mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 10.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xi" n="xi" next="Jer.xii" prev="Jer.x" progress="31.78%" title="Chapter X">
<h2 id="Jer.xi-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xi-p0.2">CHAP. X.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xi-p1" shownumber="no">We may conjecture that the prophecy of this
chapter was delivered after the first captivity, in the time of
Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, when many were carried away to Babylon; for
it has a double reference:—I. To those that were carried away
into the land of the Chaldeans, a country notorious above any other
for idolatry and superstition; and they are here cautioned against
the infection of the place, not to learn the way of the heathen
(<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.1-Jer.10.2" parsed="|Jer|10|1|10|2" passage="Jer 10:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>), for their
astrology and idolatry are both foolish things (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.3-Jer.10.5" parsed="|Jer|10|3|10|5" passage="Jer 10:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>), and the worshippers of idols
brutish, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.8-Jer.10.9" parsed="|Jer|10|8|10|9" passage="Jer 10:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>. So it
will appear in the day of their visitation, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.14-Jer.10.15" parsed="|Jer|10|14|10|15" passage="Jer 10:14,15">ver. 14, 15</scripRef>. They are likewise exhorted
to adhere firmly to the God of Israel, for there is none like him,
<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.6-Jer.10.7" parsed="|Jer|10|6|10|7" passage="Jer 10:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. He is the true
God, lives for ever, and has the government of the world (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.10-Jer.10.13" parsed="|Jer|10|10|10|13" passage="Jer 10:10-13">ver. 10-13</scripRef>), and his people are
happy in him, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.16" parsed="|Jer|10|16|0|0" passage="Jer 10:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. II.
To those that yet remained in their own land. They are cautioned
against security, and told to expect distress (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.17-Jer.10.18" parsed="|Jer|10|17|10|18" passage="Jer 10:17,18">ver. 17, 18</scripRef>) and that by a foreign enemy,
which God would bring upon them for their sin, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.20-Jer.10.22" parsed="|Jer|10|20|10|22" passage="Jer 10:20-22">ver. 20-22</scripRef>. This calamity the prophet
laments (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.19" parsed="|Jer|10|19|0|0" passage="Jer 10:19">ver. 19</scripRef>) and
prays for the mitigation of it, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.23-Jer.10.25" parsed="|Jer|10|23|10|25" passage="Jer 10:23-25">ver. 23-25</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xi-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10" parsed="|Jer|10|0|0|0" passage="Jer 10" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xi-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.1-Jer.10.16" parsed="|Jer|10|1|10|16" passage="Jer 10:1-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xi-p1.14">
<h4 id="Jer.xi-p1.15">Solemn Charge to Israel; The Folly of
Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p1.16">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hear ye the word which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p2.1">Lord</span> speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
  2 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p2.2">Lord</span>, Learn
not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of
heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.   3 For the
customs of the people <i>are</i> vain: for <i>one</i> cutteth a
tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with
the axe.   4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.   5
They <i>are</i> upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must
needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for
they cannot do evil, neither also <i>is it</i> in them to do good.
  6 Forasmuch as <i>there is</i> none like unto thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p2.3">O Lord</span>; thou <i>art</i> great, and thy
name <i>is</i> great in might.   7 Who would not fear thee, O
King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among
all the wise <i>men</i> of the nations, and in all their kingdoms,
<i>there is</i> none like unto thee.   8 But they are
altogether brutish and foolish: the stock <i>is</i> a doctrine of
vanities.   9 Silver spread into plates is brought from
Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the
hands of the founder: blue and purple <i>is</i> their clothing:
they <i>are</i> all the work of cunning <i>men.</i>   10 But
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p2.4">Lord</span> <i>is</i> the true God, he
<i>is</i> the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the
earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his
indignation.   11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that
have not made the heavens and the earth, <i>even</i> they shall
perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.   12 He
hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
  13 When he uttereth his voice, <i>there is</i> a multitude
of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from
the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth
forth the wind out of his treasures.   14 Every man is brutish
in <i>his</i> knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven
image: for his molten image <i>is</i> falsehood, and <i>there
is</i> no breath in them.   15 They <i>are</i> vanity,
<i>and</i> the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they
shall perish.   16 The portion of Jacob <i>is</i> not like
them: for he <i>is</i> the former of all <i>things;</i> and Israel
<i>is</i> the rod of his inheritance: The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p2.5">Lord</span> of hosts <i>is</i> his name.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet Isaiah, when he prophesied of
the captivity in Babylon, added warnings against idolatry and
largely exposed the sottishness of idolaters, not only because the
temptations in Babylon would be in danger of drawing the Jews there
to idolatry, but because the afflictions in Babylon were designed
to cure them of their idolatry. Thus the prophet Jeremiah here arms
people against the idolatrous usages and customs of the heathen,
