mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Jer.iv" n="iv" next="Jer.v" prev="Jer.iii" progress="28.11%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Jer.iv-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.iv-p1" shownumber="no">The foregoing chapter was wholly taken up with
reproofs and threatenings against the people of God, for their
apostasies from him; but in this chapter gracious invitations and
encouragements are given them to return and repent, notwithstanding
the multitude and greatness of their provocations, which are here
specified, to magnify the mercy of God, and to show that as sin
abounded grace did much more abound. Here, I. It is further shown
how bad they had been and how well they deserved to be quite
abandoned, and yet how ready God was to receive them into his
favour upon their repentance, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1-Jer.3.5" parsed="|Jer|3|1|3|5" passage="Jer 3:1-5">ver.
1-5</scripRef>. II. The impenitence of Judah, and their persisting
in sin, are aggravated from the judgments of God upon Israel, which
they should have taken warning by, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.6-Jer.3.11" parsed="|Jer|3|6|3|11" passage="Jer 3:6-11">ver. 6-11</scripRef>. III. Great encouragements are
given to these backsliders to return and repent, and promises made
of great mercy which God had in store for them, and which he would
prepare them for by bringing them home to himself, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.12-Jer.3.19" parsed="|Jer|3|12|3|19" passage="Jer 3:12-19">ver. 12-19</scripRef>. IV. The charge renewed
against them for their apostasy from God, and the invitation
repeated to return and repent, to which are here added the words
that are put in their mouth, which they should make use of in their
return to God, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.20-Jer.3.25" parsed="|Jer|3|20|3|25" passage="Jer 3:20-25">ver.
20-25</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3" parsed="|Jer|3|0|0|0" passage="Jer 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1-Jer.3.5" parsed="|Jer|3|1|3|5" passage="Jer 3:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.iv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.iv-p1.8">The Wickedness of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 620.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she
go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her
again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p2.1">Lord</span>.   2 Lift up thine
eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien
with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the
wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and
with thy wickedness.   3 Therefore the showers have been
withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a
whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.   4 Wilt thou
not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou <i>art</i> the
guide of my youth?   5 Will he reserve <i>his anger</i> for
ever? will he keep <i>it</i> to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken
and done evil things as thou couldest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p3" shownumber="no">These verses some make to belong to the
sermon in the foregoing chapter, and they open a door of hope to
those who receive the conviction of the reproofs we had there; God
wounds that he may heal. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p4" shownumber="no">I. How basely this people had forsaken God
and gone a whoring from him. The charge runs very high here. 1.
They had multiplied their idols and their idolatries. To have
admitted one strange God among them would have been bad enough, but
they were insatiable in their lustings after false worships:
<i>Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1" parsed="|Jer|3|1|0|0" passage="Jer 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. She had become a common
prostitute to idols; not a foolish deity was set up in all the
neighbourhood but the Jews would have it quickly. Where was a high
place in the country but they had had an idol in it? <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.2" parsed="|Jer|3|2|0|0" passage="Jer 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Note, In repentance it is
good to make sorrowful reflections upon the particular acts of sin
we have been guilty of, and the several places and companies where
it has been committed, that we may give glory to God and take shame
to ourselves by a particular confession of it. 2. They had sought
opportunity for their idolatries, and had sent about to enquire for
new gods: <i>In the</i> high—<i>ways hast thou sat for them,</i>
as Tamar when she put on the disguise of <i>a harlot</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.14" parsed="|Gen|38|14|0|0" passage="Ge 38:14">Gen. xxxviii. 14</scripRef>), and as the
<i>foolish woman,</i> that sits to <i>call passengers, who go right
on their way,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.14-Prov.9.15" parsed="|Prov|9|14|9|15" passage="Pr 9:14,15">Prov. ix. 14,
15</scripRef>. <i>As the Arabian in the wilderness</i>—the
<i>Arabian huckster</i> (so some), that courts customers, or waits
for the merchants to get a good bargain and forestal the market—or
the <i>Arabian thief</i> (so others), that watches for his prey; so
had they waited either to court new gods to come among them (the
newer the better, and the more fond they were of them) or to court
others to join with them in their idolatries. They were not only
sinners, but Satans, not only traitors themselves, but tempters to
others. 3. They had grown very impudent in sin. They not only
polluted themselves, but <i>their land, with their whoredoms and
with their wickedness</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.2" parsed="|Jer|3|2|0|0" passage="Jer 3:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>); for it was universal and unpunished, and so became a
national sin. And yet (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), "<i>Thou hadst a whore's forehead,</i> a brazen face
of thy own. <i>Thou refusedst to be ashamed;</i> thou didst enough
to shame thee for ever, and yet wouldst not take shame to thyself."
