And visit their sins

And visit their sins.

God visits either in Mercies or Judgments, and in the godly visiting, it is to be understood concerning those things that seem'd before to be neglected, as in the 21. of Genesis, God visited Sarah when God seem'd to have neglected her: and so in Exodus 4. he visited the children of Israel, that is, when he seem'd wholly to have neglected them: and so, I will visit their sins, though they may think I have neglected them yet I will visit their sins. From where observe,

God visits men's sins when they think they are most neglected by God; God has his time to make diligent enquiry for all their sins, in Exodus 32:34. In the day when I visit, I will visit their sins upon them, then all their sins shall come up together, and that's the reason that God is content to bear with wicked men and wink at their sins for the present, why? Because God has a day for to visit them, this sin which they commit now, they shall not hear of it till a great while hence, but I have a day to visit, and then this and the other sins shall come. Days of visitation heretofore were wont to be called days of vexation, but the day of God's visitation will be a day of vexation indeed to ungodly men. Micah 7:4. The best of them is a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorn, the day of the Watchmen and your Visitation comes, now shall be their perplexity. In Isaiah 10:3. And what will you do in the day of Visitation, and the Dissolution which shall come from far? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? So I may say to many guilty consciences, Oh you poor wretched sinful creature, what will you do in the day of Visitation? You can tell now, you can go home and be merry and do what you list, but what will you do in the day of visitation?

It follows: They shall return (or as some translate) they will return to Egypt.

And so it notes their sin for which God will visit them, and the course that they would take when God was about to visit them, They will return to Egypt. Where will you flee in the day of visitation? We will fly into Egypt say they, if the Assyrians' power grow too great we will go into Egypt for help, and this may seem to have reference to that story in the 2. of Kings (17:4): The King of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So King of Egypt.

The note from hence is this: carnal hearts when God is visiting them for their sins they have plots in their heads to shift this way and that way for themselves. Vain deluded soul! Your thoughts should be, how should I make up my peace with God? How should I seek the face of God? You are thinking of this and the other shift, whereas you should only be thinking of making up your peace with God. And thus it is with Kingdoms, when God is visiting Kingdoms you shall have many that sit at the Stern, that all their thoughts are about carnal helps, whereas their great thoughts should be, how they might fall down before God, and seek to make peace with God and the Kingdom: thus it was here, I will visit them, and they think to return to Egypt. And if you take it as a Judgment, it is threatened that they should return to Egypt, in Deuteronomy 28. at the latter end, there it is put in the close of all the former Judgments, that they should return to Egypt.

The note is, that it is one of the most dreadful judgments upon a nation, after God has delivered them from a bondage, to deliver them to the same bondage again: and as it was grievous to be delivered into the bondage of Egypt, so more to deliver us into a spiritual Egypt. If we should again come under the power of those that have persecuted us and those that have oppressed us, that they should have their full power over us again, oh our bondage would be sevenfold more than it is: and yet what cause have we to have our hearts tremble and shake when we think of our abuse of the beginning of Deliverance that we had? But of all judgments let us pray to be delivered from that judgment, that we may never go back again to our prisons.

But just with God it is that those who inherit their progenitors' sins, they should inherit their progenitors' judgments. You continue in their sins, you shall have their judgments also.

But were they ever carried into Egypt, was this threat ever fulfilled?

No, they were not carried captive into Egypt, but they fled into Egypt for Refuge, and there they lived and died miserably.

Hence observe, all places are places of misery when God forsakes a people, as all places are comfortable when God is with a people. Many men take their course to seek to refuge themselves, to help themselves, and perhaps they have what they would have in part, but when they have had what they would have, even the having of what they desire proves to be the execution of the wrath of God upon them: you have a mind to go to Egypt, you shall return to Egypt says God. It follows in the last verse.