mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 13.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xiv" n="xiv" next="Jer.xv" prev="Jer.xiii" progress="33.05%" title="Chapter XIII">
<h2 id="Jer.xiv-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xiv-p0.2">CHAP. XIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xiv-p1" shownumber="no">Still the prophet is attempting to awaken this
secure and stubborn people to repentance, by the consideration of
the judgments of God that were coming upon them. He is to tell
them, I. By the sign of a girdle spoiled that their pride should be
stained, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.1-Jer.13.11" parsed="|Jer|13|1|13|11" passage="Jer 13:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II.
By the sign of bottles filled with wine that their counsels should
be blasted, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.12-Jer.13.14" parsed="|Jer|13|12|13|14" passage="Jer 13:12-14">ver. 12-14</scripRef>.
III. In consideration hereof he is to call them to repent and
humble themselves, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.15-Jer.13.21" parsed="|Jer|13|15|13|21" passage="Jer 13:15-21">ver.
15-21</scripRef>. IV. He is to convince them that it is for their
obstinacy and incorrigibleness that the judgments of God are so
prolonged and brought to extremity, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.22-Jer.13.27" parsed="|Jer|13|22|13|27" passage="Jer 13:22-27">ver. 22-27</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13" parsed="|Jer|13|0|0|0" passage="Jer 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.1-Jer.13.11" parsed="|Jer|13|1|13|11" passage="Jer 13:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.xiv-p1.8">The Marred Girdle. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.1">Lord</span> unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle,
and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.   2 So I
got a girdle according to the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.2">Lord</span>, and put <i>it</i> on my loins.   3
And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.3">Lord</span> came unto
me the second time, saying,   4 Take the girdle that thou hast
got, which <i>is</i> upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates,
and hide it there in a hole of the rock.   5 So I went, and
hid it by Euphrates, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.4">Lord</span>
commanded me.   6 And it came to pass after many days, that
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.5">Lord</span> said unto me, Arise, go to
Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee
to hide there.   7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and
took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the
girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.   8 Then the
word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.6">Lord</span> came unto me,
saying,   9 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.7">Lord</span>, After this manner will I mar the pride of
Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.   10 This evil
people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the
imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve
them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is
good for nothing.   11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins
of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of
Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p2.8">Lord</span>; that they might be unto me for a people,
and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would
not hear.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A sign, the marring of a
girdle, which the prophet had worn for some time, by hiding it in a
hole of a rock near the river Euphrates. It was usual with the
prophets to teach by signs, that a stupid unthinking people might
be brought to consider, and believe, and be affected with what was
thus set before them. 1. He was to wear a linen girdle for some
time, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.1-Jer.13.2" parsed="|Jer|13|1|13|2" passage="Jer 13:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>.
Some think he wore it under his clothes, because it was linen, and
it is said to <i>cleave to his loins,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.11" parsed="|Jer|13|11|0|0" passage="Jer 13:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. It should rather seem to be
worn upon his clothes, for it was worn for a name and a praise, and
probably was a fine sash, such as officers wear and such as are
commonly worn at this day in the eastern nations. He must <i>not
put it in water,</i> but wear it as it was, that it might be the
stronger, and less likely to rot: linen wastes almost as much with
washing as with wearing. Being not wet, it was the more stiff and
less apt to bend, yet he must make a shift to wear it. Probably it
was very fine linen which will wear long without washing. The
prophet, like John Baptist, was none of those that wore soft
clothing, and therefore it would be the more strange to see him
with a linen girdle on, who probably used to wear a leathern one.
2. After he had worn this linen girdle for some time, he must go,
and <i>hide it in a hole of a rock</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.4" parsed="|Jer|13|4|0|0" passage="Jer 13:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) by the water's side, where, when
the water was high, it would be wet, and when it fell would grow
dry again, and by that means would soon rot, sooner than if it were
always wet or always dry. 3. After many days, he must look for it,
and he should find it quite spoiled, gone all to rags and good for
nothing, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.7" parsed="|Jer|13|7|0|0" passage="Jer 13:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. It
has been of old a question among interpreters whether this was
really done, so as to be seen and observed by the people, or only
in a dream or vision, so as to go no further than the prophet's own
mind. It seems hard to imagine that the prophet should be sent on
two such long journeys as to the river Euphrates, each of which
would take him up some week's time, when he could so ill be spared
at home. For this reason most incline to think the journey, at
least, was only in vision, like that of Ezekiel, from the captivity
in Chaldea to Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.3" parsed="|Ezek|8|3|0|0" passage="Eze 8:3">Ezek. viii.
