The Land of Cabul – Thomas Brooks

“An incorruptible inheritance.” 1 Peter 1:4

All earthly inheritances are liable to corruption; they are true gardens of Adonis where we can gather nothing but trivial flowers, surrounded with many briars, thorns and thistles.

Oh, the hands, the hearts, the thoughts, the lives which have been corrupted by earthly inheritances! Oh, the impure love, the carnal confidence, the vain boastings, the sensual joys which have been the products of earthly inheritances!

If a man’s estate lies in money that may rust, or thieves may break in and steal it. If a man’s estate lies in cattle they may die, or fall into the hands of the Sabeans and Chaldeans. If a man’s estate lies in houses they may be burnt. Witness the recent dreadful fire that turned London into a ruinous heap! If a man’s estate lies in lands a foreign enemy may invade them and conquer them.

All earthly inheritances are no better than the cities which Solomon gave to Hiram, which he called Cabul, that is, ‘worthless, good-for-nothing, displeasing, dirty.’

“But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ‘What kind of towns are these you have given me, my
brother?’ he asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul, a name they have to this day.” 1 Kings 9:12-13

Earthly inheritances do but dirt, daub, and dust people. It is only the heavenly inheritance which is incorruptible.