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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Jeremiah XIII].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J E R E M I A H.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIII.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Still the prophet is attempting to awaken this secure and stubborn
people to repentance, by the consideration of the judgments of God that
were coming upon them. He is to tell them,
I. By the sign of a girdle spoiled that their pride should be stained,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
II. By the sign of bottles filled with wine that their counsels should
be blasted,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:12-14">ver. 12-14</A>.
III. In consideration hereof he is to call them to repent and humble
themselves,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:15-21">ver. 15-21</A>.
IV. He is to convince them that it is for their obstinacy and
incorrigibleness that the judgments of God are so prolonged and brought
to extremity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:22-27">ver. 22-27</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Jer13_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Marred Girdle.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle,
and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
&nbsp; 2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and put
<I>it</I> on my loins.
&nbsp; 3 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me the second time,
saying,
&nbsp; 4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which <I>is</I> upon thy
loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of
the rock.
&nbsp; 5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded me.
&nbsp; 6 And it came to pass after many days, that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto
me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence,
which I commanded thee to hide there.
&nbsp; 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle
from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was
marred, it was profitable for nothing.
&nbsp; 8 Then the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
&nbsp; 9 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, After this manner will I mar the pride
of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
&nbsp; 10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk
in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to
serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle,
which is good for nothing.
&nbsp; 11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I
caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole
house of Judah, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; that they might be unto me for a
people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but
they would not hear.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here is,
I. A sign, the marring of a girdle, which the prophet had worn for some
time, by hiding it in a hole of a rock near the river Euphrates. It was
usual with the prophets to teach by signs, that a stupid unthinking
people might be brought to consider, and believe, and be affected with
what was thus set before them.
1. He was to wear a linen girdle for some time,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
Some think he wore it under his clothes, because it was linen, and it
is said to <I>cleave to his loins,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
It should rather seem to be worn upon his clothes, for it was worn for
a name and a praise, and probably was a fine sash, such as officers
wear and such as are commonly worn at this day in the eastern nations.
He must <I>not put it in water,</I> but wear it as it was, that it
might be the stronger, and less likely to rot: linen wastes almost as
much with washing as with wearing. Being not wet, it was the more stiff
and less apt to bend, yet he must make a shift to wear it. Probably it
was very fine linen which will wear long without washing. The prophet,
like John Baptist, was none of those that wore soft clothing, and
therefore it would be the more strange to see him with a linen girdle
on, who probably used to wear a leathern one.
2. After he had worn this linen girdle for some time, he must go, and
<I>hide it in a hole of a rock</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
by the water's side, where, when the water was high, it would be wet,
and when it fell would grow dry again, and by that means would soon
rot, sooner than if it were always wet or always dry.
3. After many days, he must look for it, and he should find it quite
spoiled, gone all to rags and good for nothing,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
It has been of old a question among interpreters whether this was
really done, so as to be seen and observed by the people, or only in a
dream or vision, so as to go no further than the prophet's own mind. It
seems hard to imagine that the prophet should be sent on two such long
journeys as to the river Euphrates, each of which would take him up
some week's time, when he could so ill be spared at home. For this
reason most incline to think the journey, at least, was only in vision,
like that of Ezekiel, from the captivity in Chaldea to Jerusalem
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:3">Ezek. viii. 3</A>)
and thence back to Chaldea
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+11:24"><I>ch.</I> xi. 24</A>);
and the explanation of this sign is given only to the prophet himself
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
not to the people, the sign not being public. But there being, it is
probable, at that time, great conveniences of travelling between
Jerusalem and Babylon, and some part of Euphrates being not so far off
but that it was made the utmost border of the land of promise
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+1:4">Josh. i. 4</A>),
I see no inconvenience in supposing the prophet to have made two
journeys thither; for it is expressly said, <I>He did as the Lord
commanded him;</I> and thus gave a signal proof of his obsequiousness
to his God, to shame the stubbornness of a disobedient people: the toil
of his journey would be very proper to signify both the pains they took
to corrupt themselves with their idolatries and the sad fatigue of
their captivity; and Euphrates being the river of Babylon, which was to
be the place of their bondage, was a material circumstance in this
sign.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The thing signified by this sign. The prophet was willing to be at
any cost and pains to affect this people with the word of the Lord.
