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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Jeremiah III].</TITLE>
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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. III.</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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The foregoing chapter was wholly taken up with reproofs and
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threatenings against the people of God, for their apostasies from him;
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but in this chapter gracious invitations and encouragements are given
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them to return and repent, notwithstanding the multitude and greatness
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of their provocations, which are here specified, to magnify the mercy
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of God, and to show that as sin abounded grace did much more abound.
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Here,
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I. It is further shown how bad they had been and how well they deserved
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to be quite abandoned, and yet how ready God was to receive them into
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his favour upon their repentance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The impenitence of Judah, and their persisting in sin, are
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aggravated from the judgments of God upon Israel, which they should
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have taken warning by,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:6-11">ver. 6-11</A>.
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III. Great encouragements are given to these backsliders to return and
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repent, and promises made of great mercy which God had in store for
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them, and which he would prepare them for by bringing them home to
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himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:12-19">ver. 12-19</A>.
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IV. The charge renewed against them for their apostasy from God, and
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the invitation repeated to return and repent, to which are here added
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the words that are put in their mouth, which they should make use of in
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their return to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:20-25">ver. 20-25</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_5"> </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 Wickedness of Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 620.</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 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him,
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and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall
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not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the
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harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou
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hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as
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the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land
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with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
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3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath
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been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou
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refusedst to be ashamed.
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4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou
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<I>art</I> the guide of my youth?
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5 Will he reserve <I>his anger</I> for ever? will he keep <I>it</I> to
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the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou
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couldest.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These verses some make to belong to the sermon in the foregoing
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chapter, and they open a door of hope to those who receive the
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conviction of the reproofs we had there; God wounds that he may heal.
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Now observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. How basely this people had forsaken God and gone a whoring from him.
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The charge runs very high here.
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1. They had multiplied their idols and their idolatries. To have
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admitted one strange God among them would have been bad enough, but
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they were insatiable in their lustings after false worships: <I>Thou
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hast played the harlot with many lovers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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She had become a common prostitute to idols; not a foolish deity was
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set up in all the neighbourhood but the Jews would have it quickly.
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Where was a high place in the country but they had had an idol in it?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note, In repentance it is good to make sorrowful reflections upon the
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particular acts of sin we have been guilty of, and the several places
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and companies where it has been committed, that we may give glory to
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God and take shame to ourselves by a particular confession of it.
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2. They had sought opportunity for their idolatries, and had sent
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about to enquire for new gods: <I>In the</I> high--<I>ways hast thou
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sat for them,</I> as Tamar when she put on the disguise of <I>a
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harlot</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:14">Gen. xxxviii. 14</A>),
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and as the <I>foolish woman,</I> that sits to <I>call passengers, who
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go right on their way,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+9:14,15">Prov. ix. 14, 15</A>.
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<I>As the Arabian in the wilderness</I>--the <I>Arabian huckster</I>
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(so some), that courts customers, or waits for the merchants to get a
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good bargain and forestal the market--or the <I>Arabian thief</I> (so
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others), that watches for his prey; so had they waited either to court
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new gods to come among them (the newer the better, and the more fond
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they were of them) or to court others to join with them in their
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idolatries. They were not only sinners, but Satans, not only traitors
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themselves, but tempters to others.
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3. They had grown very impudent in sin. They not only polluted
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themselves, but <I>their land, with their whoredoms and with their
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wickedness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>);
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for it was universal and unpunished, and so became a national sin. And
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yet
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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"<I>Thou hadst a whore's forehead,</I> a brazen face of thy own.
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<I>Thou refusedst to be ashamed;</I> thou didst enough to shame thee
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for ever, and yet wouldst not take shame to thyself." Blushing is the
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colour of virtue, or at least a relic of it; but those that are past
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shame (we say) are past hope. Those that have an adulterer's heart, if
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they indulge that, will come at length to have a whore's forehead, void
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of all shame and modesty.