Blushing is the colour of virtue, or at least a relic of it; but
those that are past shame (we say) are past hope. Those that have
an adulterer's heart, if they indulge that, will come at length to
have a whore's forehead, void of all shame and modesty. 4. They
abounded in all manner of sin. They polluted the land not only with
<i>their whoredoms</i> (that is, their idolatries), but with
<i>their wickedness,</i> or malice (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.2" parsed="|Jer|3|2|0|0" passage="Jer 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), sins against the second table:
for how can we think that those will be true to their neighbour
that are false to their God? "Nay (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.5" parsed="|Jer|3|5|0|0" passage="Jer 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), <i>thou hast spoken and done
evil things as thou couldst,</i> and wouldst have spoken and done
worse if thou hadst known how; thy will was to do it, but thou
lackedst opportunity." Note, Those are wicked indeed that sin to
the utmost of their power, that never refuse to comply with a
temptation because they should not, but because they cannot.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p5" shownumber="no">II. How gently God had corrected them for
their sins. Instead of raining fire and brimstone upon them,
because, like Sodom, they had <i>avowed their sin</i> and had gone
after strange gods as Sodom after strange flesh, he only
<i>withheld the showers from them,</i> and that only one part of
the year: <i>There has been no latter rain,</i> which might serve
as an intimation to them of their continual dependence upon God;
when they had the former rain, that was no security to them for the
latter, but they must still look up to God. But it had not this
effect.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p6" shownumber="no">III. How justly God might have abandoned
them utterly, and refused ever to receive them again, though they
should return; this would have been but according to the known rule
of divorces, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1" parsed="|Jer|3|1|0|0" passage="Jer 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
<i>They say</i> (it is an adjudged case, nay, it is a case in which
the law is very express, and it is what every body knows and speaks
of, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.4" parsed="|Deut|24|4|0|0" passage="De 24:4">Deut. xxiv. 4</scripRef>), that if
a woman be once put away for whoredom, and be joined to <i>another
man,</i> her first husband shall never, upon any pretence
whatsoever, take her again to be his wife; such playing fast and
loose with the marriage-bond would be a horrid profanation of that
ordinance and would <i>greatly pollute that land.</i> Observe, What
the law says in this case—<i>They say,</i> that is, every one will
say, and subscribe to the equity of the law in it; for every man
finds something in himself that forbids him to entertain one that
is <i>another man's.</i> And in like manner they had reason to
expect that God would refuse ever to take them to be his people
again, who had not only been joined to one strange god, but had
<i>played the harlot with many lovers.</i> If we had to do with a
man like ourselves, after such provocations as we have been guilty
of, he would be implacable, and we might have despaired of his
being reconciled to us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p7" shownumber="no">IV. How graciously he not only invites
them, but directs them, to return to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p8" shownumber="no">1. He encourages them to hope that they
shall find favour with him, upon their repentance: "Thou thou hast
been bad, <i>yet return again to me,</i>" <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.1" parsed="|Jer|3|1|0|0" passage="Jer 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. This implies a promise that he
will receive them: "Return, and thou shalt be welcome." God has not
tied himself by the laws which he made for us, nor has he the
peevish resentment that men have; he will be more kind to Israel,
for the sake of his covenant with them, than ever any injured
husband was to an adulterous wife; for in receiving penitents, as
much as in any thing, he is <i>God and not man.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p9" shownumber="no">2. He therefore kindly expects that they
will repent and return to him, and he directs them what to say to
him (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.4" parsed="|Jer|3|4|0|0" passage="Jer 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>Wilt
thou not from this time cry unto me?</i> Wilt not <i>thou,</i> who
hast been in such relation to me, and on whom I have laid such
obligations, <i>wilt not thou cry to me?</i> Though thou hast gone
a whoring from me, yet, when thou findest the folly of it, surely
thou wilt think of returning to me, now at least, now at last, in
this thy day. Wilt thou not <i>at this time,</i> nay, wilt thou not
<i>from this time</i> and forward, <i>cry unto me?</i> Whatever
thou hast said or done hitherto, wilt thou not <i>from this
time</i> apply to me? <i>From this time</i> of conviction and
correction, now that thou hast been made to see thy sins (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.2" parsed="|Jer|3|2|0|0" passage="Jer 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) and to smart for them
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), wilt thou not
now forsake them and return to me, saying, <i>I will go and return
to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now?</i>"
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.7" parsed="|Hos|2|7|0|0" passage="Ho 2:7">Hos. ii. 7</scripRef>. Or "<i>from this
time</i> that thou hast had so kind an invitation to return, and
assurance that thou shalt be well received: will not this grace of
God overcome thee? Now that pardon is proclaimed wilt thou not come
in and take the benefit of it? Surely thou wilt."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p10" shownumber="no">(1.) He expects that they will claim
relation to God, as theirs: <i>Wilt thou not cry unto me, My
Father, thou art the guide of my youth?</i> [1.] They will surely
come towards him as a father, to beg his pardon for their undutiful
behaviour to him (<i>Father, I have sinned</i>) and will hope to
find in him the tender compassions of a father towards a returning
prodigal. They will come to him as a father, to whom they will make
their complaints, and in whom they will put their confidence for
relief and succour. They will now own him as their father, and
themselves fatherless without him; and therefore, hoping to find
mercy with him (as those penitents, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.3" parsed="|Hos|14|3|0|0" passage="Ho 14:3">Hos. xiv. 3</scripRef>), [2.] They will come to him as
<i>the guide of their youth,</i> that is, as their husband, for so
that relation is described, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.14" parsed="|Mal|2|14|0|0" passage="Mal 2:14">Mal. ii.
14</scripRef>. "Though thou hast gone after many lovers, surely
thou wilt at length remember the love of thy espousals, and return
to the <i>husband of thy youth.</i>" Or it may be taken more
generally: "As <i>my Father,</i> thou <i>art the guide of my
youth.</i>" Youth needs a guide. In our return to God we must
thankfully remember that he <i>was the guide of our youth</i> in
the way of comfort; and we must faithfully covenant that he shall
be our guide henceforward in the way of duty, and that we will
follow his guidance, and give up ourselves entirely to it, that in
all doubtful cases we will be determined by our religion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p11" shownumber="no">(2.) He expects that they will appeal to
the mercy of God and crave the benefit of that mercy (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.5" parsed="|Jer|3|5|0|0" passage="Jer 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), that they will reason
thus with themselves for their encouragement to return to him:
"<i>Will he reserve his anger for ever?</i> Surely he will not, for
he has proclaimed his name <i>gracious and merciful.</i>" Repenting
sinners may encourage themselves with this, that, though God chide,
he will not always chide, though he be angry, he will not keep his
anger to the end, but, <i>though he cause grief, he will have
compassion,</i> and may thus plead for reconciliation. Some
understand this as describing their hypocrisy, and the impudence of
it: "Though thou hast <i>a whore's forehead</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) and art still <i>doing evil as
thou canst</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.5" parsed="|Jer|3|5|0|0" passage="Jer 3:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), yet art thou not ever and anon <i>crying to me, My
Father?</i>" Even when they were most addicted to idols they
pretended a regard to God and his service and kept up the forms of
godliness and devotion. It is a shameful thing for men thus to call
God father, and yet to do the <i>works of the devil</i> (as the
Jews, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:John.8.44" parsed="|John|8|44|0|0" passage="Joh 8:44">John viii. 44</scripRef>), to
call him the <i>guide of their youth,</i> and yet give up
themselves to <i>walk after the flesh,</i> and to flatter
themselves with the expectation that <i>his anger shall have an
end,</i> while they are continually <i>treasuring up to themselves
