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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Jeremiah XXX].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J E R E M I A H.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXX.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The sermon which we have in this and the following chapter is of a very
different complexion from all those before. The prophet does indeed, by
direction from God, change his voice. Most of what he had said hitherto
was by way of reproof and threatening; but these two chapters are
wholly taken up with precious promises of a return out of captivity,
and that typical of the glorious things reserved for the church in the
days of the Messiah. The prophet is told not only to preach this, but
to write it, because it is intended for the comfort of the generation
to come,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
It is here promised,
I. That they should hereafter have a joyful restoration.
1. Though they were now in a great deal of pain and terror,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:4-7">ver. 4-7</A>.
2. Though their oppressors were very strong,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>.
3. Though a full end was made of other nations, and they were not
restored,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11">ver. 11</A>.
4. Though all means of their deliverance seemed to fail and be cut off,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:12-14">ver. 12-14</A>.
5. Though God himself had sent them into captivity, and justly, for
their sins,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:15,16">ver. 15, 16</A>.
6. Though all about them looked upon their case as desperate,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:17">ver. 17</A>.
II. That after their joyful restoration they should have a happy
settlement, that their city should be rebuilt
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:18">ver. 18</A>),
their numbers increased
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:19">ver. 19, 20</A>),
their government established
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:21">ver. 21</A>),
God's covenant with them renewed
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:22">ver. 22</A>),
and their enemies destroyed and cut off,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:23,24">ver. 23, 24</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Jer30_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 594.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, saying,
&nbsp; 2 Thus speaketh the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, saying, Write thee all
the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
&nbsp; 3 For, lo, the days come, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that I will bring
again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to
their fathers, and they shall possess it.
&nbsp; 4 And these <I>are</I> the words that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake concerning
Israel and concerning Judah.
&nbsp; 5 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; We have heard a voice of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace.
&nbsp; 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?
wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a
woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
&nbsp; 7 Alas! for that day <I>is</I> great, so that none <I>is</I> like it: it
<I>is</I> even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out
of it.
&nbsp; 8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of
hosts, <I>that</I> I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will
burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of
him:
&nbsp; 9 But they shall serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God, and David their
king, whom I will raise up unto them.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here, I. Jeremiah is directed to <I>write</I> what God had spoken to
him, which perhaps refers to all the foregoing prophecies. He must
write them and publish them, in hopes that those who had not profited
by what he said upon once hearing it might take more notice of it when
in reading it they had leisure for a more considerate review. Or,
rather, it refers to the promises of their enlargement, which had been
often mixed with his other discourses. He must collect them and put
them together, and God will now add unto them many like words. He must
write them for the generations to come, who should see them
accomplished, and thereby have their faith in the prophecy confirmed.
He must write them not <I>in a letter,</I> as that in the chapter
before to the captives, but <I>in a book,</I> to be carefully preserved
in the archives, or among the public rolls or registers of the state.
Daniel understood by these books when the captivity was about coming to
an end,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:2">Dan. ix. 2</A>.
He must write them in a book, not in loose papers: "<I>For the days
come,</I> and are yet at a great distance, when <I>I will bring again
the captivity of Israel and Judah,</I> great numbers of the ten tribes,
with those of the two,"
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
And this prophecy must be written, that it may be read then also, that
so it may appear how exactly the accomplishment answers the prediction,
which is one end of the writing of prophecies. It is intimated that
they shall be <I>beloved for their fathers' sake</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:28">Rom. xi. 28</A>);
for <I>therefore</I> God will bring them again to Canaan, because it
was <I>the land that he gave to their fathers,</I> which therefore
<I>they shall possess.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. He is directed what to write. The very words are such as the Holy
Ghost teaches,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
These are the words which God ordered to be written; and those promises
which are written by his order are as truly his word as the ten
commandments which were written with his finger.