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4. They abounded in all manner of sin. They polluted the land not only
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with <I>their whoredoms</I> (that is, their idolatries), but with
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<I>their wickedness,</I> or malice
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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sins against the second table: for how can we think that those will be
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true to their neighbour that are false to their God? "Nay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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<I>thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldst,</I> and
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wouldst have spoken and done worse if thou hadst known how; thy will
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was to do it, but thou lackedst opportunity." Note, Those are wicked
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indeed that sin to the utmost of their power, that never refuse to
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comply with a temptation because they should not, but because they
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cannot.</P>
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<P>
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II. How gently God had corrected them for their sins. Instead of
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raining fire and brimstone upon them, because, like Sodom, they had
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<I>avowed their sin</I> and had gone after strange gods as Sodom after
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strange flesh, he only <I>withheld the showers from them,</I> and that
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only one part of the year: <I>There has been no latter rain,</I> which
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might serve as an intimation to them of their continual dependence upon
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God; when they had the former rain, that was no security to them for
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the latter, but they must still look up to God. But it had not this
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effect.</P>
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<P>
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III. How justly God might have abandoned them utterly, and refused ever
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to receive them again, though they should return; this would have been
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but according to the known rule of divorces,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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<I>They say</I> (it is an adjudged case, nay, it is a case in which the
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law is very express, and it is what every body knows and speaks of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+24:4">Deut. xxiv. 4</A>),
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that if a woman be once put away for whoredom, and be joined to
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<I>another man,</I> her first husband shall never, upon any pretence
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whatsoever, take her again to be his wife; such playing fast and loose
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with the marriage-bond would be a horrid profanation of that ordinance
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and would <I>greatly pollute that land.</I> Observe, What the law says
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in this case--<I>They say,</I> that is, every one will say, and
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subscribe to the equity of the law in it; for every man finds something
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in himself that forbids him to entertain one that is <I>another
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man's.</I> And in like manner they had reason to expect that God would
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refuse ever to take them to be his people again, who had not only been
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joined to one strange god, but had <I>played the harlot with many
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lovers.</I> If we had to do with a man like ourselves, after such
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provocations as we have been guilty of, he would be implacable, and we
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might have despaired of his being reconciled to us.</P>
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<P>
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IV. How graciously he not only invites them, but directs them, to
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return to him.</P>
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<P>
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1. He encourages them to hope that they shall find favour with him,
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upon their repentance: "Thou thou hast been bad, <I>yet return again to
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me,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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This implies a promise that he will receive them: "Return, and thou
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shalt be welcome." God has not tied himself by the laws which he made
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for us, nor has he the peevish resentment that men have; he will be
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more kind to Israel, for the sake of his covenant with them, than ever
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any injured husband was to an adulterous wife; for in receiving
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penitents, as much as in any thing, he is <I>God and not man.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. He therefore kindly expects that they will repent and return to him,
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and he directs them what to say to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me?</I> Wilt not <I>thou,</I>
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who hast been in such relation to me, and on whom I have laid such
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obligations, <I>wilt not thou cry to me?</I> Though thou hast gone a
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whoring from me, yet, when thou findest the folly of it, surely thou
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wilt think of returning to me, now at least, now at last, in this thy
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day. Wilt thou not <I>at this time,</I> nay, wilt thou not <I>from this
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time</I> and forward, <I>cry unto me?</I> Whatever thou hast said or
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done hitherto, wilt thou not <I>from this time</I> apply to me? <I>From
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this time</I> of conviction and correction, now that thou hast been
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made to see thy sins
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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and to smart for them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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wilt thou not now forsake them and return to me, saying, <I>I will go
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and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than
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now?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:7">Hos. ii. 7</A>.
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Or "<I>from this time</I> that thou hast had so kind an invitation to
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return, and assurance that thou shalt be well received: will not this
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grace of God overcome thee? Now that pardon is proclaimed wilt thou
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not come in and take the benefit of it? Surely thou wilt."</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He expects that they will claim relation to God, as theirs:
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<I>Wilt thou not cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my
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youth?</I>
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[1.] They will surely come towards him as a father, to beg his pardon
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for their undutiful behaviour to him (<I>Father, I have sinned</I>) and
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will hope to find in him the tender compassions of a father towards a
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returning prodigal. They will come to him as a father, to whom they
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will make their complaints, and in whom they will put their confidence
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for relief and succour. They will now own him as their father, and
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themselves fatherless without him; and therefore, hoping to find mercy
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with him (as those penitents,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:3">Hos. xiv. 3</A>),
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[2.] They will come to him as <I>the guide of their youth,</I> that is,
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as their husband, for so that relation is described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:14">Mal. ii. 14</A>.
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"Though thou hast gone after many lovers, surely thou wilt at length
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remember the love of thy espousals, and return to the <I>husband of thy
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youth.</I>" Or it may be taken more generally: "As <I>my Father,</I>
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thou <I>art the guide of my youth.</I>" Youth needs a guide. In our
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return to God we must thankfully remember that he <I>was the guide of
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our youth</I> in the way of comfort; and we must faithfully covenant
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that he shall be our guide henceforward in the way of duty, and that we
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will follow his guidance, and give up ourselves entirely to it, that in
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all doubtful cases we will be determined by our religion.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He expects that they will appeal to the mercy of God and crave the
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benefit of that mercy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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that they will reason thus with themselves for their encouragement to
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return to him: "<I>Will he reserve his anger for ever?</I> Surely he
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will not, for he has proclaimed his name <I>gracious and merciful.</I>"
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Repenting sinners may encourage themselves with this, that, though God
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chide, he will not always chide, though he be angry, he will not keep
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his anger to the end, but, <I>though he cause grief, he will have
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compassion,</I> and may thus plead for reconciliation. Some understand
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this as describing their hypocrisy, and the impudence of it: "Though
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thou hast <I>a whore's forehead</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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and art still <I>doing evil as thou canst</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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yet art thou not ever and anon <I>crying to me, My Father?</I>" Even
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when they were most addicted to idols they pretended a regard to God
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and his service and kept up the forms of godliness and devotion. It is
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a shameful thing for men thus to call God father, and yet to do the
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<I>works of the devil</I> (as the Jews,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:44">John viii. 44</A>),
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to call him the <I>guide of their youth,</I> and yet give up themselves
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to <I>walk after the flesh,</I> and to flatter themselves with the
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expectation that <I>his anger shall have an end,</I> while they are
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continually <I>treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of
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wrath.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jer3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer3_11"> </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>Idolatries of Israel; The Treachery of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 620.</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>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>6 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,
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Hast thou seen <I>that</I> which backsliding Israel hath done? she is
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gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and
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there hath played the harlot.
