mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 18.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xix" n="xix" next="Jer.xx" prev="Jer.xviii" progress="35.31%" title="Chapter XVIII">
<h2 id="Jer.xix-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xix-p0.2">CHAP. XVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xix-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. A general declaration
of God's ways in dealing with nations and kingdoms, that he can
easily do what he will with them, as easily as the potter can with
the clay (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.1-Jer.18.6" parsed="|Jer|18|1|18|6" passage="Jer 18:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>), but
that he certainly will do what is just and fair with them. If he
threaten their ruin, yet upon their repentance he will return in
mercy to them, and, when he is coming towards them in mercy,
nothing but their sin will stop the progress of his favours,
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.7-Jer.18.10" parsed="|Jer|18|7|18|10" passage="Jer 18:7-10">ver. 7-10</scripRef>. II. A
particular demonstration of the folly of the men of Judah and
Jerusalem in departing from their God to idols, and so bringing
ruin upon themselves notwithstanding the fair warnings given them
and God's kind intentions towards them, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.11-Jer.18.17" parsed="|Jer|18|11|18|17" passage="Jer 18:11-17">ver. 11-17</scripRef>. III. The prophet's complaint
to God of the base ingratitude and unreasonable malice of his
enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and his prayers against them,
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.18-Jer.18.23" parsed="|Jer|18|18|18|23" passage="Jer 18:18-23">ver. 18-23</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18" parsed="|Jer|18|0|0|0" passage="Jer 18" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.1-Jer.18.10" parsed="|Jer|18|1|18|10" passage="Jer 18:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xix-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.xix-p1.8">The Sovereign Prerogative of God; Divine
Goodness and Equity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p1.9">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xix-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p2.1">Lord</span>, saying,   2 Arise, and go down
to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my
words.   3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.   4 And the vessel
that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he
made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make
<i>it.</i>   5 Then the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p2.2">Lord</span> came to me, saying,   6 O house of
Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p2.3">Lord</span>. Behold, as the clay <i>is</i> in the
potter's hand, so <i>are</i> ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
  7 <i>At what</i> instant I shall speak concerning a nation,
and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to
destroy <i>it;</i>   8 If that nation, against whom I have
pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I
thought to do unto them.   9 And <i>at what</i> instant I
shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build
and to plant <i>it;</i>   10 If it do evil in my sight, that
it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I
said I would benefit them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet is here sent to <i>the potter's
house</i> (he knew where to find it), not to preach a sermon as
before to the gates of Jerusalem, but to prepare a sermon, or
rather to receive it ready prepared. Those needed not to study
their sermons that had them, as he had this, by immediate
inspiration. "<i>Go to the potter's house,</i> and observe how he
manages his work, and there <i>I will cause thee,</i> by silent
whispers, <i>to hear my words.</i> There thou shalt receive a
message, to be delivered to the people." Note, Those that would
know God's mind must observe his appointments, and attend where
they may hear his words. The prophet was never <i>disobedient to
the heavenly vision,</i> and therefore went to the potter's house
(<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.3" parsed="|Jer|18|3|0|0" passage="Jer 18:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) and took
notice how he <i>wrought his work upon the wheels,</i> just as he
pleased, with a great deal of ease, and in a little time. And
(<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.4" parsed="|Jer|18|4|0|0" passage="Jer 18:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) when a lump
of clay that he designed to form into one shape either proved too
stiff, or had a stone in it, or some way or other came to be
<i>marred in his hand,</i> he presently turned it into another
shape; if it will not serve for a vessel of honour, it will serve
for a vessel of dishonour, just <i>as seems good to the potter.</i>
It is probable that Jeremiah knew well enough how the potter
wrought his work, and how easily he threw it into what form he
pleased; but he must go and observe it <i>now,</i> that, having the
idea of it fresh in his mind, he might the more readily and
distinctly apprehend that truth which God designed thereby to
represent to him, and might the more intelligently explain it to
the people. God <i>used similitudes by his servants the
prophets</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.10" parsed="|Hos|12|10|0|0" passage="Ho 12:10">Hos. xii.
10</scripRef>), and it was requisite that they should themselves
understand the similitudes they used. Ministers will make a good
use of their converse with the business and affairs of this life if
they learn thereby to speak more plainly and familiarly to people
about the things of God, and to expound scripture comparisons. For
they ought to make all their knowledge some way or other
serviceable to their profession.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p4" shownumber="no">Now let us see what the message is which
Jeremiah receives, and is entrusted with the delivery of, at the
potter's house. While he looks carefully upon the potter's work,
God darts into his mind these two great truths, which he must
preach to <i>the house of Israel:</i>—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p5" shownumber="no">I. That God has both an incontestable
authority and an irresistible ability to form and fashion kingdoms
and nations as he pleases, so as to serve his own purposes:
"<i>Cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord?</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.6" parsed="|Jer|18|6|0|0" passage="Jer 18:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Have not I as
absolute a power over you in respect both of might and of right?"
