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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J E R E M I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. The general inscription or title of this book, with the time of the
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continuance of Jeremiah's public ministry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office, his modest objection
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against it answered, and an ample commission given him for the
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execution of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:4-10">ver. 4-10</A>.
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III. The visions of an almond-rod and a seething-pot, signifying the
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approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:11-16">ver. 11-16</A>.
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IV. Encouragement given to the prophet to go on undauntedly in his
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work, in an assurance of God's presence with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:17-19">ver. 17-19</A>.
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Thus is he set to work by one that will be sure to bear him out.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Inscription.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 629.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that
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<I>were</I> in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
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2 To whom the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came in the days of Josiah the
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son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
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3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king
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of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son
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of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem
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captive in the fifth month.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here as much as it was thought fit we should know of the
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genealogy of this prophet and the chronology of this prophecy.
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1. We are told what family the prophet was of. He was <I>the son of
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Hilkiah,</I> not that Hilkiah, it is supposed, who was high priest in
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Josiah's time (for then he would have been called so, and not, as here,
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one <I>of the priests that were in Anathoth</I>), but another of the
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same name. Jeremiah signifies one <I>raised up by the Lord.</I> It is
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said of Christ that he is a prophet whom the Lord our God <I>raised up
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unto us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+18:15">Deut. xviii. 15, 18</A>.
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He was <I>of the priests,</I> and, as a priest, was authorized and
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appointed to teach the people; but to that authority and appointment
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God added the extraordinary commission of a prophet. Ezekiel also was a
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priest. Thus God would support the honour of the priesthood at a time
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when, by their sins and God's judgments upon them, it was sadly
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eclipsed. He was of the priests in Anathoth, a city of priests, which
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lay about three miles from Jerusalem. Abiathar had his country house
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there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+2:26">1 Kings ii. 26</A>.
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2. We have the general date of his prophecies, the knowledge of which
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is requisite to the understanding of them.
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(1.) He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Josiah, in the twelfth year of his reign, began a work of reformation,
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applied himself with all sincerity to purge Judah and Jerusalem from
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the <I>high places, and the groves, and the images,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+34:3">2 Chron. xxxiv. 3</A>.
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And very seasonably then was this young prophet raised up to assist and
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encourage the young king in that good work. Then <I>the word of the
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Lord</I> came to him, not only a charge and commission to him to
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prophesy, but a revelation of the things themselves which he was to
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deliver. As it is an encouragement to ministers to be countenanced and
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protected by such pious magistrates as Josiah was, so it is a great
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help to magistrates, in any good work of reformation, to be advised and
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animated, and to have a great deal of their work done for them, by such
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faithful zealous ministers as Jeremiah was. Now, one would have
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expected when these two joined forces, such a prince, and such a
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prophet (as in a like case,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+5:1,2">Ezra v. 1, 2</A>),
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and both young, such a complete reformation would be brought about and
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settled as would prevent the ruin of the church and state; but it
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proved quite otherwise. In the eighteenth year of Josiah we find there
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were a great many of the relics of idolatry that were not purged out;
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for what can the best princes and prophets do to prevent the ruin of a
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people that hate to be reformed? And therefore, though it was a time of
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reformation, Jeremiah continued to foretel the destroying judgments
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that were coming upon them; for there is no symptom more threatening to
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any people than fruitless attempts of reformation. Josiah and Jeremiah
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would have healed them, but they would not be healed.
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(2.) He continued to prophesy through the reigns of Jehoiakim and
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Zedekiah, each of whom reigned eleven years. He prophesied <I>to the
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carrying away of Jerusalem captive</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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that great event which he had so often prophesied of. He continued to
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prophesy after that,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+40:1"><I>ch.</I> xl. 1</A>.