not only for the use of those that had gone to Babylon, but of
those also that staid behind, that being convinced and reclaimed,
by the word of God, the rod might be prevented; and it is
<i>written for our learning.</i> Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p4" shownumber="no">I. A solemn charge given to the people of
God not to conform themselves to the ways and customs of the
heathen. Let the house of Israel hear and receive this word from
the God of Israel: "<i>Learn not the way of the heathen,</i> do not
approve of it, no, nor think indifferently concerning it, much less
imitate it or accustom yourselves to it. Let not any of their
customs steal in among you (as they are apt to do insensibly) nor
mingle themselves with your religion." Note, It ill becomes those
that are taught of God to <i>learn the way of the heathen,</i> and
to think of worshipping the true God with such rites and ceremonies
as they used in the worship of their false gods. See <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.12.29-Deut.12.31" parsed="|Deut|12|29|12|31" passage="De 12:29-31">Deut. xii. 29-31</scripRef>. It was the way
of the heathen to worship the host of heaven, the sun, moon, and
stars; to them they gave divine honours, and from them they
expected divine favours, and therefore, according as <i>the signs
of heaven</i> were, whether they were auspicious or ominous, they
thought themselves countenanced or discountenanced by their
deities, which made them observe those signs, the eclipses of the
sun and moon, the conjunctions and oppositions of the planets, and
all the unusual phenomena of the celestial globe, with a great deal
of anxiety and trembling. Business was stopped if any thing
occurred that was thought to bode ill; if it did but thunder on
their left hand, they were almost as if they had been
thunderstruck. Now God would not have his people to be <i>dismayed
at the signs of heaven,</i> to reverence the stars as deities, nor
to frighten themselves with any prognostications grounded upon
them. Let them fear the God of heaven, and keep up a reverence of
his providence, and then they need not be <i>dismayed at the signs
of heaven,</i> for the <i>stars in their courses</i> fight not
against any that are at peace with God. The heathen are dismayed at
these signs, for they know no better; but let not the <i>house of
Israel,</i> that are taught of God, be so.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p5" shownumber="no">II. Divers good reasons given to enforce
this charge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p6" shownumber="no">1. The way of the heathen is very
ridiculous and absurd, and is condemned even by the dictates of
right reason, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.3" parsed="|Jer|10|3|0|0" passage="Jer 10:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
The statutes and ordinances of the heathen are vanity itself; they
cannot stand the test of a rational disquisition. This is again and
again insisted upon here, as it was by Isaiah. The Chaldeans valued
themselves upon their wisdom, in which they thought that they
excelled all their neighbours; but the prophet here shows that
they, and all others that worshipped idols and expected help and
relief from them, were brutish and sottish, and had not common
sense. (1.) Consider what the idol is that is worshipped. It was a
<i>tree cut out of the forest</i> originally. It was fitted up by
<i>the hands of the workman,</i> squared, and sawed, and worked
into shape; see <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.12" parsed="|Isa|44|12|0|0" passage="Isa 44:12">Isa. xliv.
12</scripRef>, &amp;c. But, after all, it was but the stock of a
tree, fitter to make a gate-post of than any thing else. But, to
hide the wood, <i>they deck it with silver and gold,</i> they gild
or lacquer it, or they deck it with gold and silver lace, or cloth
of tissue. <i>They fasten it</i> to its place, which they
themselves have assigned it, <i>with nails and hammers,</i> that it
fall not, nor be thrown down, nor stolen away, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.4" parsed="|Jer|10|4|0|0" passage="Jer 10:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. The image is made straight
enough, and it cannot be denied but that the workman did his part,
for it <i>is upright as the palm-tree</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.5" parsed="|Jer|10|5|0|0" passage="Jer 10:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); it looks stately, and stands up
as if it were going to speak to you, but it <i>cannot speak;</i> it
is a poor dumb creature; nor can it take one step towards your
relief. If there be any occasion for it to shift its place, it must
be carried in procession, for it <i>cannot go.</i> Very fitly does
the admonition come in here, "<i>Be not afraid of them,</i> any
more than of the signs of heaven; be not afraid of incurring their
displeasure, for <i>they can do no evil;</i> be not afraid of
forfeiting their favour, <i>for neither is it in them to do
good.</i> If you think to mend the matter by mending the materials
of which the idol is made, you deceive yourselves. Idols of gold
and silver are an unworthy to be worshipped as wooden gods. <i>The
stock is a doctrine of vanities,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.8" parsed="|Jer|10|8|0|0" passage="Jer 10:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. It teaches lies, teaches lies
concerning God. It is <i>an instruction of vanities; it is
wood.</i>" It is probable that the idols of gold and silver had
wood underneath for the substratum, and then <i>silver spread into
plates is brought from Tarshish,</i> imported from beyond sea,
<i>and gold from Uphaz,</i> or <i>Phaz,</i> which is sometimes
rendered the <i>fine</i> or <i>pure gold,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.21.3" parsed="|Ps|21|3|0|0" passage="Ps 21:3">Ps. xxi. 3</scripRef>. A great deal of art is used, and
pains taken, about it. They are not such ordinary mechanics that
are employed about these as about the wooden gods, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.3" parsed="|Jer|10|3|0|0" passage="Jer 10:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. These are cunning men;
it is <i>the work of the workman;</i> the graver must do his part
when it has passed through <i>the hands of the founder.</i> Those
were but decked here and there with silver and gold; these are
silver and gold all over. And, that these gods might be reverenced
as kings, <i>blue and purple are their clothing,</i> the colour of
royal robes (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.9" parsed="|Jer|10|9|0|0" passage="Jer 10:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>),
which amuses ignorant worshippers, but makes the matter no better.