Nay, God has a clearer title to a dominion over us than the potter
has over the clay; for the potter only gives it its form, whereas
we have both matter and form from God. <i>As the clay is in the
potter's hand</i> to be moulded and shaped as he pleases, <i>so are
you in my hand.</i> This intimates, 1. That God has an
incontestable sovereignty over us, is not debtor to us, may dispose
of us as he thinks fit, and is not accountable to us, and that it
would be as absurd for us to dispute this as for the clay to
quarrel with the potter. 2. That it is a very easy thing with God
to make what use he pleases of us and what changes he pleases with
us, and that we cannot resist him. One turn of the hand, one turn
of the wheel, quite alters the shape of the clay, makes it a
vessel, unmakes it, new-makes it. Thus are our times in God's hand,
and not in our own, and it is in vain for us to strive with him. It
is spoken here of nations; the most politic, the most potent, are
what God is pleased to make them, and no other. See this explained
by Job (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.23" parsed="|Job|12|23|0|0" passage="Job 12:23"><i>ch.</i> xii.
23</scripRef>), <i>He increaseth the nations and destroyeth them;
he enlargeth the nations and straiteneth them again.</i> See
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.33" parsed="|Ps|107|33|0|0" passage="Ps 107:33">Ps. cvii. 33</scripRef>, &amp;c., and
compare <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.29" parsed="|Job|34|29|0|0" passage="Job 34:29">Job xxxiv. 29</scripRef>.
<i>All nations before God are as the drop of the bucket,</i> soon
wiped away, <i>or the small dust of the balance,</i> soon blown
away (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.15" parsed="|Isa|40|15|0|0" passage="Isa 40:15">Isa. xl. 15</scripRef>), and
therefore, no doubt, as easily managed as the clay by the potter.
3. That God will not be a loser by any in his glory, at long run,
but, if he be not glorified by them, he will be glorified upon
them. If the potter's vessel be marred for one use, it shall serve
for another; those that will not be monuments of mercy shall be
monuments of justice. <i>The Lord has made all things for himself,
yea, even the wicked for the day of evil,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.4" parsed="|Prov|16|4|0|0" passage="Pr 16:4">Prov. xvi. 4</scripRef>. God formed us out of the clay
(<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.6" parsed="|Job|33|6|0|0" passage="Job 33:6">Job xxxiii. 6</scripRef>), nay, and
we are still as clay in his hands (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.8" parsed="|Isa|64|8|0|0" passage="Isa 64:8">Isa. lxiv. 8</scripRef>); and has not he the same power
over us that the potter has over the clay? (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.21" parsed="|Rom|9|21|0|0" passage="Ro 9:21">Rom. ix. 21</scripRef>), and are not we bound to submit,
as the clay to the potter's wisdom and will? <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.15-Isa.29.16 Bible:Isa.45.9" parsed="|Isa|29|15|29|16;|Isa|45|9|0|0" passage="Isa 29:15,16,45:9">Isa. xxix. 15, 16; xlv. 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p6" shownumber="no">II. That, in the exercise of this authority
and ability, he always goes by fixed rules of equity and goodness.
He dispenses favours indeed in a way of sovereignty, but never
punishes by arbitrary power. <i>High is his right hand,</i> yet he
rules not with a <i>high hand,</i> but, as it follows there,
<i>Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.13-Ps.89.14" parsed="|Ps|89|13|89|14" passage="Ps 89:13,14">Ps. lxxxix. 13, 14</scripRef>. God
asserts his despotic power, and tells us what he might do, but at
the same time assures us that he will act as a righteous and
merciful Judge. 1. When God is coming against us in ways of
judgment we may be sure that it is for our sins, which shall appear
by this, that national repentance will stop the progress of the
judgments (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.7-Jer.18.8" parsed="|Jer|18|7|18|8" passage="Jer 18:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>): <i>If God speak concerning a nation to pluck up</i>
its fences that secure it, and so lay it open, its fruit-trees that
adorn and enrich it, and so leave it desolate—to pull down its
fortifications, that the enemy may have liberty to enter in, its
habitations, that the inhabitants may be under a necessity of going
out, and so <i>destroy it</i> as either a vineyard or a city is
destroyed—in this case, if <i>that nation</i> take the alarm,
repent of their sins and reform their lives, turn every one from
his evil way and return to God, God will graciously accept them,
will not proceed in his controversy, will return in mercy to them,
and, though he cannot change his mind, he will change his way, so
that it may be said, He <i>repents him of the evil he said he would
do to them.</i> Thus often in the time of the Judges, when the
oppressed people were penitent people, still God raised them up
saviours; and, when they turned to God, their affairs immediately
took a new turn. It was Nineveh's case, and we wish it had oftener
been Jerusalem's; see <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.7.14" parsed="|2Chr|7|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 7:14">2 Chron. vii.