1. He must write a description of the fright and consternation which
the people were now in, and were likely to be still in upon every
attack that the Chaldeans made upon them, which will much magnify both
the wonder and the welcomeness of their deliverance
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
<I>We have heard a voice of trembling</I>--the shrieks of terror
echoing to the alarms of danger. The false prophets told them that
they should have <I>peace,</I> but <I>there is fear and not peace,</I>
so the margin reads it. No marvel that when <I>without are fightings
within are fears.</I> The men, even the men of war, shall be quite
overwhelmed with the calamities of their nation, shall sink under them,
and yield to them, and shall look like <I>women in labour,</I> whose
pains come upon them in great extremity and they know that they cannot
escape them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
You never heard of a man travailing with child, and yet here you find
not here and there a timorous man, but <I>every man with his hands on
his loins,</I> in the utmost anguish and agony, <I>as women in
travail,</I> when they see their cities burnt and their countries laid
waste. But this pain is compared to that of a woman in travail, not to
that of a death-bed, because it shall end in joy at last, and the pain,
like that of a travailing woman, shall be forgotten. <I>All faces</I>
shall be <I>turned into paleness.</I> The word signifies not only such
paleness as arises from a sudden fright, but that which is the effect
of a bad habit of body, the jaundice, or the green sickness. The
prophet laments the calamity upon the foresight of it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
<I>Alas! for that day is great,</I> a day of judgment, which is called
the <I>great day,</I> the <I>great and terrible day of the Lord</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:31,Jude+1:6">Joel ii. 31, Jude 6</A>),
great, so that <I>there has been none like it.</I> The last destruction
of Jerusalem is thus spoken of by our Saviour as unparalleled,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:21">Matt. xxiv. 21</A>.
<I>It is even the time of Jacob's trouble,</I> a sad time, when God's
professing people shall be in distress above other people. The whole
time of the captivity was a time of Jacob's trouble; and such times
ought to be greatly lamented by all that are concerned for the welfare
of Jacob and the honour of the God of Jacob.
2. He must write the assurances which God had given that a happy end
should at length be put to these calamities.
(1.) Jacob's troubles shall cease: <I>He shall be saved out of
them.</I> Though the afflictions of the church may last long, they
shall not last always. <I>Salvation belongs to the Lord,</I> and shall
be wrought for his church.
(2.) Jacob's troublers shall be disabled from doing him any further
mischief, and shall be reckoned with for the mischief they have done
him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
<I>The Lord of hosts,</I> who has all power in his hand, undertakes to
do it: "<I>I will break his yoke from off thy neck,</I> which has long
lain so heavy, and has so sorely galled thee. <I>I will burst thy
bonds</I> and restore thee to liberty and ease, and thou shalt no more
be at the beck and command of strangers, shalt no more serve them, nor
shall they any more <I>serve themselves of thee;</I> they shall no more
enrich themselves either by thy possessions or by thy labours." And,
(3.) That which crowns and completes the mercy is that they shall be
restored to the free exercise of their religion again,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
They shall be delivered from serving their enemies, not that they may
live at large and do what they please, but that they may <I>serve the
Lord their God and David their king,</I> that they may come again into
order, under the established government both in church and state.
<I>Therefore</I> they were brought into trouble and made to <I>serve
their enemies</I> because they had not <I>served the Lord their God</I>
as they ought to have done, <I>with joyfulness and gladness of
heart,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:47">Deut. xxviii. 47</A>.
But, when the time shall come that they should be <I>saved out of their
trouble,</I> God will prepare and qualify them for it by giving them a
<I>heart to serve him,</I> and will make it doubly comfortable by
giving them opportunity to serve him. <I>Therefore</I> we are
<I>delivered out of the hands of our enemies,</I> that we may <I>serve
God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:74,75">Luke i. 74, 75</A>.