wrath against the day of wrath.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.iv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.6-Jer.3.11" parsed="|Jer|3|6|3|11" passage="Jer 3:6-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.iv-p11.6">
<h4 id="Jer.iv-p11.7">Idolatries of Israel; The Treachery of
Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p11.8">b. c.</span> 620.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.iv-p12" shownumber="no">6 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p12.1">Lord</span> said
also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen
<i>that</i> which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon
every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath
played the harlot.   7 And I said after she had done all these
<i>things,</i> Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her
treacherous sister Judah saw <i>it.</i>   8 And I saw, when
for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I
had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot
also.   9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her
whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with
stones and with stocks.   10 And yet for all this her
treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole
heart, but feignedly, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p12.2">Lord</span>.   11 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p12.3">Lord</span> said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
justified herself more than treacherous Judah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p13" shownumber="no">The date of this sermon must be observed,
in order to the right understanding of it; it was <i>in the days of
Josiah,</i> who set on foot a blessed work of reformation, in which
he was hearty, but the people were not sincere in their compliance
with it; to reprove them for that, and warn them of the
consequences of their hypocrisy, is the scope of that which God
here said to the prophet, and which he <i>delivered to them.</i>
The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is here compared,
the <i>ten tribes</i> that revolted from the throne of David and
the temple of Jerusalem and the <i>two tribes</i> that adhered to
both. The distinct history of those two kingdoms we have in the two
books of the Kings, and here we have an abstract of both, as far as
relates to this matter.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p14" shownumber="no">I. Here is a short account of Israel, the
ten tribes. Perhaps the prophet had been just reading the history
of that kingdom when God came to him, and said, <i>Hast thou seen
what backsliding Israel has done?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.6" parsed="|Jer|3|6|0|0" passage="Jer 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. For he could not see it otherwise
than in history, they having been carried into captivity long
before he was born. But what we read in the histories of scripture
should instruct us and affect us, as if we ourselves had been
eye-witnesses of it. She is called <i>backsliding Israel</i>
because that kingdom was first founded in an apostasy from the
divine institutions, both in church and state. Now he had seen
concerning them, 1. That they were wretchedly addicted to idolatry.
They had <i>played the harlot upon every high mountain and under
every green tree</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.6" parsed="|Jer|3|6|0|0" passage="Jer 3:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), that is, they had worshipped other gods in their
high places and groves; and no marvel, when from the first they had
worshipped God by the images of the <i>golden calves</i> at Dan and
Bethel. The way of idolatry is down-hill: those that are in love
with images, and will have them, soon become in love with other
gods, and will have them too; for how should those stick at the
breach of the first commandment who make no conscience of the
second? 2. That God by his prophets had invited and encouraged them
to repent and reform (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.7" parsed="|Jer|3|7|0|0" passage="Jer 3:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): "<i>After she had done all these things,</i> for
which she might justly have been abandoned, yet <i>I said</i> unto
her, <i>Turn thou unto me</i> and I will receive thee." Though they
had forsaken both the house of David and the house of Aaron, who
both had their authority <i>jure divino—from God,</i> without
dispute, yet God sent his prophets among them, to call them to
<i>return to him,</i> to the worship of him only, not insisting so
much as one would have expected upon their return to the house of
David, but pressing their return to the house of Aaron. We read not
that Elijah, that great reformer, ever mentioned their return to
the house of David, while he was anxious for their return to the
faithful service of the true God according as they had it among
them. It is serious piety that God stands upon more than even his
own rituals. 3. That, notwithstanding this, they had persisted in
their idolatries: <i>But she returned not,</i> and God <i>saw
it;</i> he took notice of it, and was much displeased with it,
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.7-Jer.3.8" parsed="|Jer|3|7|3|8" passage="Jer 3:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. Note, God
keeps account, whether we do or no, how often he has called to us
to turn to him and we have refused. 4. That he had therefore cast
them off, and given them up into the hands of their enemies
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.8" parsed="|Jer|3|8|0|0" passage="Jer 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>When I
saw</i> (so it may be read) <i>that for all the actions wherein she
had committed adultery I must dismiss her, I gave her a bill of
divorce.</i> God divorced them when he threw them out of his
protection and left them an easy prey to any that would lay hands
on them, when he scattered all their synagogues and the schools of
the prophets and excluded them from laying any further claim to the
covenant made with their fathers. Note, Those will justly be
divorced from God that join themselves to such as are rivals with
him. For proof of this go and see what God did to Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p15" shownumber="no">II. Let us now see what was the case of
Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. She is called <i>treacherous
sister Judah,</i> a sister because descended from the same common
stock, Abraham and Jacob; but, as Israel had the character of a
<i>backslider,</i> So Judah is called <i>treacherous,</i> because,
though she professed to keep close to God when Israel had
backslidden (she adhered to the kings and priests that were of
God's own appointing, and did not withdraw from her allegiance, so
that it was expected she should deal faithfully), yet she proved
treacherous, and false, and unfaithful to her professions and
promises. Note, The treachery of those who pretend to cleave to God
will be reckoned for, as well as the apostasy of those who openly
revolt from him. Judah saw what Israel did, and what came of it,
and should have taken warning. Israel's captivity was intended for
Judah's admonition; but it had not the designed effect. Judah
feared not, but thought herself safe because she had Levites to be
her priests and sons of David to be her kings. Note, It is an
evidence of great stupidity and security when we are not awakened
to a holy fear by the judgments of God upon others. It is here
charged on Judah, 1. That when they had a wicked king that
debauched them they heartily concurred with him in his
debaucheries. Judah was forward enough to <i>play the harlot,</i>
to worship any idol that was introduced among them and to join in
any idolatrous usage; so that <i>through the lightness</i> (or, as
some read it, the <i>vileness</i> and <i>baseness) of her
whoredom,</i> or (as the margin reads it) by the fame and
<i>report</i> of her whoredom, her <i>notorious</i> whoredom, for
which she had become infamous, she <i>defiled the land,</i> and
made it an abomination to God; for she <i>committed adultery with
stones and stocks,</i> with the basest idols, those made of <i>wood
and stone.</i> In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, when they were
disposed to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country
was corrupted with it, and none feared the ruin which Israel by
this means had brought upon themselves. 2. That when they had a
good king, that reformed them, they did not heartily concur with
him in the reformation. This was the present case. God tried
whether they would be good in a good reign, but the evil
disposition was still the same: <i>They returned not to me with
their whole heart, but feignedly,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.10" parsed="|Jer|3|10|0|0" passage="Jer 3:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Josiah went further in
destroying idolatry than the best of his predecessors had done, and
for his own part he <i>turned to the Lord with all his heart and
with all his soul;</i> so it is said of him, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.25" parsed="|2Kgs|23|25|0|0" passage="2Ki 23:25">2 Kings xxiii. 25</scripRef>. The people were forced to
an external compliance with him, and joined with him in keeping a
very solemn passover and in renewing their covenants with God
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.34.32 Bible:2Chr.35.17" parsed="|2Chr|34|32|0|0;|2Chr|35|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 34:32,35:17">2 Chron. xxxiv. 32, xxxv.