14</scripRef>. It is an undoubted truth that a sincere conversion
from the evil of sin will be an effectual prevention of the evil of
punishment; and God can as easily raise up a penitent people from
their ruins as the potter can make anew the vessel of clay when it
was <i>marred in his hand.</i> 2. When God is coming towards us in
ways of mercy, if any stop be given to the progress of that mercy,
it is nothing but sin that gives it (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.9-Jer.18.10" parsed="|Jer|18|9|18|10" passage="Jer 18:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>): <i>If God speak
concerning a nation to build and to plant it,</i> to advance and
establish all the true interests of it, it is <i>his husbandly</i>
and <i>his building</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.9" parsed="|1Cor|3|9|0|0" passage="1Co 3:9">1 Cor. iii.
9</scripRef>), and, if he speak in favour of it, it is done, it is
increased, it is enriched, it is enlarged, its trade flourishes,
its government is settled in good hands, and all its affairs
prosper and its enterprises succeed. But if this nation, which God
is thus loading with benefits, <i>do evil in his sight</i> and
<i>obey not his voice,</i>—if it lose its virtue, and become
debauched and profane,—if religion grow into contempt, and vice to
get to be fashionable, and so be kept in countenance and
reputation, and there be a general decay of serious godliness among
them,—then God will turn his hand against them, will pluck up what
he was planting, and pull down what he was building (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.45.4" parsed="|Jer|45|4|0|0" passage="Jer 45:4"><i>ch.</i> xlv. 4</scripRef>); the good work
that was in the doing shall stand still and be let fall, and what
favours were further designed shall be withheld; and this is called
his <i>repenting of the good wherewith he said he would benefit
them,</i> as he changed his purpose concerning Eli's house
(<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.30" parsed="|1Sam|2|30|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:30">1 Sam. ii. 30</scripRef>) and hurried
Israel back into the wilderness when he had brought them within
sight of Canaan. Note, Sin is the great mischief-maker between God
and a people; it forfeits the benefit of his promises and spoils
the success of their prayers. It defeats his kind intentions
concerning them (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.7.1" parsed="|Hos|7|1|0|0" passage="Ho 7:1">Hos. vii. 1</scripRef>)
and baffles their pleasing expectations from him. It ruins their
comforts, prolongs their grievances, brings them into straits, and
retards their deliverances, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.59.1-Isa.59.2" parsed="|Isa|59|1|59|2" passage="Isa 59:1,2">Isa.
