mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 27.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xxviii" n="xxviii" next="Jer.xxix" prev="Jer.xxvii" progress="38.77%" title="Chapter XXVII">
<h2 id="Jer.xxviii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xxviii-p0.2">CHAP. XXVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xxviii-p1" shownumber="no">Jeremiah the prophet, since he cannot persuade
people to submit to God's precept, and so to prevent the
destruction of their country by the king of Babylon, is here
persuading them to submit to God's providence, by yielding tamely
to the king of Babylon, and becoming tributaries to him, which was
the wisest course they could now take, and would be a mitigation of
the calamity, and prevent the laying of their country waste by fire
and sword; the sacrificing of their liberties would be the saving
of their lives. I. He gives this counsel, in God's name, to the
kings of the neighbouring nations, that they might make the best of
bad, assuring them that there was no remedy, but they must serve
the king of Babylon; and yet in time there should be relief, for
his dominion should last but 70 years, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.1-Jer.27.11" parsed="|Jer|27|1|27|11" passage="Jer 27:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. He gives this counsel to
Zedekiah king of Judah particularly (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.12-Jer.27.15" parsed="|Jer|27|12|27|15" passage="Jer 27:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>) and to the priests and
people, assuring them that the king of Babylon should still proceed
against them till things were brought to the last extremity, and a
patient submission would be the only way to mitigate the calamity
and make it easy, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16-Jer.27.22" parsed="|Jer|27|16|27|22" passage="Jer 27:16-22">ver.
16-22</scripRef>. Thus the prophet, if they would but have
hearkened to him, would have directed them in the paths of true
policy as well as of true piety.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxviii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27" parsed="|Jer|27|0|0|0" passage="Jer 27" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxviii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.1-Jer.27.11" parsed="|Jer|27|1|27|11" passage="Jer 27:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxviii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Jer.xxviii-p1.7">Nebuchadnezzar's Victories
Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 597.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxviii-p2" shownumber="no">1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p2.1">Lord</span>, saying,   2 Thus saith
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p2.2">Lord</span> to me; Make thee bonds and
yokes, and put them upon thy neck,   3 And send them to the
king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the
Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by
the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah
king of Judah;   4 And command them to say unto their masters,
Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts, the
God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;   5 I have
made the earth, the man and the beast that <i>are</i> upon the
ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.   6 And now have I
given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of
Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him
also to serve him.   7 And all nations shall serve him, and
his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come:
and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of
him.   8 And it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> the nation and
kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of
Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the
king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p2.4">Lord</span>, with the sword, and with the famine, and
with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.  
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners,
nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your
sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the
king of Babylon:   10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to
remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and
ye should perish.   11 But the nations that bring their neck
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I
let remain still in their own land, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p2.5">Lord</span>; and they shall till it, and dwell
therein.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p3" shownumber="no">Some difficulty occurs in the date of this
prophecy. This word is said to come to Jeremiah <i>in the beginning
of the reign of Jehoiakim</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.1" parsed="|Jer|27|1|0|0" passage="Jer 27:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), and yet the messengers, to whom
he is to deliver the badges of servitude, are said (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.3" parsed="|Jer|27|3|0|0" passage="Jer 27:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) to come to <i>Zedekiah
king of Judah,</i> who reigned not till eleven years after the
beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. Some make it an error of the copy,
and think that it should be read (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.1" parsed="|Jer|27|1|0|0" passage="Jer 27:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), <i>In the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah,</i> for which some negligent scribe, having his
eye on the title of the foregoing chapter, wrote <i>Jehoiakim.</i>
And, if one would admit a mistake any where, it should be here, for
Zedekiah is mentioned again (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.12" parsed="|Jer|27|12|0|0" passage="Jer 27:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), and the next prophecy is
dated the same year, and said to be in the <i>beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.28.1" parsed="|Jer|28|1|0|0" passage="Jer 28:1"><i>ch.</i>
xxviii. 1</scripRef>. Dr. Lightfoot solves it thus: In the
beginning of Jehoiakim's reign Jeremiah is to make these bonds and
yokes, and to put them upon his own neck, in token of Judah's
subjection to the king of Babylon, which began at that time; but he
is to send them to the neighbouring kings afterwards in the reign
of Zedekiah, of whose succession to Jehoiakim, and the ambassadors
sent to him, mention is made by way of prediction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p4" shownumber="no">I. Jeremiah is to prepare a sign of the
general reduction of all these countries into subjection to the
king of Babylon (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.2" parsed="|Jer|27|2|0|0" passage="Jer 27:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): <i>Make thee bonds and yokes,</i> yokes with bonds
to fasten them, that the beast may not slip his neck out of the
yoke. Into these the prophet must put his own neck to make them
taken notice of as a prophetic representation; for every one would
enquire, What is the meaning of Jeremiah's yokes? We find him with
one on, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.28.10" parsed="|Jer|28|10|0|0" passage="Jer 28:10"><i>ch.</i> xxviii.