And <I>then</I> deliverances out of temporal calamities are mercies
indeed to us when by them we find ourselves engaged to and enlarged in
the service of God. They shall serve their own God, and neither be
inclined, as they had been of old in the day of their apostasy, nor
compelled, as they had been of late in the day of their captivity, to
serve other gods. They shall serve <I>David their king,</I> such
governors as God should from time to time set over them, of the line of
David (as Zerubbabel), or at least sitting on the <I>thrones of
judgment, the thrones of the house of David,</I> as Nehemiah. But
certainly this has a further meaning. The Chaldee paraphrase reads it,
<I>They shall obey</I> (or <I>hearken to</I>) <I>the Messiah</I> (or
<I>Christ</I>), the <I>Son of David, their king.</I> To him the Jewish
interpreters apply it. That dispensation which commenced at their
return out of captivity brought them to the Messiah. He is called
<I>David their King</I> because he was the <I>Son of David</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:42">Matt. xxii. 42</A>)
and he answered to the name,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+20:31,32">Matt. xx. 31, 32</A>.
David was an illustrious type of him both in his humiliation and in his
exaltation. The covenant of royalty made with David had principal
reference to him, and in him the promises of that covenant had their
full accomplishment. God gave him the <I>throne of his father
David;</I> he <I>raised him up unto them, set him upon the holy hill of
Zion.</I> God is often in the New Testament said to have <I>raised up
Jesus,</I> raised him up as a King,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+3:26,13:23,33">Acts iii. 26; xiii. 23, 33</A>.
Observe,
[1.] Those that serve the Lord as their God must also serve <I>David
their King,</I> must give up themselves to Jesus Christ, to be ruled by
him. For all men must <I>honour the Son as they honour the Father,</I>
and come into the service and worship of God by him as Mediator.
[2.] Those that are delivered out of spiritual bondage must make it
appear that they are so by giving up themselves to the service of
Christ. Those to whom he gives rest must take his yoke upon them.</P>
<A NAME="Jer30_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 594.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from
afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob
shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall
make <I>him</I> afraid.
&nbsp; 11 For I <I>am</I> with thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to save thee: though I
make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet
will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in
measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
&nbsp; 12 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Thy bruise <I>is</I> incurable, <I>and</I>
thy wound <I>is</I> grievous.
&nbsp; 13 <I>There is</I> none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be
bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
&nbsp; 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for
I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the
chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity;
<I>because</I> thy sins were increased.
&nbsp; 15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow <I>is</I>
incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: <I>because</I> thy sins
were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
&nbsp; 16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and
all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into
captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all
that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
&nbsp; 17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of
thy wounds, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; because they called thee an Outcast,
<I>saying,</I> This <I>is</I> Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In these verses, as in those foregoing, the deplorable case of the Jews
in captivity is set forth, but many precious promises are given them
that in due time they should be relieved and a glorious salvation
wrought for them.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. God himself appeared against them: he <I>scattered</I> them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
he did <I>all these things unto them,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
All their calamities came from his hands; whoever were the instruments,
he was the principal agent. And this made their case very sad that God,
even their own God, spoke concerning them, to pull down and to destroy.
Now,
1. This was intended by him as a fatherly chastisement, and no other
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
"<I>I will correct thee in measure,</I> or <I>according to
judgment,</I> with discretion, no more than thou deservest, nay, no
more than thou canst well bear." What God does against his people is in
a way of correction, and that correction is always moderated and always
proceeds from love: "<I>I will not leave thee altogether
unpunished,</I> as thou art ready to think I should, because of thy
relation to me." Note, A profession of religion, though ever so
plausible, will be far from securing to us impunity in sin. God is no
respecter of persons, but will show his hatred of sin wherever he finds
it, and that he hates it most in those that are nearest to him. God
here corrects his people <I>for the multitude of their iniquity,</I>
and <I>because their sins were increased,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
Are our sorrows multiplied at any time and do they increase? We must
acknowledge that it is because our sins have been multiplied and they
have increased. Iniquities grow in us, and therefore troubles grow upon
us. But,
2. What God intended as a fatherly chastisement they and others
interpreted as an act of hostility; they looked upon him as having
<I>wounded them with the wound of an enemy</I> and <I>with the
chastisement of a cruel one</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
as if he had designed their ruin, and neither mitigated the correction
nor had any mercy in reserve for them. It did indeed seem as if God
had dealt thus severely with them, as if he had turned to be their
enemy and had fought against them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:10">Isa. lxiii. 10</A>.