lix. 1, 2</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xix-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.11-Jer.18.17" parsed="|Jer|18|11|18|17" passage="Jer 18:11-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xix-p6.11">
<h4 id="Jer.xix-p6.12">People of God Accused and Threatened; Folly
of Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p6.13">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xix-p7" shownumber="no">11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of
Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p7.1">Lord</span>; Behold, I frame evil against
you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from
his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.   12
And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil
heart.   13 Therefore thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p7.2">Lord</span>; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath
heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible
thing.   14 Will <i>a man</i> leave the snow of Lebanon
<i>which cometh</i> from the rock of the field? <i>or</i> shall the
cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
  15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned
incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their
ways <i>from</i> the ancient paths, to walk in paths, <i>in</i> a
way not cast up;   16 To make their land desolate, <i>and</i>
a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be
astonished, and wag his head.   17 I will scatter them as with
an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not
the face, in the day of their calamity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p8" shownumber="no">These verses seem to be the application of
the general truths laid down in the foregoing part of the chapter
to the nation of the Jews and their present state.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p9" shownumber="no">I. God was now speaking concerning them
<i>to pluck up,</i> and <i>to pull down,</i> and <i>to destroy;</i>
for it is that part of the rule of judgment that their case agrees
with (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.11" parsed="|Jer|18|11|0|0" passage="Jer 18:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
"<i>Go, and tell</i> them" (saith God), "<i>Behold I frame evil
against you and devise against you.</i> Providence in all its
operations is plainly working towards your ruin. Look upon your
conduct towards God, and you cannot but see that you deserve it;
look upon his dealings with you, and you cannot but see that he
designs it." He frames evil, as the potter frames the vessel, so as
to answer the end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p10" shownumber="no">II. He invites them by repentance and
reformation to meet him in the way of his judgments and so to
prevent his further proceedings against them: "<i>Return you now
every one from his evil ways,</i> that so (according to the rule
before laid down) God may turn from the evil he had purported to do
unto you, and that providence which seemed to be framed like a
vessel on the wheel against you shall immediately be thrown into a
new shape, and the issue shall be in favour of you." Note, The
warnings of God's word, and the threatenings of his providence,
should be improved by us as strong inducements to us to reform our
lives, in which it is not enough to <i>turn from our evil ways,</i>
but we must <i>make our ways and our doings good,</i> conformable
to the rule, to the law.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p11" shownumber="no">III. He foresees their obstinacy, and their
perverse refusal to comply with this invitation, though it tended
so much to their own benefit (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.12" parsed="|Jer|18|12|0|0" passage="Jer 18:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>They said, "There is no
hope.</i> If we must not be delivered unless we return from our
evil ways, we may even despair of ever being delivered, for we are
resolved that <i>we will walk after our own devices.</i> It is to
no purpose for the prophets to say any more to us, to use any more
arguments, or to press the matter any further; we will have our
way, whatever it cost us; <i>we will do every one the imagination
of his</i> own <i>evil heart,</i> and will not be under the
restraint of the divine law." Note, That which ruins sinners is
affecting to live as they list. They call it liberty to live at
large; whereas for a man to be a slave to his lusts is the worst of
slaveries. See how strangely some men's hearts are hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin that they will not so much as promise
amendment; nay, they set the judgments of God at defiance: "We will
go on with <i>our own devices,</i> and let God go on with his; and
we will venture the issue."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p12" shownumber="no">IV. He upbraids them with the monstrous
folly of their obstinacy, and their hating to be reformed. Surely
never were people guilty of such an absurdity, never any that
pretended to reason acted so unreasonably (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.13" parsed="|Jer|18|13|0|0" passage="Jer 18:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Ask you among the
heathen,</i> even those that had not the benefit of divine
revelation, no oracles, no prophets, as Judah and Jerusalem had,
yet, even among them, <i>who hath heard such a thing?</i> The
Ninevites, when thus warned, turned from their evil ways. Some of
the worst of men, when they are told of their faults, especially
when they begin to smart for them, will at least promise
reformation and say that they will endeavour to mend. But <i>the
virgin of Israel</i> bids defiance to repentance, is resolved to go
on frowardly, whatever conscience and Providence say to the
contrary, and thus <i>has done a horrible thing.</i> She should
have preserved herself pure and chaste for God, who had espoused
her to himself; but she has alienated herself from him, and refuses
to return to him. Note, It is <i>a horrible thing,</i> enough to
make one tremble to think of it, that those who have made their
condition sad by sinning should make it desperate by refusing to
reform. Wilful impenitence is the grossest self-murder; and that is
<i>a horrible thing,</i> which we should abhor the thought of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p13" shownumber="no">V. He shows their folly in two
things:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p14" shownumber="no">1. In the nature of the sin itself that
they were guilty of. They forsook God for idols, which was the most
horrible thing that could be, for they put a most dangerous cheat
upon themselves (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.14-Jer.18.15" parsed="|Jer|18|14|18|15" passage="Jer 18:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14,
15</scripRef>): <i>Will a</i> thirsty traveller <i>leave the
snow,</i> which, being melted, runs down from the mountains <i>of
Lebanon,</i> and, passing over <i>the rock of the field,</i> flows
in clear, clean, crystal streams? Will he leave these, pass these
by, and think to better himself with some dirty puddle-water? <i>Or
shall the cold flowing waters that come from any other place be
forsaken</i> in the heat of summer? No; when men are parched with
heat and drought, and meet with cooling refreshing streams, they
will make use of them, and not turn their backs upon them. The
margin reads it, "<i>Will a man</i> that is travelling the road
<i>leave my fields,</i> which are plain and level, <i>for a
rock,</i> which is rough and hard, <i>or for the snow of
Lebanon,</i> which, lying in great drifts, makes the road
impassable? <i>Or shall the running waters be forsaken for the
strange cold waters?</i> No; in these things men know when they are
well off, and will keep so; they will not leave a certainty for an
uncertainty. But <i>my people have forgotten me</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.15" parsed="|Jer|18|15|0|0" passage="Jer 18:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), have quitted <i>a
fountain of living waters for broken cisterns. They have burnt
incense to</i> idols, that are as vain as <i>vanity</i> itself,
that are not what they pretend to be nor can perform what is
expected from them." They had not the common wit of travellers, but
even their leaders caused them to err, and they were content to be
misled. (1.) They left <i>the ancient paths,</i> which were
appointed by the divine law, which had been walked in by all the
saints, which were therefore the right way to their journey's end,
a safe way, and, being well-tracked, were both easy to hit and easy
to walk in. But, when they were advised to keep to the good old
way, they positively said that they would not, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.16" parsed="|Jer|6|16|0|0" passage="Jer 6:16"><i>ch.</i> vi. 16</scripRef>. (2.) They chose by-paths;
they walked <i>in a way not cast up,</i> not in the highway, the
King's highway, in which they might travel safely, and which would
certainly lead them to their right end, but in a dirty way, a rough
way, a way in which they could not but <i>stumble;</i> such was the
way of idolatry (such is the way of all iniquity—it is a false
way, it is a way full of stumbling-blocks) and yet this way they
chose to walk in and lead others in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p15" shownumber="no">2. In the mischievous consequences of it.
Though the thing itself were bad, they might have had some excuse
for it if they could have promised themselves any good out of it.
But the direct tendency of it was <i>to make their land desolate,
and,</i> consequently, themselves miserable (for so the inhabitants
must needs be if their country be laid waste), and both themselves
and their land <i>a perpetual hissing.</i> Those deserve to be
hissed that have fair warning given them and will not take it.
<i>Every one that passes by</i> their land shall make his remarks
upon it, and <i>shall be astonished, and way his head,</i> some
wondering, others commiserating, others triumphing in the
desolations of a country that had been <i>the glory of all
lands.</i> They shall wag their heads in derision, upbraiding them
with their folly in forsaking God and their duty, and so pulling
this misery upon their own heads. Note, Those that revolt from God
will justly be made the scorn of all about them, and, having
reproached the Lord, will themselves be a reproach. <i>Their
land</i> being made <i>desolate,</i> in pursuance of their
destruction, it is threatened (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.17" parsed="|Jer|18|17|0|0" passage="Jer 18:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), <i>I will scatter them as
with an east wind,</i> which is fierce and violent; by it they
shall be hurried to and fro <i>before the enemy,</i> and find no
way open to escape. They shall not only flee before the enemy (that
they might do and yet make an orderly retreat), but they shall be
scattered, some one way and some another. That which completes
their misery is, <i>I will show them the back, and not the face, in
the day of their calamity.</i> Our calamities may be easily borne
if God look towards us, and smile upon us, when we are under them,
if he countenance us and show us favour; but if he turn <i>the
back</i> upon us, if he show himself displeased, if he be deaf to
our prayers and refuse us his help, if he forsake us, leave us to
ourselves, and stand at a distance from us, we are quite undone.
<i>If he hide his face, who then can behold him?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.29" parsed="|Job|34|29|0|0" passage="Job 34:29">Job xxxiv. 29</scripRef>. Herein God would deal
with them as they had dealt with him (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.27" parsed="|Jer|2|27|0|0" passage="Jer 2:27"><i>ch.</i> ii. 27</scripRef>), <i>They have turned their
back unto me, and not their face.</i> It is a righteous thing with
God to show himself strange to those in the day of their trouble
who have shown themselves rude and undutiful to him in their
prosperity. This will have its full accomplishment in that day when
God will say to those who, though they have been professors of
piety, were yet workers of iniquity, <i>Depart from me, I know you
not,</i> nay, <i>I never knew you.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xix-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.18-Jer.18.23" parsed="|Jer|18|18|18|23" passage="Jer 18:18-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xix-p15.5">
<h4 id="Jer.xix-p15.6">Conduct of Persecutors; Prophetic
Imprecations. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p15.7">b. c.</span> 600.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xix-p16" shownumber="no">18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise
devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the
priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet.
Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give
heed to any of his words.   19 Give heed to me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p16.1">O Lord</span>, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.   20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for
they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before
thee to speak good for them, <i>and</i> to turn away thy wrath from
them.   21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine,
and pour out their <i>blood</i> by the force of the sword; and let
their wives be bereaved of their children, and <i>be</i> widows;
and let their men be put to death; <i>let</i> their young men
<i>be</i> slain by the sword in battle.   22 Let a cry be
heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly
upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares
for my feet.   23 Yet, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xix-p16.2">Lord</span>,
thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay <i>me:</i>
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy
sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal <i>thus</i>
with them in the time of thine anger.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p17" shownumber="no">The prophet here, as sometimes before,
brings in his own affairs, but very much for instruction to us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p18" shownumber="no">I. See here what are the common methods of
the persecutors. We may see this in Jeremiah's enemies, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.18" parsed="|Jer|18|18|0|0" passage="Jer 18:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p19" shownumber="no">1. They laid their heads together to
consult what they should do against him, both to be revenged on him
for what he had said and to stop his mouth for the future: <i>They
said, Come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah.</i> The
enemies of God's people and ministers have been often very crafty
themselves, and confederate with one another, to do them mischief.
What they cannot act to the prejudice of religion separately they
will try to do in concert. <i>The wicked plots against the
just.</i> Caiaphas, and the chief priests and elders, did so
against our blessed Saviour himself. The opposition which the gates
of hell give to the kingdom of heaven is carried on with a great
deal of cursed policy. God had said (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.11" parsed="|Jer|18|11|0|0" passage="Jer 18:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>I devise a device against
you;</i> and now, as if they resolved to be quits with him and to
outwit Infinite Wisdom itself, they resolve to <i>devise devices
against</i> God's prophet, not only against his person, but against
the word he delivered to them, which they thought by their subtle
management to defeat. O the prodigious madness of those that hope
to disannul God's counsel!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p20" shownumber="no">2. Herein they pretended a mighty zeal for
the church, which, they suggested, was in danger if Jeremiah was
tolerated to preach as he did: "<i>Come,</i>" say they, "let us
silence and crush him, <i>for the law shall not perish from the
priest; the law of truth is in their mouths</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.6" parsed="|Mal|2|6|0|0" passage="Mal 2:6">Mal. ii. 6</scripRef>) and there we will seek it; the
administration of ordinances according to the law is in their
hands, and neither the one nor the other shall be wrested from
them. <i>Counsel shall not perish from the wise;</i> the
administration of public affairs shall always be lodged with the
privy-counsellors and ministers of state, to whom it belongs;
<i>nor</i> shall <i>the word</i> perish <i>from the prophets</i>"
—they mean those of their own choosing, who prophesied to them
smooth things, and flattered them with visions of peace. Two things
they insinuated:—(1.) That Jeremiah could not be himself a true
prophet, but was a pretender and a usurper, because he neither was
commissioned by the priests, nor concurred with the other prophets,
whose authority therefore will be despised if he be suffered to go
on. "If Jeremiah be regarded as an oracle, farewell the reputation
of our priests, our wise men, and prophets; but <i>that</i> must be
supported, which is reason enough why he must be suppressed." (2.)
That the matter of his prophecies could not be from God, because it
reflected sometimes upon the prophets and priests; he had charged
them with being the ringleaders of all the mischief (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|31|0|0" passage="Jer 5:31"><i>ch.</i> v. 31</scripRef>) and deceiving the
people (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.14" parsed="|Jer|14|14|0|0" passage="Jer 14:14"><i>ch.</i> xiv.
14</scripRef>); he had foretold that their <i>heart should
perish,</i> and <i>be astonished</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.9" parsed="|Jer|4|9|0|0" passage="Jer 4:9"><i>ch.</i> iv. 9</scripRef>), that <i>the wise men should
be dismayed</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.9-Jer.8.10" parsed="|Jer|8|9|8|10" passage="Jer 8:9,10"><i>ch.</i> viii. 9,
10</scripRef>), that the priests and prophets should be
intoxicated, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.13" parsed="|Jer|13|13|0|0" passage="Jer 13:13"><i>ch.</i> xiii.
13</scripRef>. Now this galled them more than any thing else.