17</scripRef>); but they were not sincere in it, nor were their
<i>hearts right with God.</i> For this reason God at that very time
said, <i>I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I removed
Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.27" parsed="|2Kgs|23|27|0|0" passage="2Ki 23:27">2 Kings xxiii.
27</scripRef>), because Judah was not removed from their sin by the
sight of Israel's removal from their land. Hypocritical and
ineffectual reformations bode ill to a people. We deceive ourselves
if we think to deceive God by a feigned return to him. I know no
religion without sincerity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p16" shownumber="no">III. The case of these sister kingdoms is
compared, and judgment given upon the comparison, that of the two
Judah was the worse (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.11" parsed="|Jer|3|11|0|0" passage="Jer 3:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>Israel has justified herself more than
Judah,</i> that is, she is not so bad as Judah is. This comparative
justification will stand Israel in little stead; what will it avail
us to say, <i>We are not so bad as others,</i> when yet we are not
really good ourselves? But it will serve as an aggravation of the
sin of Judah, which was in two respects worse than that of
Israel:—1. More was expected from Judah than from Israel; so that
Judah dealt treacherously, they vilified a more sacred profession,
and falsified a more solemn promise, than Israel did. 2. Judah
might have taken warning by the ruin of Israel for their idolatry,
and would not. God's judgments upon others, if they be not means of
our reformation, will help to aggravate our destruction. The
prophet Ezekiel (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.11" parsed="|Jer|23|11|0|0" passage="Jer 23:11"><i>ch.</i> xxiii.
11</scripRef>) makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and
Samaria that this prophet here makes between Judah and Israel, nay,
and (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.48" parsed="|Ezek|16|48|0|0" passage="Eze 16:48">Ezek. xvi. 48</scripRef>)
between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is made the worst of the
three.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.iv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.12-Jer.3.19" parsed="|Jer|3|12|3|19" passage="Jer 3:12-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.iv-p16.5">
<h4 id="Jer.iv-p16.6">Encouragements to
Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p16.7">b. c.</span> 620.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.iv-p17" shownumber="no">12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north,
and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.1">Lord</span>; <i>and</i> I will not cause mine anger to
fall upon you: for I <i>am</i> merciful, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.2">Lord</span>, <i>and</i> I will not keep <i>anger</i>
for ever.   13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast
transgressed against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.3">Lord</span> thy
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green
tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.4">Lord</span>.   14 Turn, O backsliding children,
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.5">Lord</span>; for I am married
unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family,
and I will bring you to Zion:   15 And I will give you pastors
according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding.   16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be
multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.6">Lord</span>, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.7">Lord</span>:
neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it;
neither shall they visit <i>it;</i> neither shall <i>that</i> be
done any more.   17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.8">Lord</span>; and all the
nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p17.9">Lord</span>, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any
more after the imagination of their evil heart.   18 In those
days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and
they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land
that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.   19
But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee
a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I
said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from
me.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p18" shownumber="no">Here is a great deal of gospel in these
verses, both that which was always gospel, God's readiness to
pardon sin and to receive and entertain returning repenting
sinners, and those blessings which were in a special manner
reserved for gospel times, the forming and founding of the gospel
church by bringing into it the <i>children of God that were
scattered abroad,</i> the superseding of the ceremonial law, and
the uniting of Jews and Gentiles, typified by the uniting of Israel
and Judah in their return out of captivity. The prophet is directed
to <i>proclaim these words towards the north,</i> for they are a
call to backsliding Israel, the ten tribes that were carried
captive into Assyria, which lay north from Jerusalem. That way he
must look, to show that God had not forgotten them, though their
brethren had, and to upbraid the men of Judah with their obstinacy
in refusing to answer the calls given them. One might as well call
to those who lay many hundred miles off in the land of the north;
they would as soon hear as these unbelieving and disobedient
people; <i>backsliding Israel</i> will sooner accept of mercy, and
have the benefit of it, than <i>treacherous Judah.</i> And perhaps
the proclaiming of these words towards the north looks as far
forward as the <i>preaching of repentance and remission of sins
unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.47" parsed="|Luke|24|47|0|0" passage="Lu 24:47">Luke xxiv. 47</scripRef>. A call to Israel in the land
of the north is a call to others in that land, even as many as
belong to the election of grace. When it was suspected that Christ
would <i>go to the dispersed</i> Jews among the Gentiles, it was
concluded that he would <i>teach the Gentiles,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:John.7.35" parsed="|John|7|35|0|0" passage="Joh 7:35">John vii. 35</scripRef>. So here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p19" shownumber="no">I. Here is an invitation given to
<i>backsliding Israel,</i> and in them to the backsliding Gentiles,
to <i>return unto God,</i> the God from whom they had revolted
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.12" parsed="|Jer|3|12|0|0" passage="Jer 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Return,
thou backsliding Israel.</i> And again (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.14" parsed="|Jer|3|14|0|0" passage="Jer 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>Turn, O backsliding
children!</i> repent of your backslidings, return to your
allegiance, come back to that good way which you have missed and
out of which you have turned aside." Pursuant to this invitation,
1. They are encouraged to return. "<i>Repent, and be converted, and
your sins shall be blotted out,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.3.19" parsed="|Acts|3|19|0|0" passage="Ac 3:19">Acts iii. 19</scripRef>. You have incurred God's
displeasure, but return to me, and <i>I will not cause my anger to
fall upon you.</i>" God's anger is ready to fall upon sinners, as a
lion falls on his prey, and there is none to deliver, as a mountain
of lead falling on them, to sink them past recovery into the lowest
hell. But if they repent it shall be turned away, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.12.1" parsed="|Isa|12|1|0|0" passage="Isa 12:1">Isa. xii. 1</scripRef>. <i>I will not keep my
anger for ever,</i> but will be reconciled, <i>for I am
merciful.</i> We that are sinful were for ever undone if God were
not merciful; but the goodness of his nature encourages us to hope
that, if we by repentance undo what we have done against him, he
will by a pardon unsay what he has said against us. 2. They are
directed how to return (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.13" parsed="|Jer|3|13|0|0" passage="Jer 3:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): "<i>Only acknowledge thy iniquity,</i> own thyself
in a fault and thereby take shame to thyself and give glory to
God." <i>I will not keep my anger for ever</i> (that is a previous
promise); you shall be delivered form that anger of God which is
everlasting, from the wrath to come; but upon what terms? Very easy
and reasonable ones. <i>Only acknowledge thy sins. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them.</i> This will
aggravate the condemnation of sinners, that the terms of pardon and
peace were brought so low, and yet they would not come up to them.