Job complains that God had become cruel to him and <I>multiplied his
wounds.</I> When troubles are great and long we have need carefully to
watch over our own hearts, that we entertain not such hard thoughts as
these of God and his providence. His are the chastisements of a
merciful one, not of a cruel one, whatever they may appear.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Their friends forsook them, and were shy of them. None of those who
had courted them in their prosperity would take notice of them now in
their distress,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
It is commonly thus when families go to decay; those hang off from them
that had been their hangers-on. In two cases we are glad of the
assistance of our friends and need their service:--
1. If we be impeached, accused, or reproached, we expect that our
friends should appear in vindication of us, should speak a good word
for us when we cannot put on a face to speak for ourselves; but here
<I>there is none to plead thy cause,</I> none to stand up in thy
defence, none to intercede for thee with thy oppressors; therefore God
will <I>plead their cause,</I> for he might well wonder there was none
to uphold a people that had been so much the favourites of Heaven,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:5">Isa. lxiii. 5</A>.
2. If we be sick, or sore, or wounded, we expect our friends should
attend us, advise us, sympathize with us, and, if occasion be, lend a
hand for the applying of healing medicines; but here there is none to
do that, none to bind up thy wounds, and by counsels and comforts to
make proper applications to thy case; nay
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
<I>All thy lovers have forgotten thee;</I> out of sight out of mind;
instead of seeking thee, they forsake thee. Such as this has often been
the case of religion and serious godliness in the world; those that
from their education, profession, and hopeful beginnings, one might
have expected to be its friends and lovers, its patrons and protectors,
desert it, forget it, and have nothing to say in its defence, nor will
do any thing towards the healing of its wounds. Observe, <I>Thy lovers
have forgotten thee, for I have wounded thee.</I> When God is against a
people who will be for them? Who can be for them so as to do them any
kindness? See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+30:11">Job xxx. 11</A>.
Now, upon this account, their case seemed desperate and past relief
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
<I>Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound grievous,</I> and
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
<I>thy sorrow is incurable.</I> The condition of the Jews in captivity
was such as no human power could redress the grievances of; there they
were like a valley full of <I>dead and dry bones,</I> which nothing
less than Omnipotence can put life into. Who could imagine that a
people so diminished, so impoverished, should ever be restored to their
own land and re-established there? So many were the aggravations of
their calamity that their sorrow would not admit of any alleviation,
but they seemed to be hardened in it, and their souls refused to be
comforted, till divine consolations proved strong ones, too strong to
be borne down even by the floods of grief that overwhelmed them. <I>Thy
sorrow is incurable because thy sins,</I> instead of being repented of
and forsaken, <I>were increased.</I> Note, Incurable griefs are owing
to incurable lusts. Now in this deplorable condition they are looked
upon with disdain
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
<I>They called thee an outcast,</I> abandoned by all, abandoned to
ruin; they said, <I>This is Zion, whom no man seeks after.</I> When
they looked on the place where the city and temple had been built they
called that an outcast; now all was in ruins, there was no resort to
it, no residence in it, none asked the way to Zion, as formerly; <I>no
man seeks after</I> it. When they looked on the people that formerly
dwelt in Zion, but were now in captivity (and we read of <I>Zion
dwelling with the daughter of Babylon,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:7">Zech. ii. 7</A>),
they called them outcasts; these are those who belong to Zion, and are
wont to talk much of it and weep at the remembrance of it, but <I>no
man seeks after</I> them, or enquires concerning them. Note, It is
often the lot of Zion to be deserted and despised by those about
her.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. For all this God will work deliverance and salvation for them in
due time. Though no other hand, nay, <I>because</I> no other hand, can
cure their wound, his will, and shall.