Presuming upon the promise of God's presence with their priests and
prophets, they could not believe that he would ever leave them. The
guides of the church must needs be infallible, and therefore he who
foretold their being infatuated must be condemned as a false
prophet. Thus, under colour of zeal for the church, have its best
friends been run down.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p21" shownumber="no">3. They agreed to do all they could to
blast his reputation: "<i>Come, let us smite him with the
tongue,</i> put him into an ill name, fasten a bad character upon
him, represent him to some as despicable and fit to be prosecuted,
to all as odious and not fit to be tolerated." This was their
device, <i>fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhærebit—to throw the
vilest calumnies at him, in hopes that some would adhere to
him.</i> to dress him up in bearskins, otherwise they could not
bait him. Those who projected this, it is likely, were men of
figure, whose tongue was no small slander, whose representations,
though ever so false, would be credited both by princes and people,
to make him obnoxious to the justice of the one and the fury of the
other. The scourge of such tongues will give not only smart lashes,
but deep wounds; it is a great mercy therefore to be <i>hidden from
it,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.21" parsed="|Job|5|21|0|0" passage="Job 5:21">Job v. 21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p22" shownumber="no">4. To set others an example, they resolved
that they would not themselves regard any thing he said, though it
appeared ever so weighty and ever so well confirmed as a message
from God: <i>Let us not give heed to any of his words;</i> for,
right or wrong, they will look upon them to be <i>his words,</i>
and not the words of God. What good can be done with those who hear
the word of God with a resolution not to heed it or believe it?
Nay,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p23" shownumber="no">5. That they may effectually silence him,
they resolve to be the death of him (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.23" parsed="|Jer|18|23|0|0" passage="Jer 18:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>All their counsel against
me</i> is <i>to slay me.</i> They <i>hunt for the precious
life;</i> and a precious life indeed it was that they hunted for.
Long was this Jerusalem's wretched character, <i>Thou that
killedst</i> many of <i>the prophets,</i> and wouldst have killed
them all.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p24" shownumber="no">II. See here what is the common relief of
the persecuted. This we may see in the course that Jeremiah took
when he met with this hard usage. He immediately applied to his God
by prayer, and so gave himself ease.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p25" shownumber="no">1. He referred himself and his cause to
God's cognizance, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.19" parsed="|Jer|18|19|0|0" passage="Jer 18:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. They would not regard a word he said, would not
admit his complaints, nor take any notice of his grievances; but,
<i>Lord</i> (says he), <i>do thou give heed to me.</i> It is matter
of comfort to faithful ministers that, if men will not give heed to
their praying. He appeals to God as an impartial Judge, that will
hear both sides, as every judge ought to do. "Do not only <i>give
heed to me,</i> but <i>hearken to the voice of those that contend
with me;</i> hear what they have to say against me and for
themselves, and then make it to appear that thou <i>sittest in the
throne, judging right.</i> Hear the voice of my contenders, how
noisy and clamorous they are, how false and malicious all they say
is, and let them be <i>judged out of their own mouth; cause their
own tongues to fall upon them.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p26" shownumber="no">2. He complains of their base ingratitude
to him (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.20" parsed="|Jer|18|20|0|0" passage="Jer 18:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>):
"<i>Shall evil be recompensed for good,</i> and shall it go
unpunished? Wilt not thou recompense me good for that evil?"
<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.16.12" parsed="|2Sam|16|12|0|0" passage="2Sa 16:12">2 Sam. xvi. 12</scripRef>. To render
good for good is human, evil for evil is brutish, good for evil is
Christian, but evil for good is devilish; it is so very absurd and
wicked a thing that we cannot think but God will avenge it. See how
great the evil was that they did against him: <i>They have dug a
pit for my soul;</i> they aimed to take away his life (no less
would satisfy them), and that not in a generous way, by an open
assault, against which he might have an opportunity of defending
himself, but in a base, cowardly, clandestine way: <i>they dug pits
for</i> him, which there was no fence against, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.85" parsed="|Ps|119|85|0|0" passage="Ps 119:85">Ps. cxix. 85</scripRef>. But see how great the good was
which he had done for them: <i>Remember that I stood before thee to
speak good for them;</i> he had been an intercessor with God for
them, had used his interest in heaven on their behalf, which was
the greatest kindness they could expect from one of his character.
<i>He is a prophet and he shall pray for thee,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.7" parsed="|Gen|20|7|0|0" passage="Ge 20:7">Gen. xx. 7</scripRef>. Moses often did this for
Israel, and yet they quarrelled with him, and sometimes <i>spoke of
stoning him.</i> He did them this kindness when they were in
imminent danger of destruction and most needed it. They had
themselves provoked God's wrath against them, and it was ready to
break in upon them, but he stood in the gap (as Moses, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.23" parsed="|Ps|106|23|0|0" passage="Ps 106:23">Ps. cvi. 23</scripRef>) <i>and turned away</i>
that <i>wrath.</i> Now, (1.) This was very base in them. Call a man
ungrateful and you can call him no worse. But it was not strange
that those who had forgotten their God did not know their best
friends. (2.) It was very grievous to him, as the like was to
David. <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.35.13 Bible:Ps.109.4" parsed="|Ps|35|13|0|0;|Ps|109|4|0|0" passage="Ps 35:13,109:4">Ps. xxxv. 13; cix.