Ministers must spend, and be spent, for the good of souls. We have the
explanation of this sign,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:9-11"><I>v.</I> 9-11</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. The people of Israel had been to God as this girdle in two
respects:--
(1.) He had taken them into covenant and communion with himself: <I>As
the girdle cleaves</I> very closely <I>to the loins of a man</I> and
surrounds him, <I>so have I caused to cleave to me the houses of Israel
and Judah.</I> They were a people near to God
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+148:14">Ps. cxlviii. 14</A>);
they were his own, a peculiar people to him, a kingdom of priests that
had access to him above other nations. He <I>caused them to cleave</I>
to him by the law he gave them, the prophets he sent among them, and
the favours which in his providence he showed them. He required their
stated attendance in the courts of his house, and the frequent
ratification of their covenant with him by sacrifices. Thus they were
made so as to cleave to him that one would think they could never have
been parted.
(2.) He had herein designed his own honour. When he took them to be
<I>to him for a people,</I> it was that they might be to him <I>for a
name, and for a praise, and for a glory,</I> as a girdle is an ornament
to a man, and particularly the <I>curious girdle of the ephod</I> was
to the high-priest <I>for glory and for beauty.</I> Note, Those whom
God takes to be to him for a people he intends to be to him for a
praise.
[1.] It is their duty to honour him, by observing his institutions and
aiming therein at his glory, and thus adorning their profession.
[2.] It is their happiness that he reckons himself honoured in them and
by them. He is pleased with them, and glories in his relation to them,
while they behave themselves as become his people. He was pleased to
take it among the titles of his honour to be <I>the God of Israel,</I>
even a <I>God to Israel,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+17:24">1 Chron. xvii. 24</A>.
In vain do we pretend to be to God for a people if we be not to him for
a praise.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. They had by their idolatries and other iniquities loosed themselves
from him, thrown themselves at a distance, robbed him of the honour
they owed him, buried themselves in the earth, and foreign earth too,
mingled among the nations, and were so spoiled and corrupted that they
were <I>good for nothing:</I> they could no more be to God, as they
were designed, <I>for a name and a praise,</I> for they would not hear
either their duty to do it or their privilege to value it: <I>They
refused to hear the words of God,</I> by which they might have been
kept still cleaving closely to him. <I>They walked in the imagination
of their heart,</I> wherever their fancy led them; and denied
themselves no gratification they had a mind to, particularly in their
worship. They would not <I>cleave to God,</I> but <I>walked after other
gods, to serve them,</I> and <I>to worship them;</I> they doted upon
the gods of the heathen nations that lay towards Euphrates, so that
they were quite spoiled for the service of their own God, and were as
<I>this girdle,</I> this rotten girdle, a disgrace to their profession
and not an ornament. A thousand pities it was that such a girdle should
be so spoiled, that such a people should so wretchedly degenerate.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. God would by his judgments separate them from him, send them into
captivity, deface all their beauty and ruin their excellency, so that
they should be like a fine girdle gone to rags, a worthless, useless,
despicable people. God will after this manner <I>mar the pride of
Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.</I> He would strip them of all
that which was the matter of their pride, of which they boasted and in
which they trusted; it should not only be sullied and stained, but
quite destroyed, like this linen girdle. Observe, He speaks of <I>the
pride of Judah</I> (the country people were proud of their holy land,
their good land), but of <I>the great pride of Jerusalem;</I> there the
temple was, and the royal palace, and therefore those citizens were
more proud than the inhabitants of other cities. God takes notice of
the degrees of men's pride, the pride of some and the great pride of
others; and he will mar it, he will stain it. Pride will have a fall,
for God resists the proud. He will either mar the pride that is in us
(that is, mortify it by his grace, make us ashamed of it, and, like
Hezekiah, humble us for the pride of our hearts, the great pride, and
cure us of it, great as it is; and this marring of the pride will be
making of the soul; happy for us if the humbling providences our hearts
be humbled) or else he will mar the thing we are proud of. Parts,
gifts, learning, power, external privileges, if we are proud of these,
it is just with God to blast them; even the temple, when it became
Jerusalem's pride, was marred and laid in ashes. It is the honour of
God to <I>took upon every one that is proud and abase him.</I></P>
<A NAME="Jer13_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Bottles Filled with Wine; Punishment Predicted; A Call to Repentance.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B.&nbsp;C.</FONT>&nbsp;606.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine:
and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every
bottle shall be filled with wine?