1. Though he seemed to stand at a distance from them, yet he assures
them of his presence with them, his powerful and gracious presence:
<I>I will save thee,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
<I>I am with thee, to save thee,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
When they are in their troubles he is with them, to save them from
sinking under them; when the time has come for their deliverance he is
with them, to be ready upon the first opportunity, to save them out of
their trouble.
2. Though they were at a distance, remote from their own land,
<I>afar</I> off <I>in the land of their captivity,</I> yet there shall
salvation find them out, thence shall it fetch them, them and their
<I>seed,</I> for they also shall be known among the Gentiles, and
distinguished from them, that they may <I>return,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
3. Though they were now full of fears, and continually alarmed, yet
the time shall come when they <I>shall be in rest and quiet,</I> safe
and easy, <I>and none shall make them afraid,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
4. Though the nations into which they were dispersed should be brought
to ruin, yet they should be preserved from that ruin
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
<I>Though I make a full end of the nations whither I have scattered
thee,</I> and there might be danger of thy being lost among them,
<I>yet I will not make a full end of thee.</I> It was promised that in
the peace of these nations they should <I>have peace</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+29:7"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 7</A>),
and yet in the destruction of these nations they should escape
destruction. God's church may sometimes be brought very low, but he
<I>will not make a full end of</I> it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:10,18"><I>ch.</I> v. 10, 18</A>.
5. Though God correct them, and justly, for their sins, their manifold
transgressions and mighty sins, yet he will return in mercy to them,
and even their sin shall not prevent their deliverance when God's time
shall come.
6. Though their adversaries were mighty, God will bring them down, and
break their power
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
<I>All that devour thee shall be devoured,</I> and thus Zion's cause
will be pleaded and will be made to appear to all the world a righteous
cause. Thus Zion's deliverance will be brought about by the destruction
of her oppressors; and thus her enemies will be recompensed for all the
injury they have done her; for <I>there is a God that judges in the
earth,</I> a God <I>to whom vengeance belongs.</I> "They <I>shall every
one of them,</I> without exception, <I>go into captivity,</I> and the
day will come when <I>those that</I> now <I>spoil thee shall be a
spoil.</I>" Those that <I>lead into captivity shall go into
captivity,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</A>.
This might serve to oblige the present conquerors to use their captives
well, because the wheel would turn round, and the day would come when
they also should be captives, and let them do now as they would then be
done by.
7. Though the wound seem incurable, God will make a cure of it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
<I>I will restore health unto thee.</I> Be the disease ever so
dangerous, the patient is safe if God undertakes the cure.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. Upon the whole matter, they are cautioned against inordinate fear
and grief, for in these precious promises there is enough to silence
both.
1. They must not tremble as those that have no hope in the apprehension
of future further trouble that might threaten them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
<I>Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob! neither be dismayed.</I> Note,
Those that are God's servants must not give way to disquieting fears,
whatever difficulties and dangers may be before them.
2. They must not sorrow as those that have no hope for the troubles
which at present they lie under,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
"<I>Why criest thou for thy affliction?</I> It is true thy carnal
confidences fail thee, creatures are physicians of no value, but <I>I
will heal thy wound,</I> and therefore, <I>Why criest thou?</I> Why
dost thou fret and complain thus? It is <I>for thy sin</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>),
and therefore, instead of repining, thou shouldest be repenting.
<I>Wherefore should a man complain for the punishment of his sins?</I>
The issue will be good at last, and therefore <I>rejoice in
hope.</I>"</P>
<A NAME="Jer30_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_23"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer30_24"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 594.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Behold, I will bring again the
captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places;
and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace
shall remain after the manner thereof.
&nbsp; 19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of
them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall
not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be
small.