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But the computation here is made to end with that because it was the
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accomplishment of many of his predictions; and from the thirteenth of
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Josiah to the captivity was just forty years. Dr. Lightfoot observes
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that as Moses was so long with the people, a teacher in the wilderness,
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till they entered into their own land, Jeremiah was so long in their
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own land a teacher, before they went into the wilderness of the
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heathen: and he thinks that <I>therefore</I> a special mark is set upon
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the last forty years of the iniquity of Judah, which Ezekiel bore forty
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days, a day for a year, because during all that time they had Jeremiah
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prophesying among them, which was a great aggravation of their
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impenitency. God, in this prophet, suffered their manners, their ill
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manners, forty years, and at length swore in his wrath that they should
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not continue in his rest.</P>
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<A NAME="Jer1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer1_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jeremiah's Call to the Prophetic Office.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 629.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Then the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
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thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, <I>and</I> I
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ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
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6 Then said I, Ah, Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>! behold, I cannot speak: for I <I>am</I>
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a child.
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7 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, Say not, I <I>am</I> a child: for thou
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shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command
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thee thou shalt speak.
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8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I <I>am</I> with thee to deliver
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thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 Then the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
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10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
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kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to
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throw down, to build, and to plant.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Jeremiah's early designation to the work and office of a prophet,
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which God gives him notice of as a reason for his early application to
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that business
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>):
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<I>The word of the Lord came to him,</I> with a satisfying assurance to
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himself that it was the word of the Lord and not a delusion; and God
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told him,
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1. That he had <I>ordained him a prophet to the nations,</I> or
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<I>against the nations,</I> the nation of the Jews in the first place,
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who are now <I>reckoned among the nations</I> because they had learned
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their works and mingled with them in their idolatries, for otherwise
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they would not have been numbered with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+23:9">Num. xxiii. 9</A>.
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Yet he was given to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the
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neighbouring nations, to whom he was to <I>send yokes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+27:2,3"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 2, 3</A>)
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and whom he must make to <I>drink of the cup</I> of the Lord's anger,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:17"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 17</A>.
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He is still in his writings a prophet to the nations (to our nation
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among the rest), to tell them what the national judgments are which may
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be expected for national sins. It would be well for the nations would
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they take Jeremiah for their prophet and attend to the warnings he
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gives them.
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2. That before he was born, even in his eternal counsel, he had
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designed him to be so. Let him know that he who gave him his commission
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is the same that gave him his being, that <I>formed him in the
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belly</I> and brought him <I>forth out of the womb,</I> that therefore
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he was his rightful owner and might employ him and make use of him as
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he pleased, and that this commission was given him in pursuance of the
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purpose God had purposed in himself concerning him, before he was born:
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"<I>I knew thee, and I sanctified thee,</I>" that is, "I determined
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that thou shouldst be a prophet and set thee apart for the office."
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Thus St. Paul says of himself that God had <I>separated him from his
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mother's womb</I> to be a Christian and an apostle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+1:15">Gal. i. 15</A>.
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Observe,
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(1.) The great Creator knows what use to make of every man before he
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makes him. He has <I>made all for himself,</I> and of the same lumps
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of clay designs <I>a vessel of honour or dishonour,</I> as he pleases,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:21">Rom. ix. 21</A>.
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(2.) What God has designed men for he will call them to; for his
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purposes cannot be frustrated. Known unto God are all his own works
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beforehand, and his knowledge is infallible and his purpose
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unchangeable.
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(3.) There is a particular purpose and providence of God conversant
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about his prophets and ministers; they are by special counsel designed
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for their work, and what they are designed for they are fitted for: I
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that <I>knew thee, sanctified thee.</I> God destines them to it, and
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forms them for it, when he first forms the spirit of man within him.