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7 And I said after she had done all these <I>things,</I> Turn thou
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unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah
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saw <I>it.</I>
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8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
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committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of
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divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went
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and played the harlot also.
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9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom,
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that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and
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with stocks.
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10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not
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|
turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the
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|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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11 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
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justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
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</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The date of this sermon must be observed, in order to the right
|
|
understanding of it; it was <I>in the days of Josiah,</I> who set on
|
|
foot a blessed work of reformation, in which he was hearty, but the
|
|
people were not sincere in their compliance with it; to reprove them
|
|
for that, and warn them of the consequences of their hypocrisy, is the
|
|
scope of that which God here said to the prophet, and which he
|
|
<I>delivered to them.</I> The case of the two kingdoms of Israel and
|
|
Judah is here compared, the <I>ten tribes</I> that revolted from the
|
|
throne of David and the temple of Jerusalem and the <I>two tribes</I>
|
|
that adhered to both. The distinct history of those two kingdoms we
|
|
have in the two books of the Kings, and here we have an abstract of
|
|
both, as far as relates to this matter.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is a short account of Israel, the ten tribes. Perhaps the
|
|
prophet had been just reading the history of that kingdom when God came
|
|
to him, and said, <I>Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel has
|
|
done?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
For he could not see it otherwise than in history, they having been
|
|
carried into captivity long before he was born. But what we read in the
|
|
histories of scripture should instruct us and affect us, as if we
|
|
ourselves had been eye-witnesses of it. She is called <I>backsliding
|
|
Israel</I> because that kingdom was first founded in an apostasy from
|
|
the divine institutions, both in church and state. Now he had seen
|
|
concerning them,
|
|
|
|
1. That they were wretchedly addicted to idolatry. They had <I>played
|
|
the harlot upon every high mountain and under every green tree</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, they had worshipped other gods in their high places and
|
|
groves; and no marvel, when from the first they had worshipped God by
|
|
the images of the <I>golden calves</I> at Dan and Bethel. The way of
|
|
idolatry is down-hill: those that are in love with images, and will
|
|
have them, soon become in love with other gods, and will have them too;
|
|
for how should those stick at the breach of the first commandment who
|
|
make no conscience of the second?
|
|
|
|
2. That God by his prophets had invited and encouraged them to repent
|
|
and reform
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>After she had done all these things,</I> for which she might justly
|
|
have been abandoned, yet <I>I said</I> unto her, <I>Turn thou unto
|
|
me</I> and I will receive thee." Though they had forsaken both the
|
|
house of David and the house of Aaron, who both had their authority
|
|
<I>jure divino--from God,</I> without dispute, yet God sent his
|
|
prophets among them, to call them to <I>return to him,</I> to the
|
|
worship of him only, not insisting so much as one would have expected
|
|
upon their return to the house of David, but pressing their return to
|
|
the house of Aaron. We read not that Elijah, that great reformer, ever
|
|
mentioned their return to the house of David, while he was anxious for
|
|
their return to the faithful service of the true God according as they
|
|
had it among them. It is serious piety that God stands upon more than
|
|
even his own rituals.
|
|
|
|
3. That, notwithstanding this, they had persisted in their idolatries:
|
|
<I>But she returned not,</I> and God <I>saw it;</I> he took notice of
|
|
it, and was much displeased with it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, God keeps account, whether we do or no, how often he has called
|
|
to us to turn to him and we have refused.
|
|
|
|
4. That he had therefore cast them off, and given them up into the
|
|
hands of their enemies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When I saw</I> (so it may be read) <I>that for all the actions
|
|
wherein she had committed adultery I must dismiss her, I gave her a
|
|
bill of divorce.</I> God divorced them when he threw them out of his
|
|
protection and left them an easy prey to any that would lay hands on
|
|
them, when he scattered all their synagogues and the schools of the
|
|
prophets and excluded them from laying any further claim to the
|
|
covenant made with their fathers. Note, Those will justly be divorced
|
|
from God that join themselves to such as are rivals with him. For proof
|
|
of this go and see what God did to Israel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Let us now see what was the case of Judah, the kingdom of the two
|
|
tribes. She is called <I>treacherous sister Judah,</I> a sister because
|
|
descended from the same common stock, Abraham and Jacob; but, as Israel
|
|
had the character of a <I>backslider,</I> So Judah is called
|
|
<I>treacherous,</I> because, though she professed to keep close to God
|
|
when Israel had backslidden (she adhered to the kings and priests that
|
|
were of God's own appointing, and did not withdraw from her allegiance,
|
|
so that it was expected she should deal faithfully), yet she proved
|
|
treacherous, and false, and unfaithful to her professions and promises.
