The Thorn and the Thistle shall come up on their Altars

The Thorn and the Thistle shall come up on their Altars.

This expression is, to note, the great devastation that shall be made in those places where they had altars in Bethel: (especially, Samaria being besieged for 3 years together.) The enemies had Bethel in their own hands and they manifested their rage upon their altars, and upon all their religious things presently, they pulled them down and made them lie in heaps of rubbish, that in the space of three years the very thistles and thorns grew up in the place where they had their altars. It's a usual expression of the devastation of a place, that the grass shall grow where their houses were, shall corn grow where the city was, here there shall be thistles and thorns grow where their altars were.

And secondly, it's an expression of indignation, as if God should have said, I'll take more delight to see the thorns and thistles grow out of the very rubbish of the altars than of all the images and brave pictures and gildings that are about them. Just as if it should have been said about the Service-Book, Oh now you honor it much, and it must be bound bravely, and gilt bravely, and strung curiously, if one should have said about seven or eight years ago, This that you do so idolize now, within a while it shall be but waste papers, it shall be thrown to the mice and rats to eat, this would have been an expression of indignation against it.

Obs. First, If it be sad that places of false worship should not be frequented as formerly they were wont to be, how much more sad is it that places of true worship should be neglected? As thus, they were wont to go to Bethel to worship with their altars: yes, but says God, they shall go no more there, but those places shall be filled with nettles, thorns, and thistles; they accounted that sad. Yes, but we should account it sad that the paths to the true worship of God should not be beaten, as in former times where there was an altar (as it were) for the worship of God, those places that were frequented much; but had our adversaries had their wills we should have had those paths that were wont to be beaten to the true worship of God, to have had nettles and thorns grown up in them.

Secondly, if it be so sad to have such an ill succession here in false worship, sad to false worshipers, what sadness is there for the true worshipers of God to have an ill succession in the Church? Truly much like me thinks it is, when there has been in a place a godly and a powerful ministry, and afterwards for the sins of the people God takes it away, and instead of a powerful ministry there comes up a pricking thorn, a briar, a thistle, a nettle, there comes an unworthy man of no gifts or graces, but only can gall and prick, and do hurt and mischief, this is a succession like to the succession that God here threatened, that there should be thistles and thorns succeed their altars. And Hierom upon the place seems to hint some such kind of meditation, he says, instead of true doctrine, there shall be a wilderness of very corrupt doctrine, where there was true doctrine taught, now it shall lie waste as a wilderness, and corrupt doctrine shall be taught instead of true.

Thirdly, God does account the ruin of the most glorious things abused to sin, a more pleasing object, than when those things were in the greatest pomp and glory. Brave building, and brave altars when they were rubbish and grown over with thorns, and briars, God looked upon them as more glorious. And so if a man has a very beautiful comely body and abuse it to sin, when God shall strike him, and he shall be a filthy rotten carcass that the worms shall be gnawing upon, when he shall be covered with worms as a filthy carcass, God will look upon that as a more lovely sight than to see his body decked with all kind of ornaments. Better that the creature perish than to have it abused to sin, though it be the most glorious creature in the world.

And then lastly, those things that men account highly of in the matters of worship, when God lets in their enemies they contemn them. They accounted highly of their calves, but when the Assyrians came they contemned them, and pulled them down, and made them rubbish. It's not only so in matters of false worship, but in matters of true; those things that we highly esteem and bless God for, and we think what infinite pity it is that they should not be continued, yet if God should let our adversaries in they would scorn us. As now, such liberties as these are, what infinite pity were it that people should be deprived of them, but if God should let our adversaries in upon us they would scorn and contemn these things, as the Assyrians did contemn those things that the Israelites did account to be as God. It follows.