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<I>Propheta nascitur, non fit--Original endowment, not education, makes
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a prophet.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. His modestly declining this honourable employment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Though God had predestinated him to it, yet it was news to him, and a
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mighty surprise, to hear that he should be <I>a prophet to the
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nations.</I> We know not what God intends us for, but he knows. One
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would have thought he would catch at it as a piece of preferment, for
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so it was; but he objects against it, as a work for which he is
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unqualified: "<I>Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak</I> to great men
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and multitudes, as prophets must; I cannot speak finely nor fluently,
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cannot word things well, as a message from God should be worded; I
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cannot speak with any authority, nor can expect to be heeded, <I>for I
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am a child</I> and my youth will be despised." Note, It becomes us,
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when we have any service to do for God, to be afraid lest we mismanage
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it, and lest it suffer through our weakness and unfitness for it; it
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becomes us likewise to have low thoughts of ourselves and to be
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diffident of our own sufficiency. Those that are young should consider
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that they are so, should be afraid, as Elihu was, and not venture
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beyond their length.</P>
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<P>
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III. The assurance God graciously gave him that he would stand by him
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and carry him on in his work.</P>
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<P>
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1. Let him not object that he is a child; he shall be a prophet for all
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that
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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"<I>Say no</I> any more, <I>I am a child.</I> It is true thou art;
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but,"
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(1.) "Thou hast God's precept, and let not thy being young hinder thee
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from obeying it. Go to all <I>to whom I shall send thee and speak
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whatsoever I command thee.</I>" Note, Though a sense of our own
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weakness and insufficiency should make us go humbly about our work, yet
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it should not make us draw back from it when God calls us to it. God
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was angry with Moses even for his modest excuses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:14">Exod. iv. 14</A>.
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(2.) "Thou hast God's presence, and let not thy being young discourage
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thee from depending upon it. Though thou art a child, thou shalt be
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<I>enabled to go to all to whom I shall send thee,</I> though they are
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ever so great and ever so many. And <I>whatsoever I command thee</I>
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thou shalt have judgment, memory, and language, wherewith to speak it
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as it should be spoken." Samuel delivered a message from God to Eli,
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when he was a little child. Note, God can, when he pleases, make
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children prophets, and <I>ordain strength out of the mouth of babes and
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sucklings.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. Let him not object that he shall meet with many enemies and much
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opposition; God will be his protector
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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"<I>Be not afraid of their races;</I> though they look big, and so
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think to outface thee and put thee out of countenance, yet <I>be not
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afraid to speak to them;</I> no, not to speak that to them which is
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most unpleasing. Thou speakest in the name of the King of kings, and by
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authority from him, and with that thou mayest <I>face them down.</I>
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Though they look angry, be not afraid of their displeasure nor
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disturbed with apprehensions of the consequences of it." Those that
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have messages to deliver from God must not be <I>afraid of the face of
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man,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:9">Ezek. iii. 9</A>.
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"And thou hast cause both to be bold and easy; for <I>I am with
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thee,</I> not only to assist thee in thy work, but to deliver thee out
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of the hands of the persecutors; and, <I>if God be for thee, who can be
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against thee?</I>" If God do not deliver his ministers from trouble, it
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is to the same effect if he support them under their trouble. Mr.
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Gataker well observes here, That earthly princes are not wont to go
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along with their ambassadors; but God goes along with those whom he
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sends, and is, by his powerful protection, at all times and in all
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places present with them; and with this they ought to animate
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themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:10">Acts xviii. 10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. Let him not object that he cannot speak as becomes him--God will
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enable him to speak.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) To speak intelligently, and as one that had acquaintance with God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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He having now a vision of the divine glory, the Lord <I>put forth his
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hand,</I> and by a sensible sign conferred upon him so much of the gift
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of the tongue as was necessary for him: <I>He touched his mouth,</I>
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and with that touch <I>opened his lips,</I> that his mouth should show
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forth God's praise, with that touch sweetly conveyed <I>his words into
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his mouth,</I> to be ready to him upon all occasions, so that he could
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never want words who was thus furnished by him that <I>made man's
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mouth.</I> God not only put knowledge into his head, but <I>words into
|
|
his mouth;</I> for there are <I>words which the Holy Ghost teaches,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:13">1 Cor. ii. 13</A>.