10</scripRef>. Hereby he intimated that he advised them to nothing
but what he was resolved to do himself; for he was not one of those
that <i>bind heavy burdens</i> on others, which they themselves
will not <i>touch with one of their fingers.</i> Ministers must
thus lay themselves under the weight and obligation of what they
preach to others.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p5" shownumber="no">II. He is to send this, with a sermon
annexed to it, to all the neighbouring princes; those are mentioned
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.3" parsed="|Jer|27|3|0|0" passage="Jer 27:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) that lay next
to the land of Canaan. It should seem, there was a treaty of
alliance on foot between the king of Judah and all those other
kings. Jerusalem was the place appointed for the treaty. Thither
they all sent their plenipotentiaries; and it was agreed that they
should bind themselves in a league offensive and defensive, to
stand by one another, in opposition to the growing threatening
greatness of the king of Babylon, and to reduce his exorbitant
power. They had great confidence in their strength thus united, and
were ready to call themselves the high allies; but, when the envoys
were returning to their respective masters with the ratification of
this treaty, Jeremiah gives each of them a yoke to carry to his
master, to signify to him that he must either by consent or by
compulsion become a servant to the king of Babylon, let him choose
which he will. In the sermon upon this sign, 1. God asserts his own
indisputable right to dispose of kingdoms as he pleases, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.5" parsed="|Jer|27|5|0|0" passage="Jer 27:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. He is the Creator of all
things; he <i>made the earth</i> at first, established it, and it
abides: it is still the same, though <i>one generation passes away
and another comes.</i> He still by a continued creation produces
<i>man and beast upon the ground,</i> and it is by his <i>great
power</i> and <i>outstretched arm.</i> His arm has infinite
strength, though it be stretched out. Upon this account he may give
and convey a property and dominion to whomsoever he pleases. As he
hath graciously <i>given the earth to the children of men</i> in
general (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.16" parsed="|Ps|115|16|0|0" passage="Ps 115:16">Ps. cxv. 16</scripRef>), so
he give to each his share of it, be it more or less. Note, Whatever
any have of the good things of this world, it is what God sees fit
to give them; we ourselves should therefore be content, though we
have ever so little, and not envy any their share, though they have
ever so much. 2. He publishes a grant of all these countries to
Nebuchadnezzar. Know all men by these presents. <i>Sciant præsentes
et futuri—Let those of the present and those of the future age
know.</i> "This is to certify to all whom it may concern that I
have <i>given all these lands,</i> with all the wealth of them,
into <i>the hands of the king of Babylon;</i> even the beasts <i>of
the field,</i> whether tame or wild, <i>have I given to him,</i>
parks and pastures; they are all his own." Nebuchadnezzar was a
proud wicked man, an idolater; and yet God, in his providence,
gives him this large dominion, these vast possessions. Note, The
things of this world are not the best things, for God often gives
the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and
rebels against him. He was a wicked man, and yet what he had he had
by divine grant. Note, Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that
have not any colourable title to eternal happiness may yet have a
justifiable title to their temporal good things. Nebuchadnezzar is