<i>If the prophet had told thee to do some great thing wouldst thou
not have done it? How much more when he says, Only acknowledge thy
iniquity?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.5.13" parsed="|2Kgs|5|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 5:13">2 Kings v.
13</scripRef>. In confessing sin, (1.) We must own the corruption
of our nature: <i>Acknowledge thy iniquity,</i> the perverseness
and irregularity of thy nature. (2.) We must own our actual sins:
"<i>That thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God,</i> hast
affronted him and offended him." (3.) We must own the multitude of
our transgressions: "That <i>thou hast scattered thy ways to the
strangers,</i> run hither and thither in pursuit of thy idols,
<i>under every green tree.</i> Wherever thou hast rambled thou hast
left behind thee the marks of thy folly." (4.) We must aggravate
our sin from the disobedience that there is in it to the divine
law. The sinfulness of sin is the worst thing in it: "<i>You have
not obeyed my voice;</i> acknowledge that, and let that humble you
more than any thing else."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p20" shownumber="no">II. Here are precious promises made to
these backsliding children, if they do return, which were in part
fulfilled in the return of the Jews out of their captivity, many
that belonged to the ten tribes having perhaps joined themselves to
those of the two tribes, in the prospect of their deliverance, and
returning with them; but the prophecy is to have its full
accomplishment in the gospel church, and the gathering together of
<i>the children of God that were scattered abroad</i> to that:
"Return, for, though you are backsliders, yet you are children;
nay, though a treacherous wife, yet a wife, for <i>I am married to
you</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.14" parsed="|Jer|3|14|0|0" passage="Jer 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>) and
will not disown the relation." Thus God remembers his covenant with
their fathers, that marriage covenant, and in consideration of that
he <i>remembers their land,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.42" parsed="|Lev|26|42|0|0" passage="Le 26:42">Lev.
xxvi. 42</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p21" shownumber="no">1. He promises to gather them together from
all places whither they are dispersed and scattered abroad,
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:John.11.52" parsed="|John|11|52|0|0" passage="Joh 11:52">John xi. 52</scripRef>, <i>I will
take you, one of a city, and two of a family,</i> or clan; <i>and I
will bring you to Zion,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.14" parsed="|Jer|3|14|0|0" passage="Jer 3:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. All those that by repentance return to their duty
shall return to their former comfort. Observe, (1.) God will
graciously receive those that return to him, nay, it is he that by
his distinguishing grace takes them out from among the rest that
persist in their backslidings; if he had left them, they would have
been undone. (2.) Of the many that have backslidden from God there
are but few, very few in comparison, that return to him, like the
gleanings of the vintage—<i>one of a city and two of a
country;</i> Christ's flock is a little flock, and <i>few there are
that find the strait gate.</i> (3.) Of those few, though dispersed,
yet not one shall be lost. Though there be but <i>one in a
city,</i> God will find out that one; he shall not be overlooked in
a crowd, but shall be brought safely to Zion, safely to heaven. The
scattered Jews shall be brought to Jerusalem, and those of the ten
tribes shall be as welcome there as those of the two. God's chosen,
scattered all the world over, shall be brought to <i>the gospel
church,</i> that Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, that holy hill
on which Christ reigns.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p22" shownumber="no">2. He promises to set those over them that
shall be every way blessings to them (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.15" parsed="|Jer|3|15|0|0" passage="Jer 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>I will give you pastors
after my heart,</i> alluding to the character given of David when
God pitched upon him to be king. <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.13.14" parsed="|1Sam|13|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 13:14">1
Sam. xiii. 14</scripRef>, <i>The Lord hath sought him a man after
his own heart.</i> Observe, (1.) When a church is gathered it must
be governed. "<i>I will bring them to Zion,</i> not to live as they
list, but to be under discipline, not as wild beasts, that range at
pleasure, but as sheep that are under the direction of a shepherd."
<i>I will give them pastors,</i> that is, both magistrates and
ministers; both are God's ordinance for the support of his kingdom.
