken now as a present duty to hear and obey God in mercy, compassion, and true judgment, and it must not become the readers' experience. It is applied to the experience of God's people during the preceding twenty years. It is applied to those who hinder His servants and fail to support the work in the South, whose neglect bears witness against them. It is applied to unjust business dealings. It is applied to men in office who fail to act as their position demands by not setting things in order and not making full restitution for neglect and robbery of the Southern field, whose only feeble, half-hearted, unwilling works show no true sense of justice and mercy and therefore leave them under rebuke. It is joined to the call to speak no censure, lay no blame, and cheerfully and nobly redeem a heavily debt-burdened institution in great peril.