&nbsp; 13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Behold,
I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that
sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
&nbsp; 14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers
and the sons together, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: I will not pity, nor
spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
&nbsp; 15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
spoken.
&nbsp; 16 Give glory to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, before he cause darkness,
and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while
ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, <I>and</I>
make <I>it</I> gross darkness.
&nbsp; 17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret
places for <I>your</I> pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run
down with tears, because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s flock is carried away
captive.
&nbsp; 18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit
down: for your principalities shall come down, <I>even</I> the crown
of your glory.
&nbsp; 19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall
open <I>them:</I> Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it
shall be wholly carried away captive.
&nbsp; 20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north:
where <I>is</I> the flock <I>that</I> was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
&nbsp; 21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast
taught them <I>to be</I> captains, <I>and</I> as chief over thee: shall not
sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here is,
I. A judgment threatened against this people that would quite
intoxicate them. This doom is pronounced against them in a figure, to
make it the more taken notice of and the more affecting
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
<I>Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, every bottle shall be filled with
wine;</I> that is, those that by their sins have made themselves
<I>vessels of wrath fitted to destruction</I> shall be filled with the
wrath of God as a bottle is with wine; and, as every vessel of mercy
prepared for glory shall be filled with mercy and glory, so they shall
<I>be full of the fury of the Lord</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:20">Isa. li. 20</A>);
and they shall be brittle as bottles; and, like old bottles into which
new wine is put, they shall burst and be broken to pieces,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:17">Matt. ix. 17</A>.
Or, They shall have their heads as full of wine as bottle are; for so
it is explained,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>,
<I>They shall be filled with drunkenness;</I> compare
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:17">Isa. li. 17</A>.
It is probable that this was a common proverb among them, applied in
various ways; but they, not being aware of the prophet's meaning in it,
ridiculed him for it: "<I>Do we not certainly know</I> that <I>every
bottle shall be filled with wine?</I> What strange thing is there in
that? Tell us something that we did not know before." Perhaps they were
thus touchy with the prophet because they apprehended this to be a
reflection upon them for their drunkenness, and probably it was in part
so intended. They <I>loved flagons of wine,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:1">Hos. iii. 1</A>.
Their watchmen were all <I>for wine,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+56:12">Isa. lvi. 12</A>.
They loved their false prophets <I>that prophesied to them of wine</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+2:11">Mic. ii. 11</A>),
that bade them be merry, for that they should never want their bottle
to make them so. "Well," says the prophet, "you shall have your
<I>bottles full of wine,</I> but not such wine as you desire." They
suspected that he had some mystical meaning in it which prophesied no
good concerning them, but evil; and he owns that so he had. What he
meant was this,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. That they should be a giddy as men in drink. A drunken man is fitly
compared to a bottle or cask full of wine; for, when the wine is in,
the wit, and wisdom, and virtue, and all that is good for any thing,
are out. Now God threatens
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
that shall they shall all be <I>filled with drunkenness;</I> they shall
be full of confusion in their counsels, shall falter in all their talk
and stagger in all their motions; they shall not know what they say or
do, much less what they should say or do. They shall be sick of all
their enjoyments and throw them up as drunken men do,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:15">Job xx. 15</A>.
They shall fall into a slumber, and be utterly unable to help
themselves, and, like men that have drunk away their reason, shall lie
at the mercy and expose themselves to the contempt of all about them.
And this shall be the condition not of some among them (if any had been
sober, they might have helped the rest), but <I>even the kings that sit
upon the throne of David,</I> that should have been like their father
David, who was <I>wise as an angel of God,</I> shall be thus
intoxicated. Their priests and prophets too, their false prophets, that
pretended to guide them, were as indulgent of their lusts, and
therefore were justly as much deprived of their senses, as any other.