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|
|
|
It is fit God's message should be delivered in his own words, that it
|
|
may be delivered accurately.
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:4">Ezek. iii. 4</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Speak with my words.</I> And those that faithfully do so shall not
|
|
want instructions as the case requires; God will give them a mouth and
|
|
wisdom <I>in that same hour,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:19">Matt. x. 19</A>.</P>
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|
|
|
<P>
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|
|
|
(2.) To speak powerfully, and as one that had authority from God,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a strange commission that is here given him: <I>See, I have this
|
|
day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms.</I> This sounds
|
|
very great, and yet Jeremiah is a poor despicable priest still; he is
|
|
not set over the kingdoms as a prince to rule them by the sword, but as
|
|
a prophet by the power of the word of God. Those that would hence prove
|
|
the pope's supremacy over kings, and his authority to depose them and
|
|
dispose of their kingdoms at his pleasure, must prove that he has the
|
|
same extraordinary spirit of prophecy that Jeremiah had, else how can
|
|
be have the power that Jeremiah had by virtue of that spirit? And yet
|
|
the power that Jeremiah had (who, notwithstanding his power, lived in
|
|
meanness and contempt, and under oppression) would not content these
|
|
proud men. Jeremiah was <I>set over the nations,</I> the Jewish nation
|
|
in the first place, and other nations, some great ones besides, against
|
|
whom he prophesied; he was set over them, not to demand tribute from
|
|
them nor to enrich himself with their spoils, but to <I>root out, and
|
|
pull down, and destroy,</I> and yet withal <I>to build and plant.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] He must attempt to reform the nations, to <I>root out, and pull
|
|
down, and destroy</I> idolatry and other wickednesses among them, to
|
|
extirpate those vicious habits and customs which had long taken root,
|
|
to <I>throw down</I> the kingdom of sin, that religion and virtue might
|
|
be <I>planted</I> and <I>built</I> among them. And, to the introducing
|
|
and establishing of that which is good, it is necessary that that which
|
|
is evil be removed.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He must tell them that it would be well or ill with them according
|
|
as they were, or were not, reformed. He must set before them <I>life
|
|
and death, good and evil,</I> according to God's declaration of the
|
|
method he takes with kingdoms and nations,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+18:9-10"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 9-10</A>.
|
|
|
|
He must assure those who persisted in their wickedness that they should
|
|
be <I>rooted out and destroyed,</I> and those who repented that they
|
|
should be <I>built and planted.</I> He was authorized to read the doom
|
|
of nations, and God would <I>ratify it</I> and <I>fulfil it</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:26">Isa. xliv. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
would do it according to his word, and therefore is said to do it
|
|
<I>by</I> his word. It is thus expressed partly to show how sure the
|
|
word of prophecy is--it will as certainly be accomplished as if it were
|
|
done already, and partly to put an honour upon the prophetic office and
|
|
make it look truly great, that others may not despise the prophets nor
|
|
they disparage themselves. And yet more honourable does the gospel
|
|
ministry look, in that declarative power Christ gave his apostles to
|
|
<I>remit and retain sin</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+20:23">John xx. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>to bind and loose,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+18:18">Matt. xviii. 18</A>.</P>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="Jer1_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer1_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Charge Given to Jeremiah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 629.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Moreover the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
|
|
Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond
|
|
tree.
|
|
12 Then said the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will
|
|
hasten my word to perform it.
|
|
13 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me the second time,
|
|
saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and
|
|
the face thereof <I>is</I> toward the north.
|
|
14 Then the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall
|
|
break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
|
|
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the
|
|
north, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and they shall come, and they shall set
|
|
every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem,
|
|
and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all
|
|
the cities of Judah.
|
|
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all
|
|
their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense
|
|
unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
|
|
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto
|
|
them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces,
|
|
lest I confound thee before them.