3</scripRef>) and thence back to Chaldea (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.11.24" parsed="|Jer|11|24|0|0" passage="Jer 11:24"><i>ch.</i> xi. 24</scripRef>); and the explanation of
this sign is given only to the prophet himself (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.8" parsed="|Jer|13|8|0|0" passage="Jer 13:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), not to the people, the sign not
being public. But there being, it is probable, at that time, great
conveniences of travelling between Jerusalem and Babylon, and some
part of Euphrates being not so far off but that it was made the
utmost border of the land of promise (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Josh.1.4" parsed="|Josh|1|4|0|0" passage="Jos 1:4">Josh. i. 4</scripRef>), I see no inconvenience in
supposing the prophet to have made two journeys thither; for it is
expressly said, <i>He did as the Lord commanded him;</i> and thus
gave a signal proof of his obsequiousness to his God, to shame the
stubbornness of a disobedient people: the toil of his journey would
be very proper to signify both the pains they took to corrupt
themselves with their idolatries and the sad fatigue of their
captivity; and Euphrates being the river of Babylon, which was to
be the place of their bondage, was a material circumstance in this
sign.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p4" shownumber="no">II. The thing signified by this sign. The
prophet was willing to be at any cost and pains to affect this
people with the word of the Lord. Ministers must spend, and be
spent, for the good of souls. We have the explanation of this sign,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.9-Jer.13.11" parsed="|Jer|13|9|13|11" passage="Jer 13:9-11"><i>v.</i> 9-11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p5" shownumber="no">1. The people of Israel had been to God as
this girdle in two respects:—(1.) He had taken them into covenant
and communion with himself: <i>As the girdle cleaves</i> very
closely <i>to the loins of a man</i> and surrounds him, <i>so have
I caused to cleave to me the houses of Israel and Judah.</i> They
were a people near to God (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.148.14" parsed="|Ps|148|14|0|0" passage="Ps 148:14">Ps.
cxlviii. 14</scripRef>); they were his own, a peculiar people to
him, a kingdom of priests that had access to him above other
nations. He <i>caused them to cleave</i> to him by the law he gave
them, the prophets he sent among them, and the favours which in his
providence he showed them. He required their stated attendance in
the courts of his house, and the frequent ratification of their
covenant with him by sacrifices. Thus they were made so as to
cleave to him that one would think they could never have been
parted. (2.) He had herein designed his own honour. When he took
them to be <i>to him for a people,</i> it was that they might be to
him <i>for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory,</i> as a
girdle is an ornament to a man, and particularly the <i>curious
girdle of the ephod</i> was to the high-priest <i>for glory and for
beauty.</i> Note, Those whom God takes to be to him for a people he
intends to be to him for a praise. [1.] It is their duty to honour
him, by observing his institutions and aiming therein at his glory,
and thus adorning their profession. [2.] It is their happiness that
he reckons himself honoured in them and by them. He is pleased with
them, and glories in his relation to them, while they behave
themselves as become his people. He was pleased to take it among
the titles of his honour to be <i>the God of Israel,</i> even a
<i>God to Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.17.24" parsed="|1Chr|17|24|0|0" passage="1Ch 17:24">1 Chron. xvii.