|
|
Note, The treachery of those who pretend to cleave to God will be
|
|
reckoned for, as well as the apostasy of those who openly revolt from
|
|
him. Judah saw what Israel did, and what came of it, and should have
|
|
taken warning. Israel's captivity was intended for Judah's admonition;
|
|
but it had not the designed effect. Judah feared not, but thought
|
|
herself safe because she had Levites to be her priests and sons of
|
|
David to be her kings. Note, It is an evidence of great stupidity and
|
|
security when we are not awakened to a holy fear by the judgments of
|
|
God upon others. It is here charged on Judah,
|
|
|
|
1. That when they had a wicked king that debauched them they heartily
|
|
concurred with him in his debaucheries. Judah was forward enough to
|
|
<I>play the harlot,</I> to worship any idol that was introduced among
|
|
them and to join in any idolatrous usage; so that <I>through the
|
|
lightness</I> (or, as some read it, the <I>vileness</I> and
|
|
<I>baseness) of her whoredom,</I> or (as the margin reads it) by the
|
|
fame and <I>report</I> of her whoredom, her <I>notorious</I> whoredom,
|
|
for which she had become infamous, she <I>defiled the land,</I> and
|
|
made it an abomination to God; for she <I>committed adultery with
|
|
stones and stocks,</I> with the basest idols, those made of <I>wood and
|
|
stone.</I> In the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, when they were disposed
|
|
to idolatry, the people were so too, and all the country was corrupted
|
|
with it, and none feared the ruin which Israel by this means had
|
|
brought upon themselves.
|
|
|
|
2. That when they had a good king, that reformed them, they did not
|
|
heartily concur with him in the reformation. This was the present case.
|
|
God tried whether they would be good in a good reign, but the evil
|
|
disposition was still the same: <I>They returned not to me with their
|
|
whole heart, but feignedly,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Josiah went further in destroying idolatry than the best of his
|
|
predecessors had done, and for his own part he <I>turned to the Lord
|
|
with all his heart and with all his soul;</I> so it is said of him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:25">2 Kings xxiii. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The people were forced to an external compliance with him, and joined
|
|
with him in keeping a very solemn passover and in renewing their
|
|
covenants with God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+34:32,35:17">2 Chron. xxxiv. 32, xxxv. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
but they were not sincere in it, nor were their <I>hearts right with
|
|
God.</I> For this reason God at that very time said, <I>I will remove
|
|
Judah out of my sight, as I removed Israel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:27">2 Kings xxiii. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
because Judah was not removed from their sin by the sight of Israel's
|
|
removal from their land. Hypocritical and ineffectual reformations bode
|
|
ill to a people. We deceive ourselves if we think to deceive God by a
|
|
feigned return to him. I know no religion without sincerity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The case of these sister kingdoms is compared, and judgment given
|
|
upon the comparison, that of the two Judah was the worse
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Israel has justified herself more than Judah,</I> that is, she is
|
|
not so bad as Judah is. This comparative justification will stand
|
|
Israel in little stead; what will it avail us to say, <I>We are not so
|
|
bad as others,</I> when yet we are not really good ourselves? But it
|
|
will serve as an aggravation of the sin of Judah, which was in two
|
|
respects worse than that of Israel:--
|
|
|
|
1. More was expected from Judah than from Israel; so that Judah dealt
|
|
treacherously, they vilified a more sacred profession, and falsified a
|
|
more solemn promise, than Israel did.
|
|
|
|
2. Judah might have taken warning by the ruin of Israel for their
|
|
idolatry, and would not. God's judgments upon others, if they be not
|
|
means of our reformation, will help to aggravate our destruction. The
|
|
prophet Ezekiel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:11"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
makes the same comparison between Jerusalem and Samaria that this
|
|
prophet here makes between Judah and Israel, nay, and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:48">Ezek. xvi. 48</A>)
|
|
|
|
between Jerusalem and Sodom, and Jerusalem is made the worst of the
|
|
three.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragements to Repentance.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 620.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
|
|
Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; <I>and</I> I will not
|
|
cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I <I>am</I> merciful, saith the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>and</I> I will not keep <I>anger</I> for ever.
|
|
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed
|
|
against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the
|
|
strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my
|
|
voice, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; for I am
|
|
married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a
|
|
family, and I will bring you to Zion:
|
|
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which
|
|
shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
|
|
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and
|
|
increased in the land, in those days, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, they shall
|
|
say no more, The ark of the covenant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: neither shall
|
|
it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall
|
|
they visit <I>it;</I> neither shall <I>that</I> be done any more.
|
|
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name
|
|
of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after
|
|
the imagination of their evil heart.
|
|
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house
|
|
of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the
|
|
north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your
|
|
fathers.