(2.) It is well with a people when their pastors are <i>after God's
own heart,</i> such as they should be, such as we would have them
be, who shall make his will their rule in all their
administrations, and such as endeavour in some measure to conform
to his example, who rule for him, and, as they are capable, rule
like him. (3.) Those are pastors after God's own heart who make it
their business to feed the flock, not to <i>feed themselves and
fleece the flocks,</i> but to do all they can for the good of those
that are under their charge, who <i>feed them with wisdom and
understanding</i> (that is, wisely and understandingly), as David
fed them, in the <i>integrity of his heart</i> and by the
<i>skilfulness of his hand,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.72" parsed="|Ps|78|72|0|0" passage="Ps 78:72">Ps.
lxxviii. 72</scripRef>. Those who are not only pastors, but
teachers, must feed them with the word of God, which is wisdom and
understanding, which is able to make us wise to salvation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p23" shownumber="no">3. He promises that there shall be no more
occasion for the <i>ark of the covenant,</i> which had been so much
the glory of the tabernacle first and afterwards of the temple, and
was the token of God's presence with them; that shall be set aside,
and there shall be no more enquiry after, nor enquiring of, it
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.16" parsed="|Jer|3|16|0|0" passage="Jer 3:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>When you
shall be multiplied and increased in the land,</i> when the kingdom
of the Messiah shall be set up, which by the accession of the
Gentiles will bring in to the church a vast increase (and the days
of the Messiah the Jewish masters themselves acknowledge to be here
intended), then <i>they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant
of the Lord,</i> they shall have it no more among them to value, or
value themselves upon, because they shall have a pure spiritual way
of worship set up, in which there shall be no occasion for any of
those external ordinances; with the <i>ark of the covenant</i> the
whole ceremonial law shall be set aside, and all the institutions
of it, for Christ, the truth of all those types, exhibited to us in
the word and sacraments of the New Testament, will be to us instead
of all. It is very likely (whatever the Jews suggest to the
contrary) that <i>the ark of the covenant</i> was in the second
temple, being restored by Cyrus with the other <i>vessels of the
house of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.7" parsed="|Ezra|1|7|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:7">Ezra i.
7</scripRef>. But in the gospel temple Christ <i>is the ark;</i> he
is the propitiatory, or mercy-seat; and it is the spiritual
presence of God in his ordinances that we are now to expect. Many
expressions are here used concerning the setting aside of the ark,
that it shall not <i>come to mind,</i> that they <i>shall not
remember it,</i> that they shall <i>not visit it,</i> that none of
these things shall be <i>any more done;</i> for the <i>true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:John.4.24" parsed="|John|4|24|0|0" passage="Joh 4:24">John iv. 24</scripRef>. But this
variety of expressions is used to show that the ceremonies of the
law of Moses should be totally and finally abolished, never to be
used any more, but that it would be with difficulty that those who
had been so long wedded to them should be weaned from them; and
that they would not quite let them go till their holy city and holy
house should both be levelled with the ground.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p24" shownumber="no">4. He promises that the gospel church, here
called <i>Jerusalem,</i> shall become eminent and conspicuous,
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.17" parsed="|Jer|3|17|0|0" passage="Jer 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Two things
shall make it famous:—(1.) God's special residence and dominion
in it. It shall be called, <i>The throne of the Lord</i>—the
throne of <i>his glory,</i> for that shines forth in the
church—the throne of <i>his government,</i> for that also is
erected there; there he rules his willing people by his word and
Spirit, and brings every thought into obedience to himself. As the
gospel got ground this <i>throne of the Lord</i> was set up even
where <i>Satan's seat</i> had been. It is especially the throne of
<i>his grace;</i> for those that by faith come to this Jerusalem
come to <i>God the judge of all,</i> and to <i>Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.22-Heb.12.24" parsed="|Heb|12|22|12|24" passage="Heb 12:22-24">Heb. xii.
22-24</scripRef>. (2.) The accession of the Gentiles to it. <i>All
the nations shall be</i> discipled, and so <i>gathered</i> to the
church, and shall become subjects to that <i>throne of the Lord</i>
which is there set up, and devoted to the honour of that <i>name of
the Lord</i> which is there both manifested and called upon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p25" shownumber="no">5. He promises that there shall be a
wonderful reformation wrought in those that are gathered to the
church: <i>They shall not walk any more after the imagination of
their evil hearts.</i> They shall not live as they list, but live
by rules, not do according to their own corrupt appetites, but
according to the will of God. See what leads in sin—<i>the
imagination of our own evil hearts;</i> and what sin is—it is
<i>walking after</i> that imagination, being governed by fancy and
humour; and what converting grace does—it takes us off from
walking after <i>our own inventions</i> and brings us to be
governed by religion and right reason.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p26" shownumber="no">6. That Judah and Israel shall be happily
united in one body, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.18" parsed="|Jer|3|18|0|0" passage="Jer 3:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. They were so in their return out of captivity and
their settlement again in Canaan: <i>The house of Judah shall walk
with the house of Israel,</i> as being perfectly agreed, and become
<i>one stick in the hand of the Lord,</i> as Ezekiel also foretold,
<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.37.16-Jer.37.17" parsed="|Jer|37|16|37|17" passage="Jer 37:16,17"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 16,
17</scripRef>. Both Assyria and Chaldea fell into the hands of
Cyrus, and his proclamation extended to all the Jews in all his
dominions. And therefore we have reason to think that many of
<i>the house of Israel</i> came with those of Judah out of <i>the
land of the north;</i> though at first there returned but 42,000
(whom we have an account of, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.2.1-Ezra.2.70" parsed="|Ezra|2|1|2|70" passage="Ezr 2:1-70">Ezra
ii.</scripRef>) yet Josephus says (<i>Antiq.</i> 11.68) that some
few years after, under Darius, Zerubbabel went and fetched up above
4,000,000 of souls, <i>to the land that was given for an
inheritance to their fathers.</i> And we never read of such
animosities and enmities between Israel and Judah as had been
formerly. This happy coalescence between Israel and Judah in Canaan
was a type of the uniting of Jews and Gentiles in the gospel
church, when, all enmities being slain, they should become one
<i>sheepfold under one shepherd.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p27" shownumber="no">III. Here is some difficulty started, that
lies in the way of all this mercy; but an expedient is found to get
over it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p28" shownumber="no">1. God asks, <i>How shall I</i> do this for
thee? Not as if God showed favour with reluctancy, as he punishes
with a <i>How shall I give thee up?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.8-Hos.11.9" parsed="|Hos|11|8|11|9" passage="Ho 11:8,9">Hos. xi. 8, 9</scripRef>. No, though he is slow to
anger, he is swift to show mercy. But it intimates that we are
utterly unworthy of his favours, that we have no reason to expect
them, that there is nothing in us to deserve them, that we can lay
no claim to them, and that he contrives how to do it in such a way
as may save the honour of his justice and holiness in the
government of the world. <i>Means</i> must be <i>devised that his
banished be not for ever expelled from him,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.14" parsed="|2Sam|14|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:14">2 Sam. xiv. 14</scripRef>. How shall I do it? (1.) Even
backsliders, if they return and repent, shall be <i>put among the
children;</i> and who could ever have expected that? <i>Behold what
manner of love is this!</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.1" parsed="|1John|3|1|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:1">1 John iii.