24</scripRef>. In vain do we pretend to be to God for a people if
we be not to him for a praise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p6" shownumber="no">2. They had by their idolatries and other
iniquities loosed themselves from him, thrown themselves at a
distance, robbed him of the honour they owed him, buried themselves
in the earth, and foreign earth too, mingled among the nations, and
were so spoiled and corrupted that they were <i>good for
nothing:</i> they could no more be to God, as they were designed,
<i>for a name and a praise,</i> for they would not hear either
their duty to do it or their privilege to value it: <i>They refused
to hear the words of God,</i> by which they might have been kept
still cleaving closely to him. <i>They walked in the imagination of
their heart,</i> wherever their fancy led them; and denied
themselves no gratification they had a mind to, particularly in
their worship. They would not <i>cleave to God,</i> but <i>walked
after other gods, to serve them,</i> and <i>to worship them;</i>
they doted upon the gods of the heathen nations that lay towards
Euphrates, so that they were quite spoiled for the service of their
own God, and were as <i>this girdle,</i> this rotten girdle, a
disgrace to their profession and not an ornament. A thousand pities
it was that such a girdle should be so spoiled, that such a people
should so wretchedly degenerate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p7" shownumber="no">3. God would by his judgments separate them
from him, send them into captivity, deface all their beauty and
ruin their excellency, so that they should be like a fine girdle
gone to rags, a worthless, useless, despicable people. God will
after this manner <i>mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of
Jerusalem.</i> He would strip them of all that which was the matter
of their pride, of which they boasted and in which they trusted; it
should not only be sullied and stained, but quite destroyed, like
this linen girdle. Observe, He speaks of <i>the pride of Judah</i>
(the country people were proud of their holy land, their good
land), but of <i>the great pride of Jerusalem;</i> there the temple
was, and the royal palace, and therefore those citizens were more
proud than the inhabitants of other cities. God takes notice of the
degrees of men's pride, the pride of some and the great pride of
others; and he will mar it, he will stain it. Pride will have a
fall, for God resists the proud. He will either mar the pride that
is in us (that is, mortify it by his grace, make us ashamed of it,
and, like Hezekiah, humble us for the pride of our hearts, the
great pride, and cure us of it, great as it is; and this marring of
the pride will be making of the soul; happy for us if the humbling
providences our hearts be humbled) or else he will mar the thing we
are proud of. Parts, gifts, learning, power, external privileges,
if we are proud of these, it is just with God to blast them; even
the temple, when it became Jerusalem's pride, was marred and laid
in ashes. It is the honour of God to <i>took upon every one that is
proud and abase him.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.12-Jer.13.21" parsed="|Jer|13|12|13|21" passage="Jer 13:12-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiv-p7.2">
<h4 id="Jer.xiv-p7.3">The Bottles Filled with Wine; Punishment
Predicted; A Call to Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p7.4">b.
c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiv-p8" shownumber="no">12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this
word; Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.1">Lord</span> God of
Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say
unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be
filled with wine?   13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.2">Lord</span>, Behold, I will fill
all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon
David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.   14 And I will
dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons
together, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.3">Lord</span>: I will not
pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.   15 Hear
ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.4">Lord</span> hath spoken.   16 Give glory to the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.5">Lord</span> your God, before he cause
darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains,
and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death,
<i>and</i> make <i>it</i> gross darkness.   17 But if ye will
not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for <i>your</i>
pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p8.6">Lord</span>'s flock is carried
away captive.   18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble
yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down,
<i>even</i> the crown of your glory.   19 The cities of the
south shall be shut up, and none shall open <i>them:</i> Judah
shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried
away captive.   20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that
come from the north: where <i>is</i> the flock <i>that</i> was
given thee, thy beautiful flock?   21 What wilt thou say when
he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them <i>to be</i>
captains, <i>and</i> as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p9" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A judgment threatened against
this people that would quite intoxicate them. This doom is
pronounced against them in a figure, to make it the more taken
notice of and the more affecting (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.12" parsed="|Jer|13|12|0|0" passage="Jer 13:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, every bottle shall be filled with wine;</i> that is, those
that by their sins have made themselves <i>vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction</i> shall be filled with the wrath of God as a
bottle is with wine; and, as every vessel of mercy prepared for
glory shall be filled with mercy and glory, so they shall <i>be
full of the fury of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.20" parsed="|Isa|51|20|0|0" passage="Isa 51:20">Isa. li. 20</scripRef>); and they shall be brittle as
bottles; and, like old bottles into which new wine is put, they
shall burst and be broken to pieces, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.9.17" parsed="|Matt|9|17|0|0" passage="Mt 9:17">Matt. ix. 17</scripRef>. Or, They shall have their heads
as full of wine as bottle are; for so it is explained, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.13" parsed="|Jer|13|13|0|0" passage="Jer 13:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>, <i>They shall be
filled with drunkenness;</i> compare <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.17" parsed="|Isa|51|17|0|0" passage="Isa 51:17">Isa. li. 17</scripRef>. It is probable that this was a
common proverb among them, applied in various ways; but they, not
being aware of the prophet's meaning in it, ridiculed him for it:
"<i>Do we not certainly know</i> that <i>every bottle shall be
filled with wine?</i> What strange thing is there in that? Tell us
something that we did not know before." Perhaps they were thus
touchy with the prophet because they apprehended this to be a
reflection upon them for their drunkenness, and probably it was in
part so intended. They <i>loved flagons of wine,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.3.1" parsed="|Hos|3|1|0|0" passage="Ho 3:1">Hos. iii. 1</scripRef>. Their watchmen were all
<i>for wine,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.12" parsed="|Isa|56|12|0|0" passage="Isa 56:12">Isa. lvi.
