God's End in Sending Calamities and Afflictions on His People
Isaiah 27:9
By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin…


Motives to enforce this duty of complying with the Lord's end, in afflicting and bringing calamities upon us.

1. Otherwise our calamities are like to continue.

2. This may increase the affliction upon you, add more weight, and put more sting into it.

3. This may multiply your afflictions, and make them come in upon you as waves and billows in a storm.

4. This may bring more grievous evils upon you than any you have yet met with.

5. The Lord may give you over and refuse to correct any more.

6. He may leave you to spiritual judgments. Outward afflictions are His rods, but these are His swords; and when upon incorrigibleness under those, He takes up these, His wrath is raised to the height.

7. This is the way to be rejected of the Lord; for those that are not His to be rejected wholly, for those that are His to be in part rejected (Jeremiah 7:28, 29).

8. This provokes the Lord to bring destruction.

(D. Clarkson.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.

WEB: Therefore, by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherim and the incense altars shall rise no more.




Troubles as Storms
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