Nay, <I>all the inhabitants,</I> both <I>of the land</I> and <I>of
Jerusalem</I> were as far gone as they. Whom God will destroy he
infatuates.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. That, being giddy, they should run upon one another. The cup of the
wine of the Lord's fury shall throw them not only into a lethargy, so
that they shall not be able to help themselves or one another, but into
a perfect frenzy, so that they shall do mischief to themselves and one
another
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
<I>I will dash a man against his brother.</I> Not only their drunken
follies, but their drunken frays, shall help to ruin them. Drunken men
are often quarrelsome, and upon that account they have <I>woe and
sorrow</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:29,30">Prov. xxiii. 29, 30</A>);
so their sin is their punishment; it was so here. God sent an evil
spirit into families and neighbourhoods (as
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:23">Judg. ix. 23</A>),
which made them jealous of, and spiteful towards, one another; so that
<I>the fathers and sons</I> went <I>together</I> by the ears, and were
ready to pull one another to pieces, which made them all an easy prey
to the common enemy. This decree against them having gone forth, God
says, <I>I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy
them;</I> for they <I>will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy,</I> but
destroy one another; see
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:15,16">Hab. ii. 15, 16</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Here is good counsel given, which, if taken, would prevent this
desolation. It is, in short, to <I>humble themselves under the mighty
hand of God.</I> If they will <I>hearken and give ear,</I> this is that
which God has to say to them, <I>Be not proud,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
This was one of the sins for which God had a controversy with them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
let them mortify and forsake this sin, and God will let fall his
controversy. "<I>Be not proud.;</I> when God speaks to you by his
prophets do not think yourselves too good to be taught; be not
scornful, be not wilful, let not your hearts rise against the word, nor
slight the messengers that bring it to you. When God is coming forth
against you in his providence (and by them he speaks) be not secure
when he threatens, be not impatient when he strikes, for pride is at
the bottom of both." It is the great God that has spoken, whose
authority is incontestable, whose power is irresistible; therefore bow
to what he says, and <I>be not proud,</I> as you have been. They must
not be proud, for,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. They must advance God, and study how to do him honour: "Give
<I>glory to the Lord your God,</I> and not to your idols, not to other
gods. Give him glory by confessing your sins, owning yourselves guilty
before him, and accepting the punishment of your iniquity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
Give him glory by a sincere repentance and reformation." The and not
till then, we begin to live as we should, and to some good purpose,
when we begin to <I>give glory to the Lord our God,</I> to make his
honour our chief end and to seek it accordingly. "Do this quickly,
while your space to repent is continued to you; <I>before he cause
darkness,</I> before you will see no way of escaping." Note, Darkness
will be the portion of those that will not repent to <I>give glory to
God.</I> When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat
<I>repented not, to give glory to God.</I> When those that by the
fourth vial were scorched with heat <I>repented not, to give glory to
God,</I> the next vial filled them with <I>darkness,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+16:9,10">Rev. xvi. 9, 10</A>.
The aggravation of the darkness here threatened is,
(1.) That their attempts to escape shall hasten their ruin: <I>Their
feet shall stumble</I> when they are making all the haste they can over
<I>the dark mountains,</I> and they shall fall, and be unable to get up
again. Note, Those that think to out-run the judgments of God will
find their road impassable; let them make the best of their way, they
can make nothing of it, the judgments that pursue them will overtake
them; their way is dark and slippery,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+35:6">Ps. xxxv. 6</A>.
And therefore, before it comes to that extremity, it is our wisdom to
give glory to him, and so make our peace with him, to fly to his mercy,
and then there will be no occasion to fly from his justice.
(2.) That their hopes of a better state of things will be disappointed:
<I>While you look for light,</I> for comfort and relief, he will
<I>turn it into the shadow of death,</I> which is very dismal and
terrible, and make it <I>gross darkness,</I> like that of Egypt, when
Pharaoh continued to harden his heart, which was darkness that might be
felt. The expectation of impenitent sinners perishes when they die and
think to have it satisfied.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. They must abase themselves, and take shame to themselves; the
prerogative of the king and queen will not exempt them from this
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
"<I>Say to the king and queen,</I> that, great as they are, they must
<I>humble themselves</I> by true repentance, and so give both glory to
God and a good example to their subjects." Note, Those that are exalted
above others in the world must humble themselves before God, who is
higher than the highest, and to whom kings and queens are accountable.
They must <I>humble themselves,</I> and <I>sit down</I>--sit down, and
consider what is coming--sit down in the dust, and lament themselves.