12</scripRef>. They loved their false prophets <i>that prophesied
to them of wine</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.2.11" parsed="|Mic|2|11|0|0" passage="Mic 2:11">Mic. ii.
11</scripRef>), that bade them be merry, for that they should never
want their bottle to make them so. "Well," says the prophet, "you
shall have your <i>bottles full of wine,</i> but not such wine as
you desire." They suspected that he had some mystical meaning in it
which prophesied no good concerning them, but evil; and he owns
that so he had. What he meant was this,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p10" shownumber="no">1. That they should be a giddy as men in
drink. A drunken man is fitly compared to a bottle or cask full of
wine; for, when the wine is in, the wit, and wisdom, and virtue,
and all that is good for any thing, are out. Now God threatens
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.13" parsed="|Jer|13|13|0|0" passage="Jer 13:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) that shall
they shall all be <i>filled with drunkenness;</i> they shall be
full of confusion in their counsels, shall falter in all their talk
and stagger in all their motions; they shall not know what they say
or do, much less what they should say or do. They shall be sick of
all their enjoyments and throw them up as drunken men do, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.20.15" parsed="|Job|20|15|0|0" passage="Job 20:15">Job xx. 15</scripRef>. They shall fall into a
slumber, and be utterly unable to help themselves, and, like men
that have drunk away their reason, shall lie at the mercy and
expose themselves to the contempt of all about them. And this shall
be the condition not of some among them (if any had been sober,
they might have helped the rest), but <i>even the kings that sit
upon the throne of David,</i> that should have been like their
father David, who was <i>wise as an angel of God,</i> shall be thus
intoxicated. Their priests and prophets too, their false prophets,
that pretended to guide them, were as indulgent of their lusts, and
therefore were justly as much deprived of their senses, as any
other. Nay, <i>all the inhabitants,</i> both <i>of the land</i> and
<i>of Jerusalem</i> were as far gone as they. Whom God will destroy
he infatuates.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p11" shownumber="no">2. That, being giddy, they should run upon
one another. The cup of the wine of the Lord's fury shall throw
them not only into a lethargy, so that they shall not be able to
help themselves or one another, but into a perfect frenzy, so that
they shall do mischief to themselves and one another (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.14" parsed="|Jer|13|14|0|0" passage="Jer 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>I will dash a man
against his brother.</i> Not only their drunken follies, but their
drunken frays, shall help to ruin them. Drunken men are often
quarrelsome, and upon that account they have <i>woe and sorrow</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.29-Prov.23.30" parsed="|Prov|23|29|23|30" passage="Pr 23:29,30">Prov. xxiii. 29, 30</scripRef>);
so their sin is their punishment; it was so here. God sent an evil
spirit into families and neighbourhoods (as <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.23" parsed="|Judg|9|23|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:23">Judg. ix. 23</scripRef>), which made them jealous of,
and spiteful towards, one another; so that <i>the fathers and
sons</i> went <i>together</i> by the ears, and were ready to pull
one another to pieces, which made them all an easy prey to the
common enemy. This decree against them having gone forth, God says,
<i>I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy
them;</i> for they <i>will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy,</i>
but destroy one another; see <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.15-Hab.2.16" parsed="|Hab|2|15|2|16" passage="Hab 2:15,16">Hab.