|
|
19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and
|
|
give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of
|
|
nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not
|
|
turn away from me.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is a great deal of gospel in these verses, both that which was
|
|
always gospel, God's readiness to pardon sin and to receive and
|
|
entertain returning repenting sinners, and those blessings which were
|
|
in a special manner reserved for gospel times, the forming and founding
|
|
of the gospel church by bringing into it the <I>children of God that
|
|
were scattered abroad,</I> the superseding of the ceremonial law, and
|
|
the uniting of Jews and Gentiles, typified by the uniting of Israel and
|
|
Judah in their return out of captivity. The prophet is directed to
|
|
<I>proclaim these words towards the north,</I> for they are a call to
|
|
backsliding Israel, the ten tribes that were carried captive into
|
|
Assyria, which lay north from Jerusalem. That way he must look, to show
|
|
that God had not forgotten them, though their brethren had, and to
|
|
upbraid the men of Judah with their obstinacy in refusing to answer the
|
|
calls given them. One might as well call to those who lay many hundred
|
|
miles off in the land of the north; they would as soon hear as these
|
|
unbelieving and disobedient people; <I>backsliding Israel</I> will
|
|
sooner accept of mercy, and have the benefit of it, than <I>treacherous
|
|
Judah.</I> And perhaps the proclaiming of these words towards the north
|
|
looks as far forward as the <I>preaching of repentance and remission of
|
|
sins unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:47">Luke xxiv. 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
A call to Israel in the land of the north is a call to others in that
|
|
land, even as many as belong to the election of grace. When it was
|
|
suspected that Christ would <I>go to the dispersed</I> Jews among the
|
|
Gentiles, it was concluded that he would <I>teach the Gentiles,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:35">John vii. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
So here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is an invitation given to <I>backsliding Israel,</I> and in
|
|
them to the backsliding Gentiles, to <I>return unto God,</I> the God
|
|
from whom they had revolted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Return, thou backsliding Israel.</I> And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Turn, O backsliding children!</I> repent of your backslidings,
|
|
return to your allegiance, come back to that good way which you have
|
|
missed and out of which you have turned aside." Pursuant to this
|
|
invitation,
|
|
|
|
1. They are encouraged to return. "<I>Repent, and be converted, and
|
|
your sins shall be blotted out,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+3:19">Acts iii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
You have incurred God's displeasure, but return to me, and <I>I will
|
|
not cause my anger to fall upon you.</I>" God's anger is ready to fall
|
|
upon sinners, as a lion falls on his prey, and there is none to
|
|
deliver, as a mountain of lead falling on them, to sink them past
|
|
recovery into the lowest hell. But if they repent it shall be turned
|
|
away,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+12:1">Isa. xii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>I will not keep my anger for ever,</I> but will be reconciled,
|
|
<I>for I am merciful.</I> We that are sinful were for ever undone if
|
|
God were not merciful; but the goodness of his nature encourages us to
|
|
hope that, if we by repentance undo what we have done against him, he
|
|
will by a pardon unsay what he has said against us.
|
|
|
|
2. They are directed how to return
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Only acknowledge thy iniquity,</I> own thyself in a fault and
|
|
thereby take shame to thyself and give glory to God." <I>I will not
|
|
keep my anger for ever</I> (that is a previous promise); you shall be
|
|
delivered form that anger of God which is everlasting, from the wrath
|
|
to come; but upon what terms? Very easy and reasonable ones. <I>Only
|
|
acknowledge thy sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
|
|
to forgive them.</I> This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners,
|
|
that the terms of pardon and peace were brought so low, and yet they
|
|
would not come up to them. <I>If the prophet had told thee to do some
|
|
great thing wouldst thou not have done it? How much more when he says,
|
|
Only acknowledge thy iniquity?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+5:13">2 Kings v. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
In confessing sin,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We must own the corruption of our nature: <I>Acknowledge thy
|
|
iniquity,</I> the perverseness and irregularity of thy nature.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must own our actual sins: "<I>That thou hast transgressed
|
|
against the Lord thy God,</I> hast affronted him and offended him."
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must own the multitude of our transgressions: "That <I>thou
|
|
hast scattered thy ways to the strangers,</I> run hither and thither in
|
|
pursuit of thy idols, <I>under every green tree.</I> Wherever thou hast
|
|
rambled thou hast left behind thee the marks of thy folly."
|
|
|
|
(4.) We must aggravate our sin from the disobedience that there is in
|
|
it to the divine law. The sinfulness of sin is the worst thing in it:
|
|
"<I>You have not obeyed my voice;</I> acknowledge that, and let that
|
|
humble you more than any thing else."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here are precious promises made to these backsliding children, if
|
|
they do return, which were in part fulfilled in the return of the Jews
|
|
out of their captivity, many that belonged to the ten tribes having
|
|
perhaps joined themselves to those of the two tribes, in the prospect
|
|
of their deliverance, and returning with them; but the prophecy is to
|
|
have its full accomplishment in the gospel church, and the gathering
|
|
together of <I>the children of God that were scattered abroad</I> to
|
|
that: "Return, for, though you are backsliders, yet you are children;
|
|
nay, though a treacherous wife, yet a wife, for <I>I am married to
|
|
you</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>)
|
|
|
|
and will not disown the relation." Thus God remembers his covenant with
|
|
their fathers, that marriage covenant, and in consideration of that he
|
|
<I>remembers their land,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He promises to gather them together from all places whither they are
|
|
dispersed and scattered abroad,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+11:52">John xi. 52</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family,</I> or clan;
|
|
<I>and I will bring you to Zion,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
All those that by repentance return to their duty shall return to their
|
|
former comfort. Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God will graciously receive those that return to him, nay, it is
|
|
he that by his distinguishing grace takes them out from among the rest
|
|
that persist in their backslidings; if he had left them, they would
|
|
have been undone.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of the many that have backslidden from God there are but few, very
|
|
few in comparison, that return to him, like the gleanings of the
|
|
vintage--<I>one of a city and two of a country;</I> Christ's flock is a
|
|
little flock, and <I>few there are that find the strait gate.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) Of those few, though dispersed, yet not one shall be lost. Though
|
|
there be but <I>one in a city,</I> God will find out that one; he shall
|
|
not be overlooked in a crowd, but shall be brought safely to Zion,
|
|
safely to heaven. The scattered Jews shall be brought to Jerusalem, and
|
|
those of the ten tribes shall be as welcome there as those of the two.