a very bad man, and yet God calls him his servant, because he
employed him as an instrument of his providence for the chastising
of the nations, and particularly his own people; and for his
service therein he thus liberally repaid him. Those whom God makes
use of shall not lose by him; much more will he be found the
bountiful rewarder of all those that designedly and sincerely serve
him. 3. He assures them that they should all be unavoidably brought
under the dominion of the king of Babylon for a time (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.7" parsed="|Jer|27|7|0|0" passage="Jer 27:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>All nations,</i> all
these nations and many others, shall serve <i>him, and his son, and
his son's son.</i> His son was Evil-merodach, and his son's son
Belshazzar, in whom his kingdom ceased: then the time of reckoning
with his land came, when the tables were turned, and <i>many
nations and great kings,</i> incorporated into the empire of the
Medes and Persians, <i>served themselves of him,</i> as before,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.14" parsed="|Jer|25|14|0|0" passage="Jer 25:14"><i>ch.</i> xxv. 14</scripRef>. Thus
Adonibezek was trampled upon himself, as he had trampled on other
kings. 4. He threatens those with military execution that stood out
and would not submit to the king of Babylon (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.8" parsed="|Jer|27|8|0|0" passage="Jer 27:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): That nation that will not
<i>put their neck under his yoke</i> I will <i>punish with sword
and famine,</i> with one judgment after another, till it is
<i>consumed by his hand.</i> Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and
barbarous in invading the rights and liberties of his neighbours
thus, and forcing them into a subjection to him; yet God had just
and holy ends in permitting him to do so, to punish these nations
for their idolatry and gross immoralities. Those that would not
serve the God that made them were justly made to serve their
enemies that sought to ruin them. 5. He shows them the vanity of
all the hopes they fed themselves with, that they should preserve
their liberties, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.9-Jer.27.10" parsed="|Jer|27|9|27|10" passage="Jer 27:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9,
10</scripRef>. These nations had their prophets too, that pretended
to foretell future events by the stars, or by dreams, or
enchantments; and they, to please their patrons, and because they
would themselves have it so, flattered them with assurances that
they <i>should not serve the king of Babylon.</i> Thus they
designed to animate them to a vigorous resistance; and, though they
had no ground for it, they hoped hereby to do them service. But he
tells them that it would prove to their destruction; for by
resisting they would provoke the conqueror to deal severely with
them, to <i>remove them,</i> and <i>drive them out</i> into a
miserable captivity, in which they should all be lost and buried in
oblivion. Particular prophecies against these nations that bordered
on Israel severally, the ruin of which is here foretold in the
general, we shall meet with, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.48.1-Jer.49.39 Bible:Ezek.25.1-Ezek.25.17" parsed="|Jer|48|1|49|39;|Ezek|25|1|25|17" passage="Jer 48:1-49:39,Eze 25:1-17"><i>ch.</i> xlviii. and xlix., and
Ezek. xxv.</scripRef>, which had the same accomplishment with this
here. Note, <i>When God judges he will overcome.</i> 6. He puts
them in a fair way to prevent their destruction by a quiet and easy
submission, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.11" parsed="|Jer|27|11|0|0" passage="Jer 27:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.