ii. 15, 16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p12" shownumber="no">II. Here is good counsel given, which, if
taken, would prevent this desolation. It is, in short, to <i>humble
themselves under the mighty hand of God.</i> If they will
<i>hearken and give ear,</i> this is that which God has to say to
them, <i>Be not proud,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.15" parsed="|Jer|13|15|0|0" passage="Jer 13:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. This was one of the sins for which God had a
controversy with them (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.9" parsed="|Jer|13|9|0|0" passage="Jer 13:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>); let them mortify and forsake this sin, and God will
let fall his controversy. "<i>Be not proud.;</i> when God speaks to
you by his prophets do not think yourselves too good to be taught;
be not scornful, be not wilful, let not your hearts rise against
the word, nor slight the messengers that bring it to you. When God
is coming forth against you in his providence (and by them he
speaks) be not secure when he threatens, be not impatient when he
strikes, for pride is at the bottom of both." It is the great God
that has spoken, whose authority is incontestable, whose power is
irresistible; therefore bow to what he says, and <i>be not
proud,</i> as you have been. They must not be proud, for,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p13" shownumber="no">1. They must advance God, and study how to
do him honour: "Give <i>glory to the Lord your God,</i> and not to
your idols, not to other gods. Give him glory by confessing your
sins, owning yourselves guilty before him, and accepting the
punishment of your iniquity, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.16" parsed="|Jer|13|16|0|0" passage="Jer 13:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Give him glory by a sincere
repentance and reformation." Then and not till then, we begin to
live as we should, and to some good purpose, when we begin to
<i>give glory to the Lord our God,</i> to make his honour our chief
end and to seek it accordingly. "Do this quickly, while your space
to repent is continued to you; <i>before he cause darkness,</i>
before you will see no way of escaping." Note, Darkness will be the
portion of those that will not repent to <i>give glory to God.</i>
When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat
<i>repented not, to give glory to God,</i> 

 the next vial filled them with <i>darkness,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.16.9-Rev.16.10" parsed="|Rev|16|9|16|10" passage="Re 16:9,10">Rev. xvi. 9, 10</scripRef>. The
aggravation of the darkness here threatened is, (1.) That their
attempts to escape shall hasten their ruin: <i>Their feet shall
stumble</i> when they are making all the haste they can over <i>the
dark mountains,</i> and they shall fall, and be unable to get up
again. Note, Those that think to out-run the judgments of God will
find their road impassable; let them make the best of their way,
they can make nothing of it, the judgments that pursue them will
overtake them; their way is dark and slippery, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.35.6" parsed="|Ps|35|6|0|0" passage="Ps 35:6">Ps. xxxv. 6</scripRef>. And therefore, before it comes to
that extremity, it is our wisdom to give glory to him, and so make
our peace with him, to fly to his mercy, and then there will be no
occasion to fly from his justice. (2.) That their hopes of a better
state of things will be disappointed: <i>While you look for
light,</i> for comfort and relief, he will <i>turn it into the
shadow of death,</i> which is very dismal and terrible, and make it
<i>gross darkness,</i> like that of Egypt, when Pharaoh continued
to harden his heart, which was darkness that might be felt. The
expectation of impenitent sinners perishes when they die and think
to have it satisfied.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p14" shownumber="no">2. They must abase themselves, and take
shame to themselves; the prerogative of the king and queen will not
exempt them from this (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.18" parsed="|Jer|13|18|0|0" passage="Jer 13:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): "<i>Say to the king and queen,</i> that, great as
they are, they must <i>humble themselves</i> by true repentance,
and so give both glory to God and a good example to their
subjects." Note, Those that are exalted above others in the world
must humble themselves before God, who is higher than the highest,
and to whom kings and queens are accountable. They must <i>humble
themselves,</i> and <i>sit down</i>—sit down, and consider what is
coming—sit down in the dust, and lament themselves. Let them
humble themselves, for God will otherwise take an effectual course
to humble them: "<i>Your principalities shall come down,</i> the
honour and power on which you value yourselves and in which you
confide, <i>even the crown of your glory,</i> your <i>goodly or
glorious crown:</i> when you are led away captives, where will your
principality and all the badges of it be then?" Blessed be God
there is a crown of glory, which those shall inherit who do humble
themselves, that shall never <i>come down.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p15" shownumber="no">III. This counsel is enforced by some
arguments if they continue proud and unhumbled.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p16" shownumber="no">1. It will be the prophet's unspeakable
grief (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.17" parsed="|Jer|13|17|0|0" passage="Jer 13:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
"<i>If you will not hear it,</i> will not submit to the word, but
continue refractory, not only my eye, but <i>my soul shall weep in
secret places.</i>" Note, The obstinacy of people, in refusing to
hear the word of God, will be heart-breaking to the poor ministers,
who know something of the terrors of the Lord and the worth of
souls, and are so far from desiring that they tremble at the
thoughts of the death of sinners. His grief for it was undissembled
(his <i>soul wept</i>) and void of affectation, for he chose to
weep <i>in secret places,</i> where no eye saw him but his who is
all eye. He would mingle his tears not only with his public
preaching, but with his private devotions. Nay, thoughts of their
case would make him melancholy, and he would become a perfect
recluse. It would grieve him, (1.) To see their sins unrepented of:
"<i>My soul shall weep for your pride,</i> your haughtiness, and
stubbornness, and vain confidence." Note, The sins of others should
be matter of sorrow to us. We must mourn for that which we cannot
mend, and mourn the more for it because we cannot mend it. (2.) To
see their calamity past redress and remedy: "<i>My eyes shall weep
sorely,</i> not so much because my relations, friends, and
neighbours are in distress, but <i>because the Lord's flock,</i>
his people and the sheep of his pasture, <i>are carried away
captive.</i>" That should always grieve us most by which God's
honour suffers and the interest of his kingdom is weakened.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p17" shownumber="no">2. It will be their own inevitable ruin,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.19-Jer.13.21" parsed="|Jer|13|19|13|21" passage="Jer 13:19-21"><i>v.</i> 19-21</scripRef>. (1.)