|
|
God's chosen, scattered all the world over, shall be brought to <I>the
|
|
gospel church,</I> that Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, that holy
|
|
hill on which Christ reigns.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He promises to set those over them that shall be every way blessings
|
|
to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will give you pastors after my heart,</I> alluding to the
|
|
character given of David when God pitched upon him to be king.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+13:14">1 Sam. xiii. 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) When a church is gathered it must be governed. "<I>I will bring
|
|
them to Zion,</I> not to live as they list, but to be under discipline,
|
|
not as wild beasts, that range at pleasure, but as sheep that are under
|
|
the direction of a shepherd." <I>I will give them pastors,</I> that is,
|
|
both magistrates and ministers; both are God's ordinance for the
|
|
support of his kingdom.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is well with a people when their pastors are <I>after God's own
|
|
heart,</I> such as they should be, such as we would have them be, who
|
|
shall make his will their rule in all their administrations, and such
|
|
as endeavour in some measure to conform to his example, who rule for
|
|
him, and, as they are capable, rule like him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Those are pastors after God's own heart who make it their business
|
|
to feed the flock, not to <I>feed themselves and fleece the flocks,</I>
|
|
but to do all they can for the good of those that are under their
|
|
charge, who <I>feed them with wisdom and understanding</I> (that is,
|
|
wisely and understandingly), as David fed them, in the <I>integrity of
|
|
his heart</I> and by the <I>skilfulness of his hand,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:72">Ps. lxxviii. 72</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who are not only pastors, but teachers, must feed them with the
|
|
word of God, which is wisdom and understanding, which is able to make
|
|
us wise to salvation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He promises that there shall be no more occasion for the <I>ark of
|
|
the covenant,</I> which had been so much the glory of the tabernacle
|
|
first and afterwards of the temple, and was the token of God's presence
|
|
with them; that shall be set aside, and there shall be no more enquiry
|
|
after, nor enquiring of, it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When you shall be multiplied and increased in the land,</I> when the
|
|
kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up, which by the accession of the
|
|
Gentiles will bring in to the church a vast increase (and the days of
|
|
the Messiah the Jewish masters themselves acknowledge to be here
|
|
intended), then <I>they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of
|
|
the Lord,</I> they shall have it no more among them to value, or value
|
|
themselves upon, because they shall have a pure spiritual way of
|
|
worship set up, in which there shall be no occasion for any of those
|
|
external ordinances; with the <I>ark of the covenant</I> the whole
|
|
ceremonial law shall be set aside, and all the institutions of it, for
|
|
Christ, the truth of all those types, exhibited to us in the word and
|
|
sacraments of the New Testament, will be to us instead of all. It is
|
|
very likely (whatever the Jews suggest to the contrary) that <I>the ark
|
|
of the covenant</I> was in the second temple, being restored by Cyrus
|
|
with the other <I>vessels of the house of the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+1:7">Ezra i. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
But in the gospel temple Christ <I>is the ark;</I> he is the
|
|
propitiatory, or mercy-seat; and it is the spiritual presence of God in
|
|
his ordinances that we are now to expect. Many expressions are here
|
|
used concerning the setting aside of the ark, that it shall not <I>come
|
|
to mind,</I> that they <I>shall not remember it,</I> that they shall
|
|
<I>not visit it,</I> that none of these things shall be <I>any more
|
|
done;</I> for the <I>true worshippers shall worship the Father in
|
|
spirit and in truth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:24">John iv. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
But this variety of expressions is used to show that the ceremonies of
|
|
the law of Moses should be totally and finally abolished, never to be
|
|
used any more, but that it would be with difficulty that those who had
|
|
been so long wedded to them should be weaned from them; and that they
|
|
would not quite let them go till their holy city and holy house should
|
|
both be levelled with the ground.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He promises that the gospel church, here called <I>Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
shall become eminent and conspicuous,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Two things shall make it famous:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) God's special residence and dominion in it. It shall be called,
|
|
<I>The throne of the Lord</I>--the throne of <I>his glory,</I> for that
|
|
shines forth in the church--the throne of <I>his government,</I> for
|
|
that also is erected there; there he rules his willing people by his
|
|
word and Spirit, and brings every thought into obedience to himself. As
|
|
the gospel got ground this <I>throne of the Lord</I> was set up even
|
|
where <I>Satan's seat</I> had been. It is especially the throne of
|
|
<I>his grace;</I> for those that by faith come to this Jerusalem come
|
|
to <I>God the judge of all,</I> and to <I>Jesus the mediator of the new
|
|
covenant,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:22-24">Heb. xii. 22-24</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The accession of the Gentiles to it. <I>All the nations shall
|
|
be</I> discipled, and so <I>gathered</I> to the church, and shall
|
|
become subjects to that <I>throne of the Lord</I> which is there set
|
|