&nbsp; 20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their
congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish
all that oppress them.
&nbsp; 21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor
shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to
draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who <I>is</I> this that
engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
&nbsp; 22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
&nbsp; 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> goeth forth with fury, a
continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of
the wicked.
&nbsp; 24 The fierce anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall not return, until he have
done <I>it,</I> and until he have performed the intents of his heart:
in the latter days ye shall consider it.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We have here further intimations of the favour God had in reserve for
them after the days of their calamity were over. It is promised,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. That the city and temple should be rebuilt,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
<I>Jacob's tents,</I> and <I>his dwelling places,</I> felt the effects
of <I>the captivity,</I> for they lay in ruins when the inhabitants
were carried away captives; but, when they have returned, the
habitations shall be repaired, and raised up out of their ruins, and
therein God will <I>have mercy upon their dwelling places,</I> that had
been monuments of his justice. Then <I>the city</I> of Jerusalem
<I>shall be built upon her own heap,</I> her own hill, though now it be
no better than a ruinous heap. The situation was unexceptionable, and
therefore it shall be rebuilt upon the same spot of ground. He that can
<I>make of a city a heap</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+25:2">Isa. xxv. 2</A>)
can when he pleases <I>make of a heap a city</I> again. <I>The
palace</I> (the temple, God's palace) <I>shall remain after the manner
thereof;</I> it shall be built after the old model; and the service of
God shall be constantly kept up there and attended as formerly.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. That the sacred feasts should again be solemnized
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
<I>Out of</I> the city, and the temple, and all the dwelling-places of
Jacob, <I>shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those that make
merry.</I> They shall go with expressions of joy to the temple service,
and with the like shall return from it. Observe, The voice of
<I>thanksgiving</I> is the same with <I>the voice of those that make
merry;</I> for whatever is the matter of our joy should be the matter
of our praise. <I>Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.</I> What makes us
cheerful should make us thankful. <I>Serve the Lord with
gladness.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. That the people should be multiplied, and increased, and made
considerable: <I>They shall not be few, they shall not be small,</I>
but shall become numerous and illustrious, and make a figure among the
nations; for <I>I will multiply them</I> and <I>I will glorify
them.</I> It is for the honour of the church to have many added to it
that shall be saved. This would make them be of some weight among their
neighbours. Let a people be ever so much diminished and despised, God
can multiply and glorify them. They shall be restored to their former
honour: <I>Their children shall be as aforetime,</I> playing in the
streets
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+8:5">Zech. viii. 5</A>);
they shall inherit their parents' estates and honours as formerly;
<I>and their congregation shall,</I> both in civil and sacred things,
<I>be established before me.</I> There shall be a constant succession
of faithful magistrates in the congregation of the elders, to establish
that, and of faithful worshippers in the congregation of the saints. As
one generation passes away another shall be raised up, and so the
<I>congregation shall be established before</I> God.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. That they shall be blessed with a good government
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
<I>Their nobles</I> and judges <I>shall be of themselves,</I> of their
own nation, and they shall no longer be ruled by strangers and enemies;
<I>their governor shall proceed from the midst of them,</I> shall be
one that has been a sharer with them in the afflictions of their
captive state; and this has reference to Christ our <I>governor, David
our King</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
he is of ourselves, <I>in all things made like unto his brethren. And I
will cause him to draw near;</I> this may be understood either,
1. Of the people, Jacob and Israel: "<I>I will cause</I> them <I>to
draw near</I> to me in the temple service, as formerly, to come in to
covenant with me, as <I>my people</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
to <I>approach to me</I> in communion; <I>for who</I> hath <I>engaged
his heart,</I> made a covenant with it, and brought it into bonds,
<I>to approach unto me?</I>" How few are there that do so! None can do
it but by the special grace of God <I>causing them to draw near.</I>
Note, Whenever we approach to God in any holy ordinance we must engage
our hearts to do it; the heart must be prepared for the duty, employed
in it, and kept closely to it. The heart is the main thing that God
looks at and requires; but it is deceitful, and will start aside of a
great deal of care and pains be not taken to engage it, to bind this
<I>sacrifice with cords.</I> Or,
2. It may be understood of the governor; for it is a single person that
is spoken of: <I>Their governor shall</I> be duly called to his office,
shall <I>draw near</I> to God to consult him upon all occasions. God
<I>will cause him to approach to</I> him, for, otherwise, who would
engage to take care of so weak a people, and let this ruin come under
their hand? But when God has work to do, though attended with many
discouragements, he will raise up instruments to do it. But it looks
further, to Christ, to him as Mediator. Note,
(1.) The proper work and office of Christ, as Mediator, is <I>to draw
near and approach unto</I> God, not for himself only, but for us, and
in our name and stead, as the high priest of our profession. The
priests are said to draw nigh to God,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+10:3,21:17">Lev. x. 3; xxi. 17</A>.