The land shall be laid waste: <i>The cities of the south shall be
shut up.</i> The cities of Judah lay in the southern part of the
land of Canaan; these shall be straitly besieged by the enemy, so
that there shall be no going in or out, or they shall be deserted
by the inhabitants, that there shall be none to go in and out. Some
understand it of the cities of Egypt, which was south from Judah;
the places there whence they expected succours shall fail them, and
they shall find no access to them. (2.) The inhabitants shall be
hurried away into a foreign country, there to live in slavery:
<i>Judah shall be carried away captive.</i> Some were already
carried off, which they hoped might serve to answer the prediction,
and that the residue should still be left; but no: <i>It shall be
carried away all of it.</i> God will make a full end with them:
<i>It shall be wholly carried away.</i> So it was in the last
captivity under Zedekiah, because they repented not. (3.) The enemy
was now at hand that should do this (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.20" parsed="|Jer|13|20|0|0" passage="Jer 13:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "<i>Lift up your eyes.</i> I
see upon their march, and you may if you will <i>behold, those that
come from the north,</i> from the land of the Chaldeans; see how
fast they advance, how fierce they appear." Upon this he addresses
himself to the king, or rather (because the pronouns are feminine)
to the city or state. [1.] "What will you do now with the people
who are committed to your charge, and whom you ought to protect?
<i>Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?</i>
Whither canst thou take them now for shelter? How can they escape
these ravening wolves?" Magistrates must look upon themselves as
shepherds, and those that are under their charge as their flock,
which they are entrusted with the care of and must give an account
of; they must take delight in them as their beautiful flock, and
consider what to do for their safety in times of public danger.
Masters of families, who neglect their children and suffer them to
perish for want of a good education, and ministers who neglect
their people, should think they hear God putting this question to
them: <i>Where is the flock that was given thee</i> to feed,
<i>that beauteous flock?</i> It is starved; it is left exposed to
the beasts of prey. What account wilt thou give of them when the
chief shepherd shall appear? [2.] "What have you to object against
the equity of God's proceedings? <i>What will thou say when he
shall visit upon thee</i> the former days? <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.21" parsed="|Jer|13|21|0|0" passage="Jer 13:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. Thou canst say nothing, but
that <i>God is just in all that is brought upon thee.</i>" Those
that flatter themselves with hopes of impunity, what will they say?
What confusion will cover their faces when they shall find
themselves deceived and that God punishes them! [3.] "What thoughts
will you now have of your own folly, in giving the Chaldeans such
power over you, by seeking to them for assistance, and joining in
league with them? Thus <i>thou hast taught them against thyself to
be captains</i> and to <i>become the head.</i>" Hezekiah began when
he showed his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon,
tempting him thereby to come and plunder him. Those who, having a
God to trust to, court foreign alliances and confide in them, do
but make rods for themselves and teach their neighbours how to
become their masters. [4.] "How will you bear the trouble that is
at the door? <i>Shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in
travail?</i> Sorrows which thou canst not escape nor put off,
extremity of sorrows; and in these respects more grievous than
those of a woman in travail that they were not expected before, and
that there is no manchild to be born, the joy of which shall make
them afterwards to be forgotten."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xiv-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.22-Jer.13.27" parsed="|Jer|13|22|13|27" passage="Jer 13:22-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiv-p17.5">
<h4 id="Jer.xiv-p17.6">Punishment Predicted; Causes of Jerusalem's
Ruin. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p17.7">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiv-p18" shownumber="no">22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore
come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are
thy skirts discovered, <i>and</i> thy heels made bare.   23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
<i>then</i> may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
  24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth
away by the wind of the wilderness.   25 This <i>is</i> thy
lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiv-p18.1">Lord</span>; because thou hast forgotten me, and
trusted in falsehood.   26 Therefore will I discover thy
skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.   27 I have
seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy
whoredom, <i>and</i> thine abominations on the hills in the fields.
Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when
<i>shall it</i> once <i>be?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p19" shownumber="no">Here is, I. Ruin threatened as before, that
the Jews shall go into captivity, and fall under all the miseries
of beggary and bondage, shall be stripped of their clothes,
<i>their skirts discovered</i> for want of upper garments to cover
them, and their <i>heels made bare</i> for want of shoes, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.22" parsed="|Jer|13|22|0|0" passage="Jer 13:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Thus they used to deal
with prisoners taken in war, when they drove them into captivity,
<i>naked and barefoot,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.4" parsed="|Isa|20|4|0|0" passage="Isa 20:4">Isa. xx.
4</scripRef>. Being thus carried off into a strange country, they
shall be scattered there, <i>as the stubble that is blown away by
the wind of the wilderness,</i> and nobody is concerned to bring it
together again, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.24" parsed="|Jer|13|24|0|0" passage="Jer 13:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>. If the stubble escape the fire, it shall be carried
away by the wind. If one judgment do not do the work, another
shall, with those that by sin have made themselves as stubble. They
shall be stripped of all their ornaments and exposed to shame, as
harlots that are carted, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.26" parsed="|Jer|13|26|0|0" passage="Jer 13:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. They made their pride appear, but God will <i>make
their shame appear;</i> so that those who have doted on them shall
be ashamed of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p20" shownumber="no">II. An enquiry made by the people into the
cause of this ruin, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.22" parsed="|Jer|13|22|0|0" passage="Jer 13:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. Thou wilt <i>say in thy heart</i> (and God knows how
to give a proper answer to what men say in their hearts, though
they do not speak it out; <i>Jesus, knowing their thoughts,</i>
replied to <i>them,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.9.4" parsed="|Matt|9|4|0|0" passage="Mt 9:4">Matt. ix.
4</scripRef>), <i>Wherefore came these things upon me?</i> The
question is supposed to come into the heart, 1. Of a sinner
quarrelling with God and refusing to receive correction. They could
not see that they had done any thing which might justly provoke God
to be thus angry with them. They durst not speak it out; but in
their hearts they thus charged God with unrighteousness, if he had
<i>laid upon them more than was meet.</i> They seek for the cause
of their calamities, when, if they had not been willfully blind,
they might easily have seen it. Or, 2. Of a sinner returning to
God. If there come but a penitent thought into the heart at any
time (saying, <i>What have I done?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.6" parsed="|Jer|8|6|0|0" passage="Jer 8:6"><i>ch.</i> viii. 6</scripRef>, wherefore am I in
affliction? why doth God contend with me?) God takes notice of it,
and is ready by his Spirit to impress the conviction, that, sin
being discovered, it may be repented of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p21" shownumber="no">III. An answer to this enquiry. God will be
justified when he speaks and will oblige us to justify him, and
therefore will set the sin of sinners in order before them. Do they
ask, <i>Wherefore come these things upon us?</i> Let them know it
is all owing to themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p22" shownumber="no">1. It is for the greatness of their
iniquities, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.22" parsed="|Jer|13|22|0|0" passage="Jer 13:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>.
God does not take advantage against them for small faults; no, the
sins for which he now punishes them are of the first rate, very
heinous in their own nature and highly aggravated—for <i>the
multitude of thy iniquity</i> (so it may be read), sins of every
kind and often repeated and relapsed into. Some think we are more
in danger from the multitude of our smaller sins than from the
heinousness of our greater sins; of both we may say, <i>Who can
understand his errors?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p23" shownumber="no">2. It is for their obstinacy in sin, their
being so long accustomed to it that there was little hope left of
their being reclaimed from it (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.23" parsed="|Jer|13|23|0|0" passage="Jer 13:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>Can the Ethiopian change
his skin,</i> that is by nature black, or the <i>leopard his
spots,</i> that are even woven into the skin? Dirt contracted may
be washed off, but we cannot alter the natural colour of a hair
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.36" parsed="|Matt|5|36|0|0" passage="Mt 5:36">Matt. v. 36</scripRef>), much less of
the skin; and so impossible is it, morally impossible, to reclaim
and reform these people. (1.) They had been long <i>accustomed to
do evil.</i> They were taught to do evil; they had been educated
and brought up in sin; they had served an apprenticeship to it, and
had all their days made a trade of it. It was so much their
constant practice that it had become a second nature to them. (2.)