up, and devoted to the honour of that <I>name of the Lord</I> which is
|
|
there both manifested and called upon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He promises that there shall be a wonderful reformation wrought in
|
|
those that are gathered to the church: <I>They shall not walk any more
|
|
after the imagination of their evil hearts.</I> They shall not live as
|
|
they list, but live by rules, not do according to their own corrupt
|
|
appetites, but according to the will of God. See what leads in
|
|
sin--<I>the imagination of our own evil hearts;</I> and what sin is--it
|
|
is <I>walking after</I> that imagination, being governed by fancy and
|
|
humour; and what converting grace does--it takes us off from walking
|
|
after <I>our own inventions</I> and brings us to be governed by
|
|
religion and right reason.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. That Judah and Israel shall be happily united in one body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were so in their return out of captivity and their settlement
|
|
again in Canaan: <I>The house of Judah shall walk with the house of
|
|
Israel,</I> as being perfectly agreed, and become <I>one stick in the
|
|
hand of the Lord,</I> as Ezekiel also foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+37:16,17"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Both Assyria and Chaldea fell into the hands of Cyrus, and his
|
|
proclamation extended to all the Jews in all his dominions. And
|
|
therefore we have reason to think that many of <I>the house of
|
|
Israel</I> came with those of Judah out of <I>the land of the
|
|
north;</I> though at first there returned but 42,000 (whom we have an
|
|
account of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+2:1-70">Ezra ii.</A>)
|
|
|
|
yet Josephus says (<I>Antiq.</I> 11.68) that some few years after,
|
|
under Darius, Zerubbabel went and fetched up above 4,000,000 of souls,
|
|
<I>to the land that was given for an inheritance to their fathers.</I>
|
|
And we never read of such animosities and enmities between Israel and
|
|
Judah as had been formerly. This happy coalescence between Israel and
|
|
Judah in Canaan was a type of the uniting of Jews and Gentiles in the
|
|
gospel church, when, all enmities being slain, they should become one
|
|
<I>sheepfold under one shepherd.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Here is some difficulty started, that lies in the way of all this
|
|
mercy; but an expedient is found to get over it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God asks, <I>How shall I</I> do this for thee? Not as if God showed
|
|
favour with reluctancy, as he punishes with a <I>How shall I give thee
|
|
up?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:8,9">Hos. xi. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
No, though he is slow to anger, he is swift to show mercy. But it
|
|
intimates that we are utterly unworthy of his favours, that we have no
|
|
reason to expect them, that there is nothing in us to deserve them,
|
|
that we can lay no claim to them, and that he contrives how to do it in
|
|
such a way as may save the honour of his justice and holiness in the
|
|
government of the world. <I>Means</I> must be <I>devised that his
|
|
banished be not for ever expelled from him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+14:14">2 Sam. xiv. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
How shall I do it?
|
|
|
|
(1.) Even backsliders, if they return and repent, shall be <I>put among
|
|
the children;</I> and who could ever have expected that? <I>Behold what
|
|
manner of love is this!</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:1">1 John iii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
How should we who are so mean and weak, so worthless and unworthy, and
|
|
so provoking, ever be <I>put among the children.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) To those whom God puts among the children he will <I>give the
|
|
pleasant land,</I> the land of Canaan, that glory of all lands, <I>that
|
|
goodly heritage of the hosts of nations,</I> which nations and their
|
|
hosts wish for and prefer to their own country, or which the hosts of
|
|
the nations have now got possession of. It was a type of heaven, where
|
|
there are <I>pleasures for evermore.</I> Now who could expect a place
|
|
in that <I>pleasant land</I> that has so often <I>despised it</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:24">Ps. cvi. 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
and is so unworthy of it and unfit for it? Is this the manner of
|
|
men?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He does himself return answer to this question: <I>But I said, Thou
|
|
shalt call me, My Father.</I> God does himself answer all the
|
|
objections that are taken from our unworthiness, or they would never be
|
|
got over.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he may put returning penitents <I>among the children,</I> he
|
|
will give them the <I>Spirit of adoption,</I> teaching them <I>to cry,
|
|
Abba, Father,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:6">Gal. iv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt call me, My Father;</I> thou shalt return to me, and
|
|
resign thyself to me as a father, and that shall recommend thee to my
|
|
favour,"
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he may <I>give them the pleasant land,</I> he will <I>put his
|
|
fear in their hearts,</I> that they may never <I>turn from him,</I> but
|
|
may persevere to the end.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer3_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel Returning to God; Israel Encouraged in Their Return.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 620.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Surely <I>as</I> a wife treacherously departeth from her husband,
|
|
so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping <I>and</I>
|
|
supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted
|
|
their way, <I>and</I> they have forgotten the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God.
