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Thou shalt fall upon the open field. These words are clearly to be taken as -

I. A SERIOUS PENALTY. The hosts of the invader should encounter those whom they thought to defeat, and be by them defeated and slain; they would perish where they fought, beneath the heavens, on the open field. Now, a life of sin is only too likely to lead to such a death as men would not willingly die, and such a death "on the open field" of battle is fitted to suggest:

1. A death of violence, or in some way that is unnatural. Sin begets strife, hatred, jealousy, the dominance of some evil passion; and in how many cases does this lead to the loss of life by some unnatural means! Instead of passing peacefully away, according to the order of nature, dying under his own roof and in his own chamber, a sinful man, more especially if he be a man who indulges in the greater transgressions, is likely enough to die an unnatural death in some form or other.

2. A death in loneliness. The hosts of Cog were to be stretched in the valley, and, though they would indeed keep one another company, how different is the near neighborhood of wounded and dying soldiers from the presence of the nearest and dearest of human kindred and of beloved friends! How often has a sinful course led the erring one to die a lonely death, far from a father's grasp, from a mother's ministry, from the sympathy and succor of dear ones at home!

3. A death in the midst of life. It is not the aged, but the strong and the young, who go forth to battle and die on the open field. The army of the slain in the open field is a large company of men who have perished before their time; their days are incomplete; they have been cut off from many (or from some) of the possibilities of life, of its engagements and achievements. This, too, is the frequent, the continually recurring, consequence of an evil course. They who enter upon it may reckon that their life will not hold all, or nearly all, the blessings which are the heritage of the holy and the wise.

4. A death without the consolations of piety. These are seldom, indeed, found "on the open field;" and they are usually absent from the experience of the man who abandons himself to an evil life. But while these words are meant as a penalty, they may be regarded, on the other hand, as -

II. AN ACCEPTABLE PROMISE. For the Christian workman would most willingly "fall upon the open field" of sacred usefulness. There is no vision of death more welcome to an earnest spirit than that of an end arrived at in the very midst of useful and fruitful activities. Good it may be to spend some months in retirement and contemplation before the eyes close in death and open in immortality; yet shall we not say that it is better to work on, in untiring and joyous devotion, building up the kingdom of Christ, cheering and comforting the feeble, raising up the fallen, leading the undecided into the fold of the good Shepherd, striking strong and faithful blows for righteousness and heavenly wisdom, and, "falling on the field" of spiritual conflict, pass from the battle-ground of earth to the peaceful shores and the blessed scenes of heaven? - C.

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KJV: Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

WEB: You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.