4</scripRef>, <i>For my love they are my adversaries.</i> Thus
disingenuously do sinners deal with the great intercessor,
crucifying him afresh, and speaking against him on earth, while his
blood is speaking for them in heaven. See <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.7" osisRef="Bible:John.10.32" parsed="|John|10|32|0|0" passage="Joh 10:32">John x. 32</scripRef>. But, (3.) It was a comfort to
the prophet that, when they were so spiteful against him, he had
the testimony of his conscience for him that he had done his duty
to them; and the same will be our rejoicing in such a day of evil.
<i>The blood-thirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his
soul,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p26.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.29.10" parsed="|Prov|29|10|0|0" passage="Pr 29:10">Prov. xxix.
10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xix-p27" shownumber="no">3. He imprecates the judgments of God upon
them, not from a revengeful disposition, but in a prophetical
indignation against their horrid wickedness, <scripRef id="Jer.xix-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.21-Jer.18.23" parsed="|Jer|18|21|18|23" passage="Jer 18:21-23"><i>v.</i> 21-23</scripRef>. He prays, (1.) That
their families might be starved for want of bread: "<i>Deliver up
the children to the famine,</i> to the famine in the country for
want of rain, and that in the city through the straitness of the
siege. Thus let this iniquity of the fathers be visited upon the
children." (2.) That they might be cut off <i>by the sword</i> of
war, which, whatever it was in the enemy's hand, would be, in God's
hand, a sword of justice: "<i>Pour them out</i> (so the word is)
<i>by the hands of the sword;</i> let <i>their blood</i> be shed as
profusely as water, that <i>their wives</i> may be left childless
<i>and widows,</i> their husbands being taken away by <i>death</i>"
(some think that the prophet refers to <i>pestilence</i>); <i>let
their young men,</i> that are the strength of this generation and
the hope of the next, <i>be slain by the sword in battle.</i> (3.)
That the terrors and desolations of war might seize them suddenly
and by surprise, that thus their punishment might answer to their
sin (<scripRef id="Jer.xix-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.22" parsed="|Jer|18|22|0|0" passage="Jer 18:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>):
"<i>Let a cry be heard from their houses,</i> loud shrieks, <i>when
thou shalt bring a troop</i> of the Chaldeans <i>suddenly upon
them,</i> to seize them and all they have, to make them prisoners
and their estates a prey;" for thus they would have done by
Jeremiah; they aimed to ruin him at once ere he was aware: "<i>They
have dug a pit</i> for <i>me,</i> as for a wild beast, <i>and</i>
have <i>hid snares for</i> me, as for some ravenous noxious fowl."
Note, Those that think to ensnare others will justly be themselves
ensnared in an evil time. (4.) That they might be dealt with
according to the desert of this sin, which was without excuse:
"<i>Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy
sight;</i> that is, let them not escape the just punishment of it;
let them lie under all the miseries of those whose sins are
unpardoned." (5.) That God's wrath against them might be their
ruin: <i>Let them be overthrown before thee.</i> This intimates
that justice was in pursuit of them, that they endeavoured to make
their escape from it, but in vain; "they shall be made to stumble
in their flight, and being overthrown they will certainly be
overtaken." And then, Lord, <i>in the time of thy anger,</i> do to
them (he does not say what he would have done to them, but) do to
them as thou thinkest fit, as thou usest to do with those whom thou
art angry with—<i>deal thus with them.</i> Now this is not written
for our imitation. Jeremiah was a prophet, and by the impulse of
the spirit of prophecy, in the foresight of the ruin certainly
coming upon his persecutors, might pray such prayers as we may not;
and, if we think by this example to justify ourselves in such
imprecations, we <i>know not what manner of spirit we are of;</i>
our Master has taught us, by his precept and pattern, to <i>bless
those that curse us and pray for those that despitefully use
us.</i> Yet it is written for our instruction, and is of use to
teach us, [1.] That those who have forfeited the benefit of the
prayers of God's prophets for them may justly expect to have their
prayers against them. [2.] That persecution is a sin that fills the
measure of a people's iniquity very fast, and will bring as sure
and sore a destruction upon them as any thing. [3.] Those who will
not be won upon by the kindness of God and his prophets will
certainly at length feel the just resentments of both.</p>
</div></div2>