For what is the idol when it is made and when they have made the
best they can of it? He tells us (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.14" parsed="|Jer|10|14|0|0" passage="Jer 10:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>They are falsehood;</i>
they are not what they pretend to be, but a great cheat put upon
the world. They are worshipped as the gods that give us breath and
life and sense, whereas they are lifeless senseless things
themselves, and <i>there is no breath in them;</i> there is <i>no
spirit in them</i> (so the word is); they are not animated, or
inhabited, as they are supposed to be, by any <i>divine spirit</i>
or <i>numen—divinity.</i> They are so far from being gods that
they have not so much as the <i>spirit of a beast that goes
downward. They are vanity, and the work of errors,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.15" parsed="|Jer|10|15|0|0" passage="Jer 10:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Enquire into the use
of them and you will find they are vanity; they are good for
nothing; no help is to be expected from them nor any confidence put
in them. They are a <i>deceitful work, works of illusions,</i> or
<i>mere mockeries;</i> so some read the following clause. They
<i>delude</i> those that put their trust in them, make fools of
them, or, rather, they make fools of themselves. Enquire into the
use of them and you will find they are <i>the work of errors,</i>
grounded upon the grossest mistakes that ever men who pretended to
reason were guilty of. They are the creatures of a deluded fancy;
and the errors by which they were produced they propagate among
their worshippers. (2.) Infer hence what the idolaters are that
worship these idols. (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.8" parsed="|Jer|10|8|0|0" passage="Jer 10:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>They are altogether brutish and foolish.</i>
Those that make them are like unto them, senseless and stupid, and
there is no spirit in them—no use of reason, else they would never
stoop to them, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.14" parsed="|Jer|10|14|0|0" passage="Jer 10:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. <i>Every man</i> that makes or worships idols has
become <i>brutish in his knowledge,</i> that is, brutish for want
of knowledge, or brutish in that very thing which one would think
they should be fully acquainted with; compare <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.13" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.10" parsed="|Jude|1|10|0|0" passage="Jude 1:10">Jude 10</scripRef>, <i>What they know naturally,</i>
what they cannot but know by the light of nature, <i>in those
things as brute beasts they corrupt themselves.</i> Though in the
works of creation they cannot but see the eternal power and godhead
of the Creator, yet they have become <i>vain in their imaginations,
not liking to retain God in their knowledge.</i> See <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.14" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.21 Bible:Rom.1.28" parsed="|Rom|1|21|0|0;|Rom|1|28|0|0" passage="Ro 1:21,28">Rom. i. 21, 28</scripRef>. Nay, whereas they
thought it a piece of wisdom thus to multiply gods, it really was
the greatest folly they could be guilty of. <i>The world by wisdom
knew not God,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p6.15" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.21 Bible:Rom.1.22" parsed="|1Cor|1|21|0|0;|Rom|1|22|0|0" passage="1Co 1:21,Ro 1:22">1 Cor. i.
21; Rom. i. 22</scripRef>. <i>Every founder</i> is himself
<i>confounded by the graven image;</i> when he has made it by a
mistake he is more and more confirmed in his mistake by it; he is
bewildered, bewitched, and cannot disentangle himself from the
snare; or it is what he will one time or other be ashamed of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p7" shownumber="no">2. The God of Israel is the one only living
and true God, and those that have him for their God need not make
their application to any other; nay, to set up any other in
competition with him is the greatest affront and injury that can be
done him. Let the house of Israel cleave to the God of Israel and
serve and worship him only, for,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p8" shownumber="no">(1.) He is a non-such. Whatever men may set
in competition with him, there is none to be compared with him. The
prophet turns from speaking with the utmost disdain of the idols of
the heathen (as well he might) to speak with the most profound and
awful reverence of the God of Israel (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.6-Jer.10.7" parsed="|Jer|10|6|10|7" passage="Jer 10:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>): "<i>Forasmuch as there is
none like unto thee, O Lord!</i> none of all the heroes which the
heathen have deified and make such ado about," the dead men of whom
they made dead images, and whom they worshipped. "Some were deified
and adored for their wisdom; but, <i>among all the wise men of the
nations,</i> the greatest philosophers or statesmen, as Apollo or
Hermes, <i>there is none like thee.</i> Others were deified and
adored for their dominion; but, <i>in all their royalty</i>" (so it
may be read), "among all their kings, as Saturn and Jupiter,
<i>there is none like unto thee.</i>" What is the glory of a man
that invented a useful art or founded a flourishing kingdom (and
these were grounds sufficient among the heathen to entitle a man to
an apotheosis) compared with the glory of him that is the Creator
of the world and that <i>forms the spirit of man within him?</i>
What is the glory of the greatest prince or potentate, compared
with the glory of him whose <i>kingdom rules over all?</i> He
acknowledges (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.6" parsed="|Jer|10|6|0|0" passage="Jer 10:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
<i>O Lord! thou art great,</i> infinite and immense, and <i>thy
name is great in might;</i> thou hast all power, and art known to
have it. Men's name is often beyond their might; they are thought
to be greater than they are; but God's <i>name is great,</i> and no
greater than he really is. And therefore <i>who would not fear
thee, O King of nations?</i> Who would not choose to worship such a
God as this, that can do every thing, rather than such dead idols
as the heathen worship, that can do nothing? Who would not be
afraid of offending or forsaking a God whose name is so <i>great in
might?</i> Which of all the nations, if they understood their
interests aright, <i>would not fear him</i> who is the <i>King of
nations?</i> Note, There is an admirable decency and congruity in
the worshipping of God only. It is fit that he who is God alone
should alone be served, that he who is Lord of all should be served
by all, that he who is great should be greatly feared and greatly
praised.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p9" shownumber="no">(2.) His verity is as evident as the idol's
vanity, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.10" parsed="|Jer|10|10|0|0" passage="Jer 10:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. They
are the work of men's hands, and therefore nothing is more plain
than that it is a jest to worship them, if that may be called a
jest which is so great an indignity to him that made us: <i>But the
Lord is the true God,</i> the God of truth; he is God in truth.