|
|
18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and
|
|
an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against
|
|
the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the
|
|
priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
|
|
19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not
|
|
prevail against thee; for I <I>am</I> with thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to
|
|
deliver thee.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. God gives Jeremiah, in vision, a view of the principal errand he was
|
|
to go upon, which was to foretel the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem
|
|
by the Chaldeans, for their sins, especially their idolatry. This was
|
|
at first represented to him in away proper to make an impression upon
|
|
him, that he might have it upon his heart in all his dealings with this
|
|
people.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He intimates to him that the people were ripening apace for ruin and
|
|
that ruin was hastening apace towards them. God, having answered his
|
|
objection, that he was <I>a child,</I> goes on to initiate him in the
|
|
prophetical learning and language; and, having promised to enable him
|
|
to speak intelligibly to the people, he here teaches him to understand
|
|
what God says to him; for prophets must have eyes in their heads as
|
|
well as tongues, must be seers as well as speakers. He therefore asks
|
|
him, "<I>Jeremiah, what seest thou?</I> Look about thee, and observe
|
|
now." And he was soon aware of what was presented to him: "<I>I see a
|
|
rod,</I> denoting affliction and chastisement, a correcting rod hanging
|
|
over us; and it is a <I>rod of an almond-tree,</I> which is one of the
|
|
forwardest trees in the spring, is in the bud and blossom quickly, when
|
|
other trees are scarcely broken out;" it flourishes, says Pliny, in the
|
|
month of January, and by March has ripe fruits; hence it is called in
|
|
the Hebrew, <I>Shakedh,</I> the <I>hasty tree.</I> Whether this rod
|
|
that Jeremiah saw had already budded, as some think, or whether it was
|
|
stripped and dry, as others think, and yet Jeremiah knew it to be of an
|
|
almond-tree, as Aaron's rod was, is uncertain; but God explained it in
|
|
the next words
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast well seen.</I> God commended him that he was so observant,
|
|
and so quick of apprehension, as to be aware, though it was the first
|
|
vision he ever saw, that it was <I>a rod of an almond-tree,</I> that
|
|
his mind was so composed as to be able to distinguish. Prophets have
|
|
need of good eyes; and those that see well shall be commended, and not
|
|
those only that speak well. "Thou hast seen a <I>hasty tree,</I> which
|
|
signifies that <I>I will hasten my word to perform it.</I>" Jeremiah
|
|
shall prophesy that which he himself shall live to see accomplished. We
|
|
have the explication of this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:10,11">Ezek. vii. 10, 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
"<I>The rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded, violence has risen up
|
|
into a rod of wickedness.</I> The measure of Jerusalem's iniquity fills
|
|
very fast; and, as if their destruction slumbered too long, they waken
|
|
it, they hasten it, and I will hasten to perform what I have spoken
|
|
against them."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He intimates to him whence the intended ruin should arise. Jeremiah
|
|
is a second time asked: <I>What seest thou?</I> and he sees <I>a
|
|
seething-pot</I> upon the fire
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
representing Jerusalem and Judah in great commotion, like boiling
|
|
water, by reason of the descent which the Chaldean army made upon them;
|
|
made <I>like a fiery oven</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:9">Ps. xxi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
all in a heat, wasting away as boiling water does and sensibly
|
|
evaporating and growing less and less, ready to boil over, to be thrown
|
|
out of their own city and land, as out of the pan into the fire, from
|
|
bad to worse. Some think that those scoffers referred to this who said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+11:3">Ezek. xi. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>This city is the cauldron, and we are the flesh.</I> Now the mouth
|
|
or face of the furnace or hearth, over which this pot boiled, was
|
|
<I>towards the north,</I> for thence the fire and the fuel were to come
|
|
that must <I>make the pot boil thus.</I> So the vision is explained
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Out of the north an evil shall break forth,</I> or <I>shall be
|
|
opened.</I> It had been long designed by the justice of God, and long
|
|
deserved by the sin of the people, and yet hitherto the divine patience
|
|
had restrained it, and held it in, as it were; the enemies had intended
|
|
it, and God had checked them; but now all restraints shall be taken
|
|
off, and the <I>evil shall break forth;</I> the direful scene shall
|
|
open, and the enemy shall come in like a flood. It shall be a universal
|
|
calamity; it shall come <I>upon all the inhabitants of the land,</I>
|
|
from the highest to the lowest, for they have all corrupted their way.