<I>Moses drew near,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+20:21">Exod. xx. 21</A>.
(2.) God the Father did <I>cause</I> Jesus Christ thus <I>to draw near
and approach to</I> him as Mediator. He commanded and appointed him to
do it; he sanctified and sealed him, anointed him for this purpose,
accepted him, and declared himself well pleased in him.
(3.) Jesus Christ, being caused by the Father to approach unto him as
Mediator, did <I>engage his heart to</I> do it, that is, he bound and
obliged himself to it, <I>undertook for his heart</I> (so some read
it), for his soul, that, in the fullness of time, it should be <I>made
an offering for sin.</I> His own voluntary undertaking, in compliance
with his Father's will and in compassion to fallen man, engaged him,
and then his own honour kept him to it. It also intimates that he was
hearty and resolute, free and cheerful, in it, and made nothing of the
difficulties that lay in his way,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:3-5">Isa. lxiii. 3-5</A>.
(4.) Jesus Christ was, in all this, truly wonderful. We may well ask,
with admiration, <I>Who is this that</I> thus <I>engages his heart</I>
to such an undertaking?</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
V. That they shall be taken again into covenant with God, according to
the covenant made with their fathers
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
<I>You shall be my people;</I> and it is God's good work in us that
makes us <I>to him a people, a people for his name,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+15:14">Acts xv. 14</A>.
<I>I will be your God.</I> It is his good-will to us that is the
summary of that part of the covenant.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
VI. That their enemies shall be reckoned with and brought down
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
<I>I will punish all</I> those <I>that oppress them,</I> so that it
shall appear to all a dangerous thing to <I>touch God's anointed,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:15">Ps. cv. 15</A>.
The
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:23,24">last two verses</A>
come under this head: <I>The whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain
upon the head of the wicked.</I> These two verses we had before
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:19,20"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 19, 20</A>);
<I>there</I> they were a denunciation of God's wrath against the wicked
hypocrites in Israel; <I>here</I> against the wicked oppressors of
Israel. The expressions, exactly agreeing, speak the same with that
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:22,23">Isa. li. 22, 23</A>),
<I>I will take the cup of trembling out of thy hand and put it into the
hand of those that afflict thee.</I> The wrath of God against the
wicked is here represented to be.
1. Very terrible, like a whirlwind, surprising and irresistible.
2. Very grievous. It <I>shall fall with pain upon their heads;</I> they
shall be as much hurt as frightened.
3. It shall pursue them. Whirlwinds are usually short, but this shall
be <I>a continuing whirlwind.</I>
4. It shall accomplish that for which it is sent: <I>The anger of the
Lord shall not return till he have done it.</I> The purposes of his
wrath, as well as the purposes of his love, will all be fulfilled; he
will <I>perform the intents of his heart.</I>
5. Those that will not lay this to heart now will then be unable to put
off the thoughts of it: <I>In the latter days you shall consider
it,</I> when it will be too late to prevent it.</P>
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