Verse 4

VER. 4.

They shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord; neither shall they be pleasing to him.

The Prophet in the name of God proceeds to further threatening of Israel; and this in the 4th verse is a very dreadful one: They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord; neither shall they be pleasing to him.

In their offerings there was wont to be wine and oil; to note cheerfulness in God's service: thus in (Numbers 15:5) The fourth part of an hyn of wine for a drink offering shall you prepare, and for a meat offering you shall prepare two deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hyn of oil. But now all joy shall be taken away, there shall be nothing but sadness and sinking of spirit under their misery, no wine offering.

Hence note, that those who abuse their joy to their lusts when they have it, it's just with God it should be taken from them, that they should have none to give to God though they would never so fain.

Secondly, this makes an affliction to be bitter and grievous indeed, that all joy and comfort in God's service is gone; for that's the scope, They shall offer no wine offerings, all their joy in the service of God shall be gone; they shall not only have sorrow in their outward afflictions that are upon them, but every time they come to think of any service of God their hearts shall be dejected, all their joy in the service of God shall be taken away. There was a time when some of you were wont to offer wine offerings to the Lord, that is, to have much joy and comfort in the service of God, but is not all gone? Where's your wine offerings to the Lord? You can now perform duties, but your hearts are heavy and dull in the performance of them, there's no sweetness, there's no enlargement of spirit in holy duties, all the worship of God is a burden now to you. Now there is no burden of affliction so great a burden as when the duties of God's worship comes to be a burden. The saints, so long as they have a wine offering for the Lord in holy duties, so long as their spirits in holy duties can be free and joyful, their afflictions are not very burdensome, they are well enough, this is more delightful to them than all the wine in the world, for they can say of God's love, They love is better than wine; so they can say of their love to God again, That our love to him is more comfortable to us than any wine in the world. Now though they be in afflictions, their estates are gone, that they have no wine to drink themselves, yet they have a wine offering to offer to the Lord. It's no great matter though we have not wine as we were wont to have at our tables, but when we go to worship God, we have a wine offering for him at any time; and this makes glad the hearts of the saints more than the hearts of all the men in the world can be glad when their corn, and wine, and oil increases.

They shall offer no wine offerings; neither shall they be pleasing to him; they shall not be sweet to him, whatever their offerings be. Now that they offer to the Lord, God will take no delight in them, they will be but sour things to the palate of God, the offerings of the saints in God's way they do cheer the very heart of God; and hence is the reason of that phrase that we have, that wine does cheer the heart of God and man, it cheered God's heart to have offerings offered in a holy manner to him, the greatest joy that God has in the world is in the offerings of the saints, which should be the greatest encouragement to them. Men by their wine and good cheer may make themselves merry, may make their friends merry, but by their holy offerings they do cheer the heart of God, they are as sweet-meats to God, all the wine and delightful things in the world they are as sweet (I say) to God, as all the wine and delightful things in the world are for men. You have a cup of wine for your friend to cheer him, but have you a cup of wine for God to cheer his heart? That is a gracious holy offering to God. Surely that which is most sweet to the soul of God should be most sweet to our souls. You would wonder to hear a man say that he takes as much delight, and he can recreate himself as much in reading, in praying, in hearing sermons, in holy conference as you can do in all your good cheer, in playing and drinking of wine in bowls; you think that men are mad to say, that they have as much pleasure in those things, as playing at cards, and merriment, and music, and good cheer. You call upon them to play at cards with you, or be merry, you say to them, why should you be dumpish and never be merry? They tell you again, that they can be as merry and as cheerful in hearing the Word, and praying, and reading, as you in all your playing, and all that that you account delightful. You say to them, that they have no recreation. They tell you, that those things that are your burdens, are their recreation; you think it strange. Why should you wonder? Surely that that sweetens and joyes the heart of God, that must needs be the rejoicing of the hearts of those that have the Spirit of God in them; you have joy and mirth in such and such things; these are sweet to you, yes, but do these things rejoice God, are they sweet to God?

But now, this is the threatening here, They shall not be sweet now to him: nothing that is tendered to God from them shall be pleasing to him; no says God, now I will have other ways to glorify myself in upon you, not by your offerings, I'll rather glorify myself in your miseries, and they shall be sweet and delightful to me. If a hypocrite has never so great enlargements in duties, these would not be pleasing to God, God's palate is more delicate than to taste such sour and sapless things, than those are that comes from them. Says Tertullian, The Spirit of God is a most delicate thing, it has a delicate palate, and such swill that has such mixtures of filth as your services have, how can they be sweet to the delicate palate of the Spirit of God? You are hypocrites, your lives are naught and filthy and unclean, therefore none of your offerings can be sweet, they are but swill to that palate of mine.

It follows.