<i>God Jehovah is truth;</i> he is not a counterfeit and pretender,
as they are, but is really what he has revealed himself to be; he
is one we may depend upon, in whom and by whom we cannot be
deceived. [1.] Look upon him as he is in himself, and he is <i>the
living God.</i> He is life itself, has life in himself, and is the
fountain of life to all the creatures. The gods of the heathen are
dead things, worthless and useless, but ours is a living God, and
hath immortality. [2.] Look upon him with relation to his
creatures, he is a <i>King,</i> and absolute monarch, over them
all, is their owner and ruler, has an incontestable right both to
command them and dispose of them. As a king, he protects the
creatures, provides for their welfare, and preserves peace among
them. He is <i>an everlasting king.</i> The counsels of his kingdom
were from everlasting and the continuance of it will be to
everlasting. He is a <i>King of eternity.</i> The idols whom they
call their kings are but of yesterday, and will soon be abolished;
and the kings of the earth, that set them up to be worshipped, will
themselves be in the dust shortly; but <i>the Lord shall reign for
ever, thy God, O Zion! unto all generations.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p10" shownumber="no">(3.) None knows the power of his anger. Let
us stand in awe, and not dare to provoke him by giving that glory
to another which is due to him alone; for <i>at his wrath the earth
shall tremble,</i> even the strongest and stoutest of the kings of
the earth; nay, the earth, firmly as it is fixed, when he pleases
is made to quake and the rocks to tremble, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.32 Bible:Hab.3.6 Bible:Hab.3.10" parsed="|Ps|104|32|0|0;|Hab|3|6|0|0;|Hab|3|10|0|0" passage="Ps 104:32,Hab 3:6,10">Ps. civ. 32; Hab. iii. 6, 10</scripRef>.
Though the nations should join together to contend with him, and
unite their force, yet they would be found utterly unable not only
to resist, but even <i>to abide his indignation.</i> Not only can
they not make head against it, for it would overcome them, but they
cannot bear up under it, for it would overload them, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.7-Ps.76.8 Bible:Nah.1.6" parsed="|Ps|76|7|76|8;|Nah|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 76:7,8,Na 1:6">Ps. lxxvi. 7, 8; Nah. i.
6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p11" shownumber="no">(4.) He is the God of nature, the fountain
of all being; and all the powers of nature are at his command and
disposal, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.12-Jer.10.13" parsed="|Jer|10|12|10|13" passage="Jer 10:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12,
13</scripRef>. The God we worship is he that made the heavens and
the earth, and has a sovereign dominion over both; so that his
<i>invisible things</i> are manifested and proved in the <i>things
that are seen.</i> [1.] If we look back, we find that the whole
world owed its origin to him as its first cause. It was a common
saying even among the Greeks—<i>He that sets up to be another god
ought first to make another world.</i> While the heathen worship
gods that they made, we worship the God that made us and all
things. <i>First, The earth</i> is a body of vast bulk, has
valuable treasures in its bowels and more valuable fruit on its
surface. It and them he has <i>made by his power;</i> and it is by
no less than an infinite power that it <i>hangs upon nothing,</i>
as it does (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.7" parsed="|Job|26|7|0|0" passage="Job 26:7">Job xxvi. 7</scripRef>)—
<i>ponderibus librata suis—poised by its own weight. Secondly, The
world,</i> the habitable part of the earth, is admirably fitted for
the use and service of man, and <i>he hath established it</i> so
<i>by his wisdom,</i> so that it continues serviceable in constant
changes and yet a continual stability from one generation to
another. Therefore both the earth and the world are his, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.1" parsed="|Ps|24|1|0|0" passage="Ps 24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1</scripRef>. <i>Thirdly, The
heavens</i> are wonderfully <i>stretched out</i> to an incredible
extent, and it is <i>by his discretion</i> that they are so, and
that the motions of the heavenly bodies are directed for the
benefit of this lower world. These <i>declare his glory</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.1" parsed="|Ps|19|1|0|0" passage="Ps 19:1">Ps. xix. 1</scripRef>), and oblige us
to declare it, and not give that glory to the heavens which is due
to him that made them. [2.] If we look up, we see his providence to
be a continued creation (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.13" parsed="|Jer|10|13|0|0" passage="Jer 10:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>When he uttereth his voice</i> (gives the word
of command) <i>there is a multitude of waters in the heavens,</i>
which are poured out on the earth, whether for judgment or mercy,
as he intends them. When he utters his voice in the thunder,
immediately there follow thunder-showers, in which there are a
multitude of waters; and those come with <i>a noise,</i> as the
margin reads it; and we read of the <i>noise of abundance of
rain,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.41" parsed="|1Kgs|18|41|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:41">1 Kings xviii.