|
|
Look for this storm to arise <I>out of the north, whence fair weather
|
|
usually comes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:22">Job xxxvii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
When there was friendship between Hezekiah and the king of Babylon they
|
|
promised themselves many advantages <I>out of the north;</I> but it
|
|
proved quite otherwise: <I>out of the north</I> their trouble arose.
|
|
Thence sometimes the fiercest tempests come whence we expected fair
|
|
weather. This is further explained
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
where we may observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The raising of the army that shall invade Judah and lay it waste:
|
|
<I>I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the
|
|
Lord.</I> All the northern crowns shall unite under Nebuchadnezzar, and
|
|
join with him in this expedition. They lie dispersed, but God, who has
|
|
all men's hearts in his hand, will bring them together; they lie at a
|
|
distance from Judah, but God, who directs all men's steps, will call
|
|
them, and they shall come, though they be ever so far off. God's
|
|
summons shall be obeyed; those whom he calls shall come. When he has
|
|
work to do of any kind he will find instruments to do it, though he
|
|
send to the utmost parts of the earth for them. And, that the armies
|
|
brought into the field may be sufficiently numerous and strong, he will
|
|
call not only the <I>kingdoms of the north, but all the families</I> of
|
|
those kingdoms, into the service; not one able-bodied man shall be left
|
|
behind.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The advance of this army. The commanders of the troops of the
|
|
several nations shall take their post in carrying on the siege of
|
|
Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. They shall set <I>every one
|
|
his throne,</I> or seat. When a city is besieged we say, The enemy sits
|
|
down before it. They shall encamp some at the <I>entering of the gates,
|
|
others against the walls round about,</I> to cut off both the going out
|
|
of the mouths and the coming in of the meat, and so to starve them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He tells him plainly what was the procuring cause of all these
|
|
judgments; it was the <I>sin of Jerusalem</I> and of the <I>cities of
|
|
Judah</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will pass sentence upon them</I> (so it may be read) or <I>give
|
|
judgment against them</I> (this sentence, this judgment) <I>because of
|
|
all their wickedness;</I> it is this that plucks up the flood-gates and
|
|
lets in this inundation of calamities. They <I>have forsaken God</I>
|
|
and revolted from their allegiance to him, and have <I>burnt incense to
|
|
other gods,</I> new gods, strange gods, and all false gods, pretenders,
|
|
usurpers, the creatures of their own fancy, and <I>they have worshipped
|
|
the works of their own hands.</I> Jeremiah was young, had looked but
|
|
little abroad into the world, and perhaps did not know, nor could have
|
|
believed, what abominable idolatries the children of his people were
|
|
guilty of; but God tells him, that he might know what to level his
|
|
reproofs against and what to ground his threatenings upon, and that he
|
|
might himself be satisfied in the equity of the sentence which in God's
|
|
name he was to pass upon them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God excites and encourages Jeremiah to apply himself with all
|
|
diligence and seriousness to his business. A great trust is committed
|
|
to him. He is sent in God's name as a herald at arms, to proclaim war
|
|
against his rebellious subjects; for God is pleased to give warning of
|
|
his judgments beforehand, that sinners may be awakened to meet him by
|
|
repentance, and so <I>turn away his wrath,</I> and that, if they do
|
|
not, they may be left inexcusable. With this trust Jeremiah has a
|
|
charge given him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins;</I> free thyself from all those
|
|
things that would unfit thee for or hinder thee in this service; buckle
|
|
to it with readiness and resolution, and be not entangled with doubts
|
|
about it." He must be quick: <I>Arise,</I> and lose no time. He must be
|
|
busy: <I>Arise, and speak unto them</I> in season, out of season. He
|
|
must be bold: <I>Be not dismayed at their faces,</I> as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
In a word, he must be faithful; it is required of ambassadors that they
|
|
be so.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. In two things he must be faithful:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) He must speak all that he is charged with: <I>Speak all that I