The nations that will be content to <i>serve the king of
Babylon,</i> and pay him tribute for seventy years (ten
apprenticeships), <i>those will I let remain still in their own
land.</i> Those that will bend shall not break. Perhaps the
dominion of the king of Babylon may bear no harder upon them than
that of their own kings had done. It is often more a point of
honour than true wisdom to prefer liberty before life. It is not
mentioned to the disgrace of Issachar that because he saw
<i>rest</i> was <i>good,</i> and the <i>land pleasant,</i> that he
might peaceably enjoy it, he bowed <i>his shoulder to bear,</i> and
<i>became a servant to tribute</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.14-Gen.49.15" parsed="|Gen|49|14|49|15" passage="Ge 49:14,15">Gen. xlix. 14, 15</scripRef>), as these are here
advised to do: <i>Serve the king of Babylon and you shall till the
land</i> and <i>dwell therein.</i> Some would condemn this as the
evidence of a mean spirit, but the prophet recommends it as that of
a meek spirit, which yields to necessity, and by a quiet submission
to the hardest turns of Providence makes the best of bad: it is
better to do so than by struggling to make it worse.</p>
<verse id="Jer.xxviii-p5.11" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Jer.xxviii-p5.12">———Levius fit patientia</l>
<l id="Jer.xxviii-p5.13">Quicquid corrigere est nefas.</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Jer.xxviii-p5.14">Hor.</attr>
<verse id="Jer.xxviii-p5.15" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Jer.xxviii-p5.16">———When we needs must bear,</l>
<l id="Jer.xxviii-p5.17">Enduring patience makes the burden light.</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Jer.xxviii-p5.18"><span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p5.19">Creech</span>.</attr>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p6" shownumber="no">Many might have prevented destroying
providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It
is better to take up a lighter cross in our way than to pull a
heavier on our own head.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xxviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.12-Jer.27.22" parsed="|Jer|27|12|27|22" passage="Jer 27:12-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxviii-p6.2">
<h4 id="Jer.xxviii-p6.3">Jeremiah's Counsel to Zedekiah; Submission
to Nebuchadnezzar Urged. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p6.4">b. c.</span> 597.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxviii-p7" shownumber="no">12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah
according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the
yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and
live.   13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword,
by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.1">Lord</span> hath spoken against the nation that will
not serve the king of Babylon?   14 Therefore hearken not unto
the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not
serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.  
15 For I have not sent them, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.2">Lord</span>, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I
might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets
that prophesy unto you.   16 Also I spake to the priests and
to all this people, saying, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.3">Lord</span>; Hearken not to the words of your prophets
that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.4">Lord</span>'s house shall now shortly be brought
again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.   17
Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live:
wherefore should this city be laid waste?   18 But if they
<i>be</i> prophets, and if the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.5">Lord</span> be with them, let them now make
intercession to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.6">Lord</span> of hosts,
that the vessels which are left in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.7">Lord</span>, and <i>in</i> the house of the king of
Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.   19 For thus
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.8">Lord</span> of hosts concerning
the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and
concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
  20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he
carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah
from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and
Jerusalem;   21 Yea, thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.9">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the
vessels that remain <i>in</i> the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.10">Lord</span>, and <i>in</i> the house of the king of
Judah and of Jerusalem;   22 They shall be carried to Babylon,
and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxviii-p7.11">Lord</span>; then will I bring them up, and
restore them to this place.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p8" shownumber="no">What was said to all the nations is here
with a particular tenderness applied to the nation of the Jews, for
whom Jeremiah was sensibly concerned. The case at present stood
thus: Judah and Jerusalem had often contested with the king of
Babylon, and still were worsted; many both of their valuable
persons and their valuable goods were carried to Babylon already,
and some of the <i>vessels of the Lord's house</i> particularly.
Now how this struggle would issue was the question. They had those
among them at Jerusalem who pretended to be prophets, who bade them
hold out and they should, in a little time, be too hard for the
king of Babylon and recover all that they had lost. Now Jeremiah is
sent to bid them yield and knock under, for that, instead of
recovering what they had lost, they should otherwise lose all that
remained; and to press them to this is the scope of these
verses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p9" shownumber="no">I. Jeremiah humbly addresses the king of
Judah, to persuade him to surrender to the king of Babylon. His act
would be the people's and would determine them, and therefore he
speaks to him as to them all (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.12" parsed="|Jer|27|12|0|0" passage="Jer 27:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Bring your necks under the
yoke of the king of Babylon and live.</i> Is it their wisdom to
submit to the heavy iron yoke of a cruel tyrant, that they may
secure the lives of their bodies? And is it not much more our
wisdom to submit to the sweet and easy yoke of our rightful Lord
and Master Jesus Christ, that we may secure the lives of our souls?