Let them humble themselves, for God will otherwise take an effectual
course to humble them: "<I>Your principalities shall come down,</I> the
honour and power on which you value yourselves and in which you
confide, <I>even the crown of your glory,</I> your <I>goodly or
glorious crown:</I> when you are led away captives, where will your
principality and all the badges of it be then?" Blessed be God there is
a crown of glory, which those shall inherit who do humble themselves,
that shall never <I>come down.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. This counsel is enforced by some arguments if they continue proud
and unhumbled.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. It will be the prophet's unspeakable grief
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
"<I>If you will not hear it,</I> will not submit to the word, but
continue refractory, not only my eye, but <I>my soul shall weep in
secret places.</I>" Note, The obstinacy of people, in refusing to hear
the word of God, will be heart-breaking to the poor ministers, who know
something of the terrors of the Lord and the worth of souls, and are so
far from desiring that they tremble at the thoughts of the death of
sinners. His grief for it was undissembled (his <I>soul wept</I>) and
void of affectation, for he chose to weep <I>in secret places,</I>
where no eye saw him but his who is all eye. He would mingle his tears
not only with his public preaching, but with his private devotions.
Nay, thoughts of their case would make him melancholy, and he would
become a perfect recluse. It would grieve him,
(1.) To see their sins unrepented of: "<I>My soul shall weep for your
pride,</I> your haughtiness, and stubbornness, and vain confidence."
Note, The sins of others should be matter of sorrow to us. We must
mourn for that which we cannot mend, and mourn the more for it because
we cannot mend it.
(2.) To see their calamity past redress and remedy: "<I>My eyes shall
weep sorely,</I> not so much because my relations, friends, and
neighbours are in distress, but <I>because the Lord's flock,</I> his
people and the sheep of his pasture, <I>are carried away captive.</I>"
That should always grieve us most by which God's honour suffers and the
interest of his kingdom is weakened.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. It will be their own inevitable ruin,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:19-21"><I>v.</I> 19-21</A>.
(1.) The land shall be laid waste: <I>The cities of the south shall be
shut up.</I> The cities of Judah lay in the southern part of the land
of Canaan; these shall be straitly besieged by the enemy, so that there
shall be no going in or out, or they shall be deserted by the
inhabitants, that there shall be none to go in and out. Some understand
it of the cities of Egypt, which was south from Judah; the places there
whence they expected succours shall fail them, and they shall find no
access to them.
(2.) The inhabitants shall be hurried away into a foreign country,
there to live in slavery: <I>Judah shall be carried away captive.</I>
Some were already carried off, which they hoped might serve to answer
the prediction, and that the residue should still be left; but no:
<I>It shall be carried away all of it.</I> God will make a full end
with them: <I>It shall be wholly carried away.</I> So it was in the
last captivity under Zedekiah, because they repented not.
(3.) The enemy was now at hand that should do this
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
"<I>Lift up your eyes.</I> I see upon their march, and you may if you
will <I>behold, those that come from the north,</I> from the land of
the Chaldeans; see how fast they advance, how fierce they appear." Upon
this he addresses himself to the king, or rather (because the pronouns
are feminine) to the city or state.
[1.] "What will you do now with the people who are committed to your
charge, and whom you ought to protect? <I>Where is the flock that was
given thee, thy beautiful flock?</I> Whither canst thou take them now
for shelter? How can they escape these ravening wolves?" Magistrates
must look upon themselves as shepherds, and those that are under their
charge as their flock, which they are entrusted with the care of and
must give an account of; they must take delight in them as their
beautiful flock, and consider what to do for their safety in times of
public danger. Masters of families, who neglect their children and
suffer them to perish for want of a good education, and ministers who
neglect their people, should think they hear God putting this question
to them: <I>Where is the flock that was given thee</I> to feed, <I>that
beauteous flock?</I> It is starved; it is left exposed to the beasts of
prey. What account wilt thou give of them when the chief shepherd shall
appear?
[2.] "What have you to object against the equity of God's proceedings?
<I>What will thou say when he shall visit upon thee</I> the former
days?
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
Thou canst say nothing, but that <I>God is just in all that is brought
upon thee.</I>" Those that flatter themselves with hopes of impunity,
what will they say? What confusion will cover their faces when they
shall find themselves deceived and that God punishes them!