1</scripRef>. How should we who are so mean and weak, so worthless
and unworthy, and so provoking, ever be <i>put among the
children.</i> (2.) To those whom God puts among the children he
will <i>give the pleasant land,</i> the land of Canaan, that glory
of all lands, <i>that goodly heritage of the hosts of nations,</i>
which nations and their hosts wish for and prefer to their own
country, or which the hosts of the nations have now got possession
of. It was a type of heaven, where there are <i>pleasures for
evermore.</i> Now who could expect a place in that <i>pleasant
land</i> that has so often <i>despised it</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.24" parsed="|Ps|106|24|0|0" passage="Ps 106:24">Ps. cvi. 24</scripRef>) and is so unworthy of it and
unfit for it? Is this the manner of men?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p29" shownumber="no">2. He does himself return answer to this
question: <i>But I said, Thou shalt call me, My Father.</i> God
does himself answer all the objections that are taken from our
unworthiness, or they would never be got over. (1.) That he may put
returning penitents <i>among the children,</i> he will give them
the <i>Spirit of adoption,</i> teaching them <i>to cry, Abba,
Father,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.6" parsed="|Gal|4|6|0|0" passage="Ga 4:6">Gal. iv. 6</scripRef>.
"<i>Thou shalt call me, My Father;</i> thou shalt return to me, and
resign thyself to me as a father, and that shall recommend thee to
my favour," (2.) That he may <i>give them the pleasant land,</i> he
will <i>put his fear in their hearts,</i> that they may never
<i>turn from him,</i> but may persevere to the end.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.iv-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.20-Jer.3.25" parsed="|Jer|3|20|3|25" passage="Jer 3:20-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.iv-p29.3">
<h4 id="Jer.iv-p29.4">Israel Returning to God; Israel Encouraged
in Their Return. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p29.5">b. c.</span> 620.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.iv-p30" shownumber="no">20 Surely <i>as</i> a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me,
O house of Israel, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.1">Lord</span>.
  21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping
<i>and</i> supplications of the children of Israel: for they have
perverted their way, <i>and</i> they have forgotten the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.2">Lord</span> their God.   22 Return, ye
backsliding children, <i>and</i> I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou <i>art</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.3">Lord</span> our God.   23 Truly in vain <i>is
salvation hoped for</i> from the hills, <i>and from</i> the
multitude of mountains: truly in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.4">Lord</span> our God <i>is</i> the salvation of Israel.
  24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from
our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters.   25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion
covereth us: for we have sinned against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.5">Lord</span> our God, we and our fathers, from our youth
even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.iv-p30.6">Lord</span> our God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p31" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The charge God exhibits against
Israel for their treacherous departures from him, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.20" parsed="|Jer|3|20|0|0" passage="Jer 3:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. As an adulterous wife
elopes from her husband, so have they gone a whoring from God. They
were joined to God by a marriage-covenant, but they broke that
covenant, they <i>dealt treacherously</i> with God, who had always
dealt kindly and faithfully with them. Treacherous dealing with men
like ourselves is bad enough, but to deal treacherously with God is
to deal treasonably.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p32" shownumber="no">II. Their conviction and confession of the
truth of this charge, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.21" parsed="|Jer|3|21|0|0" passage="Jer 3:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. When God reproved them for their apostasy, there
were some among them, even such as God would take and <i>bring to
Zion,</i> whose <i>voice was heard upon the high places weeping and
praying,</i> humbling themselves before the God of their fathers,
lamenting their calamities, and their sins, the procuring cause of
them; for this is that which they lament, for this they bemoan
themselves, that <i>they have perverted their way and forgotten the
Lord their God.</i> Note, 1. Sin is the perverting of our way, it
is turning aside to crooked ways and <i>perverting that which is
right.</i> 2. Forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all
sin. If men would remember God, his eye upon them and their
obligation to him, they would not transgress as they do. 3. By sin
we embarrass ourselves, and bring ourselves into trouble, for that
also is the perverting of our way, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p32.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.9" parsed="|Lam|3|9|0|0" passage="La 3:9">Lam.
