2 Kings 17:7-23

Though the Lord is not accountable to any of his creatures for what he doth; yet is he graciously pleased to manifest the equity of his dealings, and to prove, even to the conviction of the sinner himself, that the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. He appeals, by his servants the prophets, to the minds of men, in proof of this. It was not the king of Assyria that could have ruined Israel, had not the Lord commissioned him. The Assyrian (as Isaiah saith) was the rod of his anger, and the staff in the Assyrian's hand was the indignation of the Lord. It was the Lord that sent the Assyrian against Israel, as an hypocritical nation; and it was the Lord which gave Jacob to the spoil, and Israel to the robbers, against whom Israel had sinned. See Isa_10:5-6; Isa_42:24-25. Reader! while you peruse these solemn scriptures, and behold God's just judgments executed upon his own people; read with trembling. Though God hath promised in covenant engagements by his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that the redeemed shall not be cast off forever; yet the seed of Jesus, if they break his laws, and keep not his commandments, the Lord will visit their offences with a rod, and their sins with scourges. Psalms 89:30. I do not find in the whole bible a promise to give encouragement to a loose and careless life. But on the contrary, though the church of Christ must stand and shall prevail against all opposition, yet that church may be taken from one spot to flourish more in another. The golden candlestick is a moveable thing in the Lord's house. Revelation 2:5.