[3.] "What thoughts will you now have of your own folly, in giving the
Chaldeans such power over you, by seeking to them for assistance, and
joining in league with them? Thus <I>thou hast taught them against
thyself to be captains</I> and to <I>become the head.</I>" Hezekiah
began when he showed his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of
Babylon, tempting him thereby to come and plunder him. Those who,
having a God to trust to, court foreign alliances and confide in them,
do but make rods for themselves and teach their neighbours how to
become their masters.
[4.] "How will you bear the trouble that is at the door? <I>Shall not
sorrows take thee as a woman in travail?</I> Sorrows which thou canst
not escape nor put off, extremity of sorrows; and in these respects
more grievous than those of a woman in travail that they were not
expected before, and that there is no manchild to be born, the joy of
which shall make them afterwards to be forgotten."</P>
<A NAME="Jer13_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_23"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_24"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_25"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_26"> </A>
<A NAME="Jer13_27"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Punishment Predicted; Causes of Jerusalem's Ruin.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things
upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts
discovered, <I>and</I> thy heels made bare.
&nbsp; 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
<I>then</I> may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
&nbsp; 24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth
away by the wind of the wilderness.
&nbsp; 25 This <I>is</I> thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me,
saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in
falsehood.
&nbsp; 26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy
shame may appear.
&nbsp; 27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the
lewdness of thy whoredom, <I>and</I> thine abominations on the hills
in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made
clean? when <I>shall it</I> once <I>be?</I>
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here is,
I. Ruin threatened as before, that the Jews shall go into captivity,
and fall under all the miseries of beggary and bondage, shall be
stripped of their clothes, <I>their skirts discovered</I> for want of
upper garments to cover them, and their <I>heels made bare</I> for want
of shoes,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
Thus they used to deal with prisoners taken in war, when they drove
them into captivity, <I>naked and barefoot,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+20:4">Isa. xx. 4</A>.
Being thus carried off into a strange country, they shall be scattered
there, <I>as the stubble that is blown away by the wind of the
wilderness,</I> and nobody is concerned to bring it together again,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
If the stubble escape the fire, it shall be carried away by the wind.
If one judgment do not do the work, another shall, with those that by
sin have made themselves as stubble. They shall be stripped of all
their ornaments and exposed to shame, as harlots that are carted,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
They made their pride appear, but God will <I>make their shame
appear;</I> so that those who have doted on them shall be ashamed of
them.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. An enquiry made by the people into the cause of this ruin,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
Thou wilt <I>say in thy heart</I> (and God knows how to give a proper
answer to what men say in their hearts, though they do not speak it
out; <I>Jesus, knowing their thoughts,</I> replied to <I>them,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:4">Matt. ix. 4</A>),
<I>Wherefore came these things upon me?</I> The question is supposed to
come into the heart,
1. Of a sinner quarrelling with God and refusing to receive correction.
They could not see that they had done any thing which might justly
provoke God to be thus angry with them. They durst not speak it out;
but in their hearts they thus charged God with unrighteousness, if he
had <I>laid upon them more than was meet.</I> They seek for the cause
of their calamities, when, if they had not been willfully blind, they
might easily have seen it. Or,
2. Of a sinner returning to God. If there come but a penitent thought
into the heart at any time (saying, <I>What have I done?</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:6"><I>ch.</I> viii. 6</A>,
wherefore am I in affliction? why doth God contend with me?) God takes
notice of it, and is ready by his Spirit to impress the conviction,
that, sin being discovered, it may be repented of.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. An answer to this enquiry. God will be justified when he speaks
and will oblige us to justify him, and therefore will set the sin of
sinners in order before them. Do they ask, <I>Wherefore come these
things upon us?</I> Let them know it is all owing to themselves.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. It is for the greatness of their iniquities,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
God does not take advantage against them for small faults; no, the sins
for which he now punishes them are of the first rate, very heinous in
their own nature and highly aggravated--for <I>the multitude of thy
iniquity</I> (so it may be read), sins of every kind and often repeated
and relapsed into. Some think we are more in danger from the multitude
of our smaller sins than from the heinousness of our greater sins; of
both we may say, <I>Who can understand his errors?</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. It is for their obstinacy in sin, their being so long accustomed to
it that there was little hope left of their being reclaimed from it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
<I>Can the Ethiopian change his skin,</I> that is by nature black, or
the <I>leopard his spots,</I> that are even woven into the skin? Dirt
contracted may be washed off, but we cannot alter the natural colour of
a hair
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:36">Matt. v. 36</A>),
much less of the skin; and so impossible is it, morally impossible, to
reclaim and reform these people.