iii. 9</scripRef>. 4. Prayers and tears well become those whose
consciences tell them that they have <i>perverted their way and
forgotten their God.</i> When the <i>foolishness of man perverts
his way his heart</i> is apt to <i>fret against the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p32.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.19.3" parsed="|Prov|19|3|0|0" passage="Pr 19:3">Prov. xix. 3</scripRef>), whereas it
should be melted and poured out before him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p33" shownumber="no">III. The invitation God gives them to
return to him (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p33.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.22" parsed="|Jer|3|22|0|0" passage="Jer 3:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): <i>Return, you backsliding children.</i> He calls
them <i>children</i> in tenderness and compassion to them, foolish
and froward as children, yet <i>his sons,</i> whom though he
corrects he will not disinherit; for, though they are <i>refractory
children</i> (so some render it), yet they are <i>children.</i> God
bears with such children, and so much parents. When they are
convinced of sin (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p33.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.21" parsed="|Jer|3|21|0|0" passage="Jer 3:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), and humbled for that, then they are prepared and
then they are <i>invited</i> to <i>return,</i> as Christ invites
those to him that are <i>weary</i> and <i>heavy-laden.</i> The
promise to those that return is, "<i>I will heal your
backslidings;</i> I will comfort you under the grief you are in for
your backslidings, deliver you out of the troubles you have brought
yourselves into by your backslidings, and cure you of your
refractoriness and tendency to backslide." God will <i>heal our
backslidings</i> by his pardoning mercy, his quieting peace, and
his renewing grace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.iv-p34" shownumber="no">IV. The ready consent they give to this
invitation, and their cheerful compliance with it: <i>Behold, we
come unto thee.</i> This is an echo to God's call; as a voice
returned from broken walls, so this from broken hearts. God says,
<i>Return;</i> they answer, <i>Behold, we come.</i> It is an
immediate speedy answer, without delay, not, "We will come
hereafter," but, "We do come now; we need not take time to consider
of it;" not, "We come towards thee," but, "We come to thee, we will
make a thorough turn of it." Observe how unanimous they are: <i>We
come,</i> one and all. 1. They come devoting themselves to God as
theirs: "<i>Thou art the Lord our God;</i> we take thee to be ours,
we give up ourselves to thee to be thine; whither shall we go but
to thee? It is our sin and folly that we have gone from thee." It
is very comfortable, in our returns to God after our backslidings,
to look up to him as ours in covenant. 2. They come disclaiming all
expectations of relief and succour but from God only: <i>"In vain
is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of the
mountains;</i> we now see our folly in relying upon
creature-confidences, and will never so deceive ourselves any
more." They worshipped their idols upon hills and mountains
(<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.6" parsed="|Jer|3|6|0|0" passage="Jer 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), and they had
a multitude of idols upon their mountains, which they had sought
unto and put a confidence in; but now they will have no more to do
with them. In vain do we look for any thing that is good from them,
while from God we may look for every thing that is good, even
salvation itself. Therefore, 3. They come depending upon God only
as their God: <i>In the Lord our God is the salvation of
Israel.</i> He is <i>the Lord,</i> and he only can save; he can
save when all other succours and saviours fail; and he is <i>our
God,</i> and will in his own way and time work salvation for us. It
is very applicable to the great salvation from sin, which Jesus
Christ wrought out for us; that is the <i>salvation of the
Lord,</i> his <i>great salvation.</i> 4. They come justifying God
in their troubles and judging themselves for their sins, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.24-Jer.3.25" parsed="|Jer|3|24|3|25" passage="Jer 3:24,25"><i>v.</i> 24, 25</scripRef>. (1.) They impute
all the calamities they had been under to their idols, which had
not only done them no good, but had done them abundance of
mischief, all the mischief that had been done them: <i>Shame</i>
(the idol, that shameful thing) <i>has devoured the labour of our
fathers.</i> Note, [1.] True penitents have learned to call sin
<i>shame;</i> even the beloved sin which has been as an idol to
them, which they have been most pleased with and proud of, even
that they shall call a scandalous thing, shall put contempt upon it
and be ashamed of it. [2.] True penitents have learned to call sin
death and ruin, and to charge upon it all the mischiefs they
suffer: "It has <i>devoured</i> all those good things which our
fathers <i>laboured for</i> and left to us; we have found <i>from
our youth</i> that our idolatry has been the destruction of our
prosperity." Children often throw away upon their lusts that which
their fathers took a great deal of pains for; and it is well if at
length they are brought (as these here) to see the folly of it, and
to call those vices their shame which have wasted their estates and
<i>devoured the labour of their fathers.</i> Of the labour of their
fathers, which their idols had devoured, they mention particularly
<i>their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
First,</i> their idolatries had provoked God to bring these
desolating judgments upon them, which had ruined their country and
families, and made their estates a prey and their children captives
to the conquering enemy. They had <i>procured these things to
themselves.</i> Or, rather, <i>Secondly,</i> These had been
sacrificed to their idols, had been <i>separated unto that
shame</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.10" parsed="|Hos|9|10|0|0" passage="Ho 9:10">Hos. ix. 10</scripRef>), and
they had devoured them without mercy; they did <i>eat the fat of
their sacrifices</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.38" parsed="|Deut|32|38|0|0" passage="De 32:38">Deut. xxxii.
38</scripRef>), even their human sacrifices. (2.) They take to
themselves the shame of their sin and folly (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.25" parsed="|Jer|3|25|0|0" passage="Jer 3:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): "<i>We lie down in our
shame,</i> being unable to bear up under it; <i>our confusion
covers us,</i> that is, both our penal and our penitential shame.
Sin has laid us under such rebukes of God's providence, and such
reproaches of our own consciences, as surround us and fill us with
shame. For <i>we have sinned,</i> and shame came in with sin and
still attends upon it. We are sinners by descent; guilt and
corruption are entailed upon us: <i>We and our fathers have
sinned.</i> We were sinners betimes; we began early in a course of
sin: We have sinned <i>from our youth;</i> we have continued in
sin, have sinned <i>even unto this day,</i> though often called to
repent and forsake our sins. That which is the malignity of sin,
the worst thing in it, is the affront we have put upon God by it:
<i>We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God,</i> forbidding
us to sin and commanding us, when we have sinned, to repent." Now
all this seems to be the language of the penitents of <i>the house
of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.20" parsed="|Jer|3|20|0|0" passage="Jer 3:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), of the ten tribes, either of those that were in
captivity or those of them that remained in their own land. And the
prophet takes notice of their repentance to provoke the men of
Judah to a holy emulation. David used it as an argument with the
elders of Judah that it would be a shame for those that were <i>his
bone and his flesh</i> to be <i>the last in bringing the king
back,</i> when the men of Israel appeared forward in it, <scripRef id="Jer.iv-p34.7" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.19.11-2Sam.19.12" parsed="|2Sam|19|11|19|12" passage="2Sa 19:11,12">2 Sam. xix. 11, 12</scripRef>. So the
prophet excites Judah to repent because Israel did: and well it
were if the zeal of others less likely would provoke us to strive
to get before them and go beyond them in that which is good.</p>
</div></div2>