Bring down your spirits to repentance and faith, and that is the
way to bring up your spirits to heaven and glory. And with much
more cogency and compassion may we expostulate with perishing souls
than Jeremiah here expostulates with a perishing people: "<i>Why
will you die by the sword and the famine</i>—miserable deaths,
which you inevitably run yourselves upon, under pretence of
avoiding miserable lives?" What God had spoken, in general, of all
those that would not submit to the king of Babylon, he would have
them to apply to themselves and be afraid of. It were well if
sinners would, in like manner, be afraid of the destruction
threatened against all those that will not have <i>Christ to reign
over them,</i> and reason thus with themselves, "<i>Why should we
die</i> the second death, which is a thousand times worse than that
by <i>sword and famine,</i> when we might submit and live?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p10" shownumber="no">II. He addresses himself likewise to the
priests and the people (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16" parsed="|Jer|27|16|0|0" passage="Jer 27:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), to persuade them to <i>serve the king of
Babylon,</i> that they might <i>live,</i> and might prevent the
desolation of the city (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.17" parsed="|Jer|27|17|0|0" passage="Jer 27:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): "<i>Wherefore should it be laid waste,</i> as
certainly it will be if you stand it out?" The priests had been
Jeremiah's enemies, and had sought his life to destroy it, yet he
approves himself their friend, and seeks their lives, to preserve
and secure them, which is an example to us to render <i>good for
evil.</i> When the <i>blood-thirsty hate the upright,</i> yet
<i>the just seek his soul,</i> and the welfare of it, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.29.10" parsed="|Prov|29|10|0|0" passage="Pr 29:10">Prov. xxix. 10</scripRef>. The matter was far
gone here; they were upon the brink of ruin, which they would not
have been brought to if they would have taken Jeremiah's counsel;
yet he continues his friendly admonitions to them, to save the last
stake and manage that wisely, and now at length in this their day
to understand the <i>things that belong to their peace,</i> when
they had but one day to turn them in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxviii-p11" shownumber="no">III. In both these addresses he warns them
against giving credit to the false prophets that rocked them asleep
in their security, because they saw that they loved to slumber:
"<i>Hearken not to the words of the prophets</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.14" parsed="|Jer|27|14|0|0" passage="Jer 27:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), <i>your prophets,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16" parsed="|Jer|27|16|0|0" passage="Jer 27:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. They are not
God's prophets; he never sent them; they do not serve him, nor seek
to please him; they are yours, for they say what you would have
them say, and aim at nothing but to please you." Two things their
prophets flattered them into the belief of:—1. That the power
which the king of Babylon had gained over them should now shortly
be broken. They said (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.14" parsed="|Jer|27|14|0|0" passage="Jer 27:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), "<i>You shall not serve the king of Babylon;</i>
you need not submit voluntarily, for you shall not be compelled to
submit." This they prophesied <i>in the name of the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.15" parsed="|Jer|27|15|0|0" passage="Jer 27:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), as if God
had sent them to the people on this errand, in kindness to them,
that they might not disparage themselves by an inglorious
surrender. But it was a lie. They said that God sent them; but that
was false; he disowns it: <i>I have not sent them, saith the
Lord.</i> They said that they should never be brought into
subjection to the king of Babylon; but that was false too, the
event proved it so. They said that to hold out to the last would be
the way to secure themselves and their city; but that was false,
for it would certainly end in their being driven out and perishing.