(1.) They had been long <I>accustomed to do evil.</I> They were taught
to do evil; they had been educated and brought up in sin; they had
served an apprenticeship to it, and had all their days made a trade of
it. It was so much their constant practice that it had become a second
nature to them.
(2.) Their prophets therefore despaired of ever bring them to do good.
This was what they aimed at; they persuaded them to cease to do evil
and learn to do well, but could not prevail. They had so long been used
to do evil that it was next to impossible for them to repent, and
amend, and begin to do good. Note, Custom in sin is a very great
hindrance to conversion from sin. The disease that is inveterate is
generally thought incurable. Those that have been long accustomed to
sin have shaken off the restraint of fear and shame; their consciences
are seared; the habits of sin are confirmed; it pleads prescription;
and it is just with God to give those up to their own hearts' lusts
that have long refused to give themselves up to his grace. Sin is the
blackness of the soul, the deformity of it; it is its spot, the
discolouring of it; it is natural to us, we were shapen in it, so that
we cannot get clear of it by any power of our own. But there is an
almighty grace that is able to change the Ethiopian's skin, and that
grace shall not be wanting to those who in a sense of their need of it
seek it earnestly and improve it faithfully.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. It is for their treacherous departures from the God of truth and
dependence on lying vanities
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
"<I>This is thy lot,</I> to be scattered and driven away; this is
<I>the portion of thy measures from me,</I> the punishment assigned
thee as by line and measure; this shall be thy share of the miseries of
this world; expect it, and think not to escape it: it is <I>because
thou hast forgotten me,</I> the favours I have bestowed upon thee and
the obligations thou art under to me; thou hast no sense, no
remembrance, of these." Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of all
sin, as the remembrance of our Creator betimes is the happy and hopeful
beginning of a holy life. "Having <I>forgotten me, thou hast trusted in
falsehood,</I> in idols, in an arm of flesh in Egypt and Assyria, in
the self-flatteries of a deceitful heart." Whatever those trust to that
forsake God, they will find it a <I>broken reed,</I> a <I>broken
cistern.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
4. It is for their idolatry, their spiritual whoredom, that sin which
is of all sins most provoking to the <I>jealous God.</I> They are
exposed to a shameful calamity
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>)
because they have been guilty of a shameful iniquity and yet are
shameless in it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
"<I>I have seen thy adulteries</I> (thy inordinate fancy for strange
gods, which thou hast been impatient for the gratification of, and hast
even <I>neighed</I> after it), even the <I>lewdness of thy
whoredoms,</I> thy impudence and insatiableness in them, thy eager
worshipping of idols <I>on the hills in the fields,</I> upon the high
places. This is that for which a <I>woe</I> is denounced against thee,
<I>O Jerusalem!</I> nay, and many woes."</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. Here is an affectionate expostulation with them, in the close, upon
the whole matter. Though it was adjudged next to impossible for them to
be brought to do good
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
yet while there is life there is hope, and therefore still he reasons
with them to bring them to repentance,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
1. He reasons with them concerning the thing itself: <I>Wilt thou not
be made clean?</I> Note, It is the great concern of those who are
polluted by sin to be made clean by repentance, and faith, and a
universal reformation. The reason why sinners are not made clean is
because they will not be made clean; and herein they act most
unreasonably: "<I>Wilt thou not be made clean?</I> Surely thou will at
length be persuaded to <I>wash thee, and make thee clean,</I> and so be
wise for thyself."
2. Concerning the time of it: <I>When shall it once be?</I> Note, It is
an instance of the wonderful grace of God that he desires the
repentance and conversion of sinners, and thinks the time long till
they are brought to relent; but it is an instance of the wonderful
folly of sinners that they put that off from time to time which is of
such absolute necessity that, if it be not done some time, they are
certainly undone for ever. They do not say that they will never be
cleansed, but not yet; they will defer it to a more convenient season,
but cannot tell us when it shall once be.</P>
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