Their prophets therefore despaired of ever bring them to do good.
This was what they aimed at; they persuaded them to cease to do
evil and learn to do well, but could not prevail. They had so long
been used to do evil that it was next to impossible for them to
repent, and amend, and begin to do good. Note, Custom in sin is a
very great hindrance to conversion from sin. The disease that is
inveterate is generally thought incurable. Those that have been
long accustomed to sin have shaken off the restraint of fear and
shame; their consciences are seared; the habits of sin are
confirmed; it pleads prescription; and it is just with God to give
those up to their own hearts' lusts that have long refused to give
themselves up to his grace. Sin is the blackness of the soul, the
deformity of it; it is its spot, the discolouring of it; it is
natural to us, we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of
it by any power of our own. But there is an almighty grace that is
able to change the Ethiopian's skin, and that grace shall not be
wanting to those who in a sense of their need of it seek it
earnestly and improve it faithfully.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p24" shownumber="no">3. It is for their treacherous departures
from the God of truth and dependence on lying vanities (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.25" parsed="|Jer|13|25|0|0" passage="Jer 13:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): "<i>This is thy
lot,</i> to be scattered and driven away; this is <i>the portion of
thy measures from me,</i> the punishment assigned thee as by line
and measure; this shall be thy share of the miseries of this world;
expect it, and think not to escape it: it is <i>because thou hast
forgotten me,</i> the favours I have bestowed upon thee and the
obligations thou art under to me; thou hast no sense, no
remembrance, of these." Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of
all sin, as the remembrance of our Creator betimes is the happy and
hopeful beginning of a holy life. "Having <i>forgotten me, thou
hast trusted in falsehood,</i> in idols, in an arm of flesh in
Egypt and Assyria, in the self-flatteries of a deceitful heart."
Whatever those trust to that forsake God, they will find it a
<i>broken reed,</i> a <i>broken cistern.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p25" shownumber="no">4. It is for their idolatry, their
spiritual whoredom, that sin which is of all sins most provoking to
the <i>jealous God.</i> They are exposed to a shameful calamity
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.26" parsed="|Jer|13|26|0|0" passage="Jer 13:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) because
they have been guilty of a shameful iniquity and yet are shameless
in it (<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.27" parsed="|Jer|13|27|0|0" passage="Jer 13:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>):
"<i>I have seen thy adulteries</i> (thy inordinate fancy for
strange gods, which thou hast been impatient for the gratification
of, and hast even <i>neighed</i> after it), even the <i>lewdness of
thy whoredoms,</i> thy impudence and insatiableness in them, thy
eager worshipping of idols <i>on the hills in the fields,</i> upon
the high places. This is that for which a <i>woe</i> is denounced
against thee, <i>O Jerusalem!</i> nay, and many woes."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiv-p26" shownumber="no">IV. Here is an affectionate expostulation
with them, in the close, upon the whole matter. Though it was
adjudged next to impossible for them to be brought to do good
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.23" parsed="|Jer|13|23|0|0" passage="Jer 13:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), yet while
there is life there is hope, and therefore still he reasons with
them to bring them to repentance, <scripRef id="Jer.xiv-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.27" parsed="|Jer|13|27|0|0" passage="Jer 13:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. 1. He reasons with them
concerning the thing itself: <i>Wilt thou not be made clean?</i>
Note, It is the great concern of those who are polluted by sin to
be made clean by repentance, and faith, and a universal
reformation. The reason why sinners are not made clean is because
they will not be made clean; and herein they act most unreasonably:
"<i>Wilt thou not be made clean?</i> Surely thou will at length be
persuaded to <i>wash thee, and make thee clean,</i> and so be wise
for thyself." 2. Concerning the time of it: <i>When shall it once
be?</i> Note, It is an instance of the wonderful grace of God that
he desires the repentance and conversion of sinners, and thinks the
time long till they are brought to relent; but it is an instance of
the wonderful folly of sinners that they put that off from time to
time which is of such absolute necessity that, if it be not done
some time, they are certainly undone for ever. They do not say that
they will never be cleansed, but not yet; they will defer it to a
more convenient season, but cannot tell us when it shall once
be.</p>
</div></div2>