So that it was all a lie, from first to last; and the prophets that
deceived the people with these lies did, in the issue, but deceive
themselves; the blind leaders and the blind followers fell together
into the ditch: That <i>you might perish, you, and the prophets
that prophesy unto you,</i> who will be so far from warranting your
security that they cannot secure themselves. Note, Those that
encourage sinners to go on in their sinful ways will in the end
perish with them. 2. They prophesied that the vessels of the
temple, which the king of Babylon had already carried away, should
now shortly be brought back (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16" parsed="|Jer|27|16|0|0" passage="Jer 27:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>); this they fed the priests
with the hopes of, knowing how acceptable it would be to them, who
loved the <i>gold of the temple</i> better than the <i>temple that
sanctified the gold.</i> These vessels were taken away when
Jeconiah was carried captive into Babylon, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.20" parsed="|Jer|27|20|0|0" passage="Jer 27:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. We have the story, and it is a
melancholy one, <scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.13 Bible:2Kgs.24.15 Bible:2Chr.36.10" parsed="|2Kgs|24|13|0|0;|2Kgs|24|15|0|0;|2Chr|36|10|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:13,15,2Ch 36:10">2 Kings
xxiv. 13, 15; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10</scripRef>. All the <i>goodly
vessels</i> (that is, all the <i>vessels of gold</i> that were
<i>in the house of the Lord</i>), with all the treasures, were
taken as prey, and brought to Babylon. This was grievous to them
above any thing; for the temple was their pride and confidence, and
the stripping of that was too plain an indication of that which the
true prophet told them, that their <i>God had departed from
them.</i> Their false prophets therefore had no other way to make
them easy than by telling them that the king of Babylon should be
forced to restore them in a little while. Now here, (1.) Jeremiah
bids them think of preserving the vessels that remained by their
prayers, rather than of bringing back those that were gone by their
prophecies (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.18" parsed="|Jer|27|18|0|0" passage="Jer 27:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>):
<i>If they be prophets,</i> as they pretend, and if <i>the word of
the Lord be with them</i>—if they have any intercourse with heaven
and any interest there, let them improve it for the stopping of the
progress of the judgment; let them step into the gap, and stand
with their censer <i>between the living and the dead,</i> between
that which is carried away and that which remains, that <i>the
plague may be stayed; let them make intercession with the Lord of
hosts,</i> that the vessels which are left go not after the rest.
[1.] Instead of prophesying, let them pray. Note, Prophets must be
praying men; by being much in prayer they must make it to appear
that they keep up a correspondence with heaven. We cannot think
that those do, as prophets, ever hear thence, who do not frequently
by prayer send thither. By praying for the safety and prosperity of
the sanctuary they must make it to appear that, as becomes
prophets, they are of a public spirit; and by the success of their
prayers it will appear that God favours them. [2.] Instead of being
concerned for the retrieving of what they had lost, they must
bestir themselves for the securing of what was left, and take it as
a great favour if they can gain that point. When God's judgments
are abroad we must not seek great things, but be thankful for a
little. (2.) He assures them that even this point should not be
gained, but the brazen vessels should go after the golden ones,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.19 Bible:Jer.27.22" parsed="|Jer|27|19|0|0;|Jer|27|22|0|0" passage="Jer 27:19,22"><i>v.</i> 19, 22</scripRef>.
Nebuchadnezzar had found so good a booty once that he would be sure
to come again and take all he could find, not only in <i>the house
of the Lord,</i> but in the <i>king's house.</i> They shall all be
carried to Babylon in triumph, and <i>there shall they be.</i> But
he concludes with a gracious promise that the time should come when
they should all be returned: <i>Until the day that I visit them in
mercy,</i> according to appointment, and <i>then I will bring</i>
those vessels <i>up again, and restore them to this place,</i> to
their place. Surely they were under the protection of a special
Providence, else they would have been melted down and put to some
other use; but there was to be a second temple, for which they were
to be reserved. We read particularly of the return of them,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.8" parsed="|Ezra|1|8|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:8">Ezra i. 8</scripRef>. Note, Though the
return of the church's prosperity do not come in our time, we must
not therefore despair of it, for it will come in God's time. Though
those who said, <i>The vessels of the Lord's house</i> shall
<i>shortly</i> be brought again, prophesied a lie (<scripRef id="Jer.xxviii-p11.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.16" parsed="|Jer|27|16|0|0" passage="Jer 27:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), yet he that said,
They shall <i>at length</i> be brought again, prophesied the truth.
We are apt to set our clock before God's dial, and then to quarrel
because they do not agree; but the Lord is a God of judgment, and
it is fit that we should wait for him.</p>
</div></div2>