41</scripRef>. Nay, there are wonders done daily in the kingdom of
nature without noise: <i>He causes the vapours to ascend from the
ends of the earth,</i> from all parts of the earth, even the most
remote, and chiefly those that lie next the sea. All the earth pays
the tribute of vapours, because all the earth receives the blessing
of rain. And thus the moisture in the universe, like the money in a
kingdom and the blood in the body, is continually circulating for
the good of the whole. Those vapours produce wonders, for of them
are formed <i>lightnings for the rain,</i> and <i>the winds</i>
which God from time to time <i>brings forth out of his
treasures,</i> as there is occasion for them, directing them all in
such measure and for such use as he thinks fit, as payments are
made out of the treasury. All the meteors are so ready to serve
God's purposes that he seems to have treasures of them, that cannot
be exhausted and may at any time be drawn from, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.7" parsed="|Ps|135|7|0|0" passage="Ps 135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</scripRef>. God glories in the treasures he
has of these, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.22-Job.38.23" parsed="|Job|38|22|38|23" passage="Job 38:22,23">Job xxxviii. 22,
23</scripRef>. This God can do; but which of the idols of the
heathen can do the like? Note, There is no sort of weather but what
furnishes us with a proof and instance of the wisdom and power of
the great Creator.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p12" shownumber="no">(5.) This God is Israel's God in covenant,
and the felicity of every Israelite indeed. Therefore let the house
of Israel cleave to him, and not forsake him to embrace idols; for,
if they do, they certainly change for the worse, for (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.16" parsed="|Jer|10|16|0|0" passage="Jer 10:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) <i>the portion of
Jacob is not like them;</i> their rock is not as our rock
(<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.31" parsed="|Deut|32|31|0|0" passage="De 32:31">Deut. xxxii. 31</scripRef>), nor ours
like their mole-hills. Note, [1.] Those that have the Lord for
their God have a full and complete happiness in him. The <i>God of
Jacob</i> is the <i>portion of Jacob;</i> he is his all, and in him
he has enough and needs no more in this world nor the other. In him
we have a worthy portion, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.5" parsed="|Ps|16|5|0|0" passage="Ps 16:5">Ps. xvi.
5</scripRef>. [2.] If we have entire satisfaction and complacency
in God as our portion, he will have a gracious delight in us as his
people, whom he owns as <i>the rod of his inheritance,</i> his
possession and treasure, with whom he dwells and by whom he is
served and honoured. [3.] It is the unspeakable comfort of all the
Lord's people that he who is their God is <i>the former of all
things,</i> and therefore is able to do all that for them, and give
all that to them, which they stand in need of. Their <i>help stands
in his name who made heaven and earth.</i> And he is the <i>Lord of
hosts,</i> of all the hosts in heaven and earth, has them all at
his command, and will command them into the service of his people
when there is occasion. This is the name by which they know him,
which they first give him the glory of and then take to themselves
the comfort of. [4.] Herein God's people are happy above all other
people, happy indeed, <i>bona si sua norint—did they but know
their blessedness.</i> The gods which the heathen pride, and
please, and so portion themselves in, are vanity and a lie; but
<i>the portion of Jacob is not like them.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p13" shownumber="no">3. The prophet, having thus compared the
gods of the heathen with the God of Israel (between whom there is
no comparison), reads the doom, the certain doom, of all those
pretenders, and directs the Jews, in God's name, to read it to the
worshippers of idols, though they were their lords and masters
(<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.11" parsed="|Jer|10|11|0|0" passage="Jer 10:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Thus
shall you say unto them</i> (and the God you serve will bear you
out in saying it), <i>The gods which have not made the heavens and
the earth</i> (and therefore are no gods, but usurpers of the
honour due to him only who did make heaven and earth) <i>shall
perish,</i> perish of course, because they are vanity—perish by
his righteous sentence, because they are rivals with him. As gods
they shall perish <i>from off the earth</i> (even all those things
<i>on earth beneath</i> which they make gods of) <i>and from under
these heavens,</i> even all those things in the firmament of
heaven, under the highest heavens, which are deified, according to
the distribution in the second commandment. These words in the
original are not in the Hebrew, like all the rest, but in the
Chaldee dialect, that the Jews in captivity might have this ready
to say to the Chaldeans in their own language when they tempted
them to idolatry: "Do you press us to worship your gods? We will
never do that; for," (1.) "They are counterfeit deities; they are
no gods, for they <i>have not made the heavens and the earth,</i>
and therefore are not entitled to our homage, nor are we indebted
to them either for the products of the earth or the influences of
heaven, as we are to the God of Israel." The primitive Christians
would say, when they were urged to worship such a god, <i>Let him
make a world and he shall be my god.</i> While we have him to
worship who made heaven and earth, it is very absurd to worship any
other. (2.) "They are condemned deities. They <i>shall perish;</i>
the time shall come when they shall be no more respected as they
are now, but shall be buried in oblivion, and they and their
worshippers shall sink together. The earth shall no longer bear
them; the heavens shall no longer cover them; but both shall
abandon them." It is repeated (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.15" parsed="|Jer|10|15|0|0" passage="Jer 10:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), <i>In the time of their
visitation</i> they shall perish. When God comes to reckon with
idolaters he will make them weary of their idols, and glad to be
rid of them. They shall <i>cast them to the moles and to the
bats,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.20" parsed="|Isa|2|20|0|0" passage="Isa 2:20">Isa. ii. 20</scripRef>.