|
|
command thee.</I> He must forget nothing as minute, or foreign, or not
|
|
worth mentioning; every word of God is weighty. He must conceal nothing
|
|
for fear of offending; he must alter nothing under pretence of making
|
|
it more fashionable or more palatable, but, without addition or
|
|
diminution, <I>declare the whole counsel of God.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He must speak to all that he is charged against; he must not
|
|
whisper it in a corner to a few particular friends that will take it
|
|
well, but he must appear <I>against the kings of Judah,</I> if they be
|
|
wicked kings, and bear his testimony against the sins even <I>of the
|
|
princes thereof;</I> for the greatest of men are not exempt from the
|
|
judgments either of God's hand or of his mouth. Nay, he must not spare
|
|
<I>the priests thereof;</I> though he himself was a priest, and was
|
|
concerned to maintain the dignity of his order, yet he must not
|
|
therefore flatter them in their sins. He must appear against the
|
|
<I>people of the land,</I> though they were his own people, as far as
|
|
they were against the Lord.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Two reasons are here given why he should do thus:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because he had reason to fear the wrath of God if he should be
|
|
false: "<I>Be not dismayed at their faces,</I> so as to desert thy
|
|
office, or shrink from the duty of it, <I>lest I confound and dismay
|
|
thee before them,</I> lest I give thee up to thy faintheartedness."
|
|
Those that consult their own credit, ease, and safety, more than their
|
|
work and duty, are justly left of God to themselves, and to bring upon
|
|
themselves the shame of their own cowardliness. Nay, <I>lest I reckon
|
|
with thee for thy faintheartedness, and break thee to pieces;</I> so
|
|
some read it. Therefore this prophet says
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:17"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
Lord, <I>be not thou a terror to me.</I> Note, The fear of God is the
|
|
best antidote against the fear of man. Let us always be afraid of
|
|
offending God, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell, and
|
|
then we shall be in little danger of fearing the faces of men that can
|
|
but kill the body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:4,5">Luke xii. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+4:14">Neh. iv. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is better to have all the men in the world our enemies than God our
|
|
enemy.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because he had no reason to fear the wrath of men if he were
|
|
faithful; for the God whom he served would protect him, and bear him
|
|
out, so that they should neither sink his spirits nor drive him off
|
|
from his work, should neither stop his mouth nor take away his life,
|
|
till he had finished his testimony,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
This young stripling of a prophet is made by the power of God as an
|
|
impregnable city, fortified with iron pillars and surrounded with walls
|
|
of brass; he sallies out upon the enemy in reproofs and threatenings,
|
|
and <I>keeps them in awe.</I> They set upon him on every side; the
|
|
kings and princes batter him with their power, the priests thunder
|
|
against him with their church-censures, and <I>the people of the
|
|
land</I> shoot their arrows at him, even slanderous and bitter words;
|
|
but he shall keep his ground and make his part good with them; he shall
|
|
still be a curb upon them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
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<I>They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail to destroy
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thee, for I am with thee to deliver thee</I> out of their hands; nor
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shall they prevail to defeat the word that God sends them by Jeremiah,
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nor to deliver themselves; it shall take hold of them, for God is
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against them to destroy them. Note, Those who are sure that they have
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God with them (as he is if they be with him) need not, ought not, to be
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afraid, whoever is against them.</P>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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