Whatever runs against God and religion will be run down at
last.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xi-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.17-Jer.10.25" parsed="|Jer|10|17|10|25" passage="Jer 10:17-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xi-p13.5">
<h4 id="Jer.xi-p13.6">Lamentation of Judah; Sovereignty of Divine
Providence; Prophetic Imprecations. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p13.7">b.
c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xi-p14" shownumber="no">17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O
inhabitant of the fortress.   18 For thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p14.1">Lord</span>, Behold, I will sling out the
inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that
they may find <i>it so.</i>   19 Woe is me for my hurt! my
wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this <i>is</i> a grief, and I
must bear it.   20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords
are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they <i>are</i>
not: <i>there is</i> none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to
set up my curtains.   21 For the pastors are become brutish,
and have not sought the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p14.2">Lord</span>:
therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be
scattered.   22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a
great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of
Judah desolate, <i>and</i> a den of dragons.   23 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p14.3">O Lord</span>, I know that the way of man <i>is</i> not
in himself: <i>it is</i> not in man that walketh to direct his
steps.   24 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xi-p14.4">O Lord</span>, correct me,
but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to
nothing.   25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know
thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they
have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have
made his habitation desolate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p15" shownumber="no">In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p16" shownumber="no">I. The prophet threatens, in God's name,
the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.17-Jer.10.18" parsed="|Jer|10|17|10|18" passage="Jer 10:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. The Jews that continued
in their own land, after some were carried into captivity, were
very secure; they thought themselves <i>inhabitants of a
fortress;</i> their country was their strong hold, and, in their
own conceit, impregnable; but they are here told to think of
leaving it: they must prepare to go after their brethren, and pack
up their effects in expectation of it: "<i>Gather up thy wares out
of the land;</i> contract your affairs, and bring them into as
small a compass as you can. <i>Arise, depart, this is not your
rest,</i>" <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.2.10" parsed="|Mic|2|10|0|0" passage="Mic 2:10">Mic. ii. 10</scripRef>. Let
not what you have lie scattered, for the Chaldeans will be upon you
again, to be the executioners of the sentence God has passed upon
you (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.18" parsed="|Jer|10|18|0|0" passage="Jer 10:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>):
"<i>Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this
once;</i> they have hitherto dropped out, by a few at a time, but
one captivity more shall make a thorough riddance, and they shall
be slung out as a stone out of a sling, so easily, so thoroughly
shall they be cast out; nothing of them shall remain. They shall be
thrown out with violence, and driven to a place at a great distance
off, in a little time." See this comparison used to signify an
utter destruction, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.29" parsed="|1Sam|25|29|0|0" passage="1Sa 25:29">1 Sam. xxv.
29</scripRef>. <i>Yet once more</i> God will shake their land, and
<i>shake the wicked out of it,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.26" parsed="|Heb|12|26|0|0" passage="Heb 12:26">Heb. xii. 26</scripRef>. He adds, <i>And I will
distress them, that they may find it so.</i> He will not only throw
them out hence (that he may do and yet they may be easy elsewhere);
but, whithersoever they go, trouble shall follow them; they shall
be continually perplexed and straitened, and at a loss within
themselves: and who or what can make those easy whom God <i>will
distress,</i> whom he will distress <i>that they may find it
so,</i> that they may feel that which they would not believe? They
were often told of the weight of God's wrath and their utter
inability to make head against it, or bear up under it. They were
told that their sin would be their ruin, and they would not regard
nor credit what was told them; but now <i>they shall find it
so;</i> and <i>therefore</i> God will pursue them with his
judgments, <i>that they may find it so,</i> and be forced to
acknowledge it. Note, sooner or later sinners will find it just as
the word of God has represented things to them, and no better, and
that the threatenings were not bugbears.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p17" shownumber="no">II. He brings in the people sadly lamenting
their calamities (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.19" parsed="|Jer|10|19|0|0" passage="Jer 10:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>Woe is me for my hurt!</i> Some make this the
prophet's own lamentation, not for himself, but for the calamities
and desolations of his country. He mourned for those that would not
be persuaded to mourn for themselves; and, since there were none
that had so much sense as to join with them, he weeps in secret,
and cries out, <i>Woe is me!</i> In mournful times it becomes us to
be of a mournful spirit. But it may be taken as the language of the
people, considered as a body, and therefore speaking as a single
person. The prophet puts into their mouths the words they
<i>should</i> say; whether they would say them or no, they should
have cause to say them. Some among them would thus bemoan
themselves, and all of them, at last, would be forced to do it. 1.
They lament that the affliction is very great, and it is very hard
to them to bear it, the more hard because they had not been used to
trouble and now did not expect it: "<i>Woe is me for my hurt,</i>
not for what I fear, but for what I feel;" for they are not, as
some are, worse frightened than hurt. Nor is it a slight hurt, but
<i>a wound,</i> a wound that is <i>grievous,</i> very painful, and
very threatening. 2. That there is no remedy but patience. They
cannot help themselves, but must sit still, and abide it: <i>But I
said,</i> when I was about to complain of my wound, To what purpose
is it to complain? <i>This is a grief, and I must bear it</i> as
well as I can. This is the language rather of a sullen than of a
gracious submission, of a patience per force, not a patience by
principle. When I am in affliction I should say, "This is an evil,
and I will bear it, because it is the will of God that I should,
because his wisdom has appointed this for me and his grace will
make it work for good to me." This is <i>receiving evil</i> at the
hand of God, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.2.10" parsed="|Job|2|10|0|0" passage="Job 2:10">Job ii. 10</scripRef>.
But to say, "This is an evil, <i>and I must bear it,</i> because I
cannot help it," is but a brutal patience, and argues a want of
those good thoughts of God which we should always have, even under
our afflictions, saying, not only, God can and will do what he
pleases, but, <i>Let him do what he pleases.</i> 3. That the
country was quite ruined and wasted (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.20" parsed="|Jer|10|20|0|0" passage="Jer 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>My tabernacle is
spoiled.</i> Jerusalem, though a strong city, now proves as weak
and moveable as a tabernacle or tent, when it is taken down, and
<i>all its cords,</i> that should keep it together, are
<i>broken.</i> Or by the tabernacle here may be meant the temple,
the sanctuary, which at first was but a tabernacle, and is now
called so, as then it was sometimes called a temple. Their church
is ruined, and all the supports of it fail. It was a general
destruction of church and state, city and country, and there were
none to repair these desolations. "<i>My children have gone forth
of me;</i> some have fled, others are slain, others carried into
captivity, so that as to me, <i>they are not;</i> I am likely to be
an outcast, and to perish for want of shelter; for <i>there is none
to stretch forth my tent any more,</i> none of my children that
used to do it for me, <i>none to set up my curtains,</i> none to do
me any service." <i>Jerusalem has none to guide her of all her
sons,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.18" parsed="|Isa|51|18|0|0" passage="Isa 51:18">Isa. li. 18</scripRef>. 4.
That the rulers took no care, nor any proper measures, for the
redress of their grievances and the re-establishing of heir ruined
state (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.21" parsed="|Jer|10|21|0|0" passage="Jer 10:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>):
<i>The pastors have become brutish.</i> When the tents, the
shepherds' tents, were spoiled (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.20" parsed="|Jer|10|20|0|0" passage="Jer 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), it concerned the shepherds to
look after them; but they were foolish shepherds. Their kings and
princes had no regard at all for the public welfare, seemed to have
no sense of the desolations of the land, but were quite besotted
and infatuated. The priests, the pastors of God's tabernacle, did a
great deal towards the ruin of religion, but nothing towards the
repair of it. They are <i>brutish</i> indeed, for <i>they have not
sought the Lord;</i> they have neither made their peace with him
nor their prayer to him; they had no eye to him and his providence,
in their management of affairs; they neither acknowledged the
judgment, nor expected the deliverance, to come from his hand.
Note, Those are brutish people that do not seek the Lord, that live
without prayer, and live without God in the world. Every man is
either a saint or a brute. But it is sad indeed with a people when
their pastors, that should <i>feed them with knowledge and
understanding,</i> are themselves thus brutish. And what comes of
it? <i>Therefore they shall not prosper;</i> none of their attempts
for the public safety shall succeed. Note, Those cannot expect to
prosper who do not by faith and prayer take God along with them in
all their ways. And, when the pastors are brutish, what else can be
expected but that <i>all their flocks</i> should be <i>scattered?
For, if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the
ditch.</i> The ruin of a people is often owing to the brutishness
of their pastors. 5. That the report of the enemy's approach was
very dreadful (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.22" parsed="|Jer|10|22|0|0" passage="Jer 10:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): <i>The noise of the bruit has come,</i> of the
report which at first was but whispered and bruited abroad, as
wanting confirmation. It now proves too true: <i>A great
commotion</i> arises <i>out of the north country,</i> which
threatens to make all <i>the cities of Judah desolate and a den of
dragons;</i> for they must all expect to be sacrificed to the
avarice and fury of the Chaldean army. And what else can that place
expect but to be made a den of dragons which has by sin made itself
a den of thieves?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p18" shownumber="no">III. He turns to God, and addresses himself
to him, finding it to little purpose to speak to the people. It is
some comfort to poor ministers that, if men will not hear them, God
will; and to him they have liberty of access at all times. Let them
close their preaching with prayer, as the prophet, and then they
shall have no reason to say that they have laboured in vain.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p19" shownumber="no">1. The prophet here acknowledges the
sovereignty and dominion of the divine Providence, that by it, and
not by their own will and wisdom, the affairs both of nations and
particular persons are directed and determined, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.23" parsed="|Jer|10|23|0|0" passage="Jer 10:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. This is an article of our
faith which it is very proper for us to make confession of at the
throne of grace when we are complaining of an affliction or suing
for a mercy: "<i>O Lord, I know,</i> and believe, <i>that the way
of man is not in himself;</i> Nebuchadnezzar did not come of
himself against our land, but by the direction of a divine
Providence." We cannot of ourselves do any thing for our own
relief, unless God work with us and command deliverance for us; for
<i>it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,</i> though he
seem in his walking to be perfectly at liberty and to choose his
own way. Those that had promised themselves a long enjoyment of
their estates and possessions were made to know, by sad experience,
when they were thrown out by the Chaldeans, that <i>the way of man
is not in himself;</i> he designs which men lay deep, and think
well-formed, are dashed to pieces in a moment. We must all apply
this to ourselves, and mix faith with it, that we are not at our
own disposal, but under a divine direction; the event is often
overruled so as to be quite contrary to our intention and
expectation. We are not masters of our own way, nor can we think
that every thing should be according to our mind; we must therefore
refer ourselves to God and acquiesce in his will. Some think that
the prophet here mentions this with a design to make this
comfortable use of it, that, the way of the Chaldean army being not
in themselves, they can do no more than God permits them; he can
set bounds to these proud waves, and say, <i>Hitherto they shall
come, and no further.</i> And a quieting consideration it is that
the most formidable enemies have <i>no power against us but what is
given them from above.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p20" shownumber="no">2. He deprecates the divine wrath, that it
might not fall upon God's Israel, <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.24" parsed="|Jer|10|24|0|0" passage="Jer 10:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. He speaks not for himself
only, but on the behalf of his people: <i>O Lord, correct me, but
with judgment</i> (in measure and with moderation, and in wisdom,
no more than is necessary for driving out of the foolishness that
is bound up in our hearts), <i>not in thy anger</i> (how severe
soever the correction be, let it come from thy love, and be
designed for our good and made to work for good), not to <i>bring
us to nothing,</i> but to bring us home to thyself. Let it not be
according to the desert of our sins, but according to the design of
thy grace. Note, (1.) We cannot pray in faith that we may never be
corrected, while we are conscious to ourselves that we need
correction and deserve it, and know that as many as God loves he
chastens. (2.) The great thing we should dread in affliction is the
wrath of God. Say not, Lord, <i>do not correct</i> me, but, Lord,
do not correct me <i>in anger;</i> for that will infuse wormwood
and gall into the affliction and misery that will <i>bring us to
nothing.</i> We may bear the smart of his rod, but we cannot bear
the weight of his wrath.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xi-p21" shownumber="no">3. He imprecates the divine wrath against
the oppressors and persecutors of Israel (<scripRef id="Jer.xi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.25" parsed="|Jer|10|25|0|0" passage="Jer 10:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>Pour out thy fury upon the
heathen that know thee not.</i> This prayer does not come from a
spirit of malice or revenge, nor is it intended to prescribe to God
whom he should execute his judgments upon, or in what order; but,
(1.) It is an appeal to his justice. As if he had said, "Lord, we
are a provoking people; but are there not other nations that are
more so? And shall we only be punished? We are thy children, and
may expect a fatherly correction; but they are thy enemies, and
against them we have reason to think thy indignation should be, not
against us." This is God's usual method. The <i>cup put into the
hands</i> of God's people is <i>full of mixtures,</i> mixtures of
mercy; but the <i>dregs of the cup</i> are reserved for <i>the
wicked of the earth,</i> let them <i>wring them out,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.8" parsed="|Ps|75|8|0|0" passage="Ps 75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</scripRef>. (2.) It is a prediction
of God's judgments upon all the impenitent enemies of his church
and kingdom. If <i>judgment begin</i> thus <i>at the house of
God,</i> what shall be <i>the end of those that obey not his
gospel?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.17" parsed="|1Pet|4|17|0|0" passage="1Pe 4:17">1 Pet. iv. 17</scripRef>.
See how the heathen are described, on whom God's fury shall be
poured out. [1.] They are strangers to God, and are content to be
so. They <i>know him not,</i> nor desire to know him. They are
families that live without prayer, that have nothing of religion
among them; they <i>call not on God's name.</i> Those that restrain
prayer prove that they know not God; for those that know him will
seek to him and entreat his favour. [2.] They are persecutors of
the people of God and are resolved to be so. <i>They have eaten up
Jacob</i> with as much greediness as those that are hungry eat
their necessary food; nay, with more, they have <i>devoured him,
and consumed him, and made his habitation desolate,</i> that is,
the land in which he lives, or the temple of God, which is his
habitation among them. Note, What the heathen, in their rage and
malice, do against the people of God, though therein he makes use
of them as the instruments of his correction, yet he will, for
that, make them the objects of his indignation. This prayer is
taken from <scripRef id="Jer.xi-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.79.6-Ps.79.7" parsed="|Ps|79|6|79|7" passage="Ps 79:6,7">Ps. lxxix. 6,
7</scripRef>.</p>
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