|
|
22 Return, ye backsliding children, <I>and</I> I will heal your
|
|
backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou <I>art</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
our God.
|
|
23 Truly in vain <I>is salvation hoped for</I> from the hills, <I>and
|
|
from</I> the multitude of mountains: truly in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God <I>is</I>
|
|
the salvation of Israel.
|
|
24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our
|
|
youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
|
|
daughters.
|
|
25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for
|
|
we have sinned against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God, we and our fathers, from
|
|
our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The charge God exhibits against Israel for their treacherous
|
|
departures from him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
As an adulterous wife elopes from her husband, so have they gone a
|
|
whoring from God. They were joined to God by a marriage-covenant, but
|
|
they broke that covenant, they <I>dealt treacherously</I> with God, who
|
|
had always dealt kindly and faithfully with them. Treacherous dealing
|
|
with men like ourselves is bad enough, but to deal treacherously with
|
|
God is to deal treasonably.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Their conviction and confession of the truth of this charge,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
When God reproved them for their apostasy, there were some among them,
|
|
even such as God would take and <I>bring to Zion,</I> whose <I>voice
|
|
was heard upon the high places weeping and praying,</I> humbling
|
|
themselves before the God of their fathers, lamenting their calamities,
|
|
and their sins, the procuring cause of them; for this is that which
|
|
they lament, for this they bemoan themselves, that <I>they have
|
|
perverted their way and forgotten the Lord their God.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Sin is the perverting of our way, it is turning aside to crooked
|
|
ways and <I>perverting that which is right.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Forgetting the Lord our God is at the bottom of all sin. If men
|
|
would remember God, his eye upon them and their obligation to him, they
|
|
would not transgress as they do.
|
|
|
|
3. By sin we embarrass ourselves, and bring ourselves into trouble, for
|
|
that also is the perverting of our way,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:9">Lam. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. Prayers and tears well become those whose consciences tell them
|
|
that they have <I>perverted their way and forgotten their God.</I> When
|
|
the <I>foolishness of man perverts his way his heart</I> is apt to
|
|
<I>fret against the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+19:3">Prov. xix. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
whereas it should be melted and poured out before him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The invitation God gives them to return to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Return, you backsliding children.</I> He calls them <I>children</I>
|
|
in tenderness and compassion to them, foolish and froward as children,
|
|
yet <I>his sons,</I> whom though he corrects he will not disinherit;
|
|
for, though they are <I>refractory children</I> (so some render it),
|
|
yet they are <I>children.</I> God bears with such children, and so much
|
|
parents. When they are convinced of sin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
and humbled for that, then they are prepared and then they are
|
|
<I>invited</I> to <I>return,</I> as Christ invites those to him that
|
|
are <I>weary</I> and <I>heavy-laden.</I> The promise to those that
|
|
return is, "<I>I will heal your backslidings;</I> I will comfort you
|
|
under the grief you are in for your backslidings, deliver you out of
|
|
the troubles you have brought yourselves into by your backslidings, and
|
|
cure you of your refractoriness and tendency to backslide." God will
|
|
<I>heal our backslidings</I> by his pardoning mercy, his quieting
|
|
peace, and his renewing grace.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The ready consent they give to this invitation, and their cheerful
|
|
compliance with it: <I>Behold, we come unto thee.</I> This is an echo
|
|
to God's call; as a voice returned from broken walls, so this from
|
|
broken hearts. God says, <I>Return;</I> they answer, <I>Behold, we
|
|
come.</I> It is an immediate speedy answer, without delay, not, "We
|
|
will come hereafter," but, "We do come now; we need not take time to
|
|
consider of it;" not, "We come towards thee," but, "We come to thee, we
|
|
will make a thorough turn of it." Observe how unanimous they are: <I>We
|
|
come,</I> one and all.
|
|
|
|
1. They come devoting themselves to God as theirs: "<I>Thou art the
|
|
Lord our God;</I> we take thee to be ours, we give up ourselves to thee
|
|
to be thine; whither shall we go but to thee? It is our sin and folly
|
|
that we have gone from thee." It is very comfortable, in our returns to
|
|
God after our backslidings, to look up to him as ours in covenant.
|
|
|
|
2. They come disclaiming all expectations of relief and succour but
|
|
from God only: <I>"In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and
|
|
from the multitude of the mountains;</I> we now see our folly in
|
|
relying upon creature-confidences, and will never so deceive ourselves
|
|
any more." They worshipped their idols upon hills and mountains
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they had a multitude of idols upon their mountains, which they had
|
|
sought unto and put a confidence in; but now they will have no more to
|
|
do with them. In vain do we look for any thing that is good from them,
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while from God we may look for every thing that is good, even salvation
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itself. Therefore,
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3. They come depending upon God only as their God: <I>In the Lord our
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God is the salvation of Israel.</I> He is <I>the Lord,</I> and he only
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can save; he can save when all other succours and saviours fail; and he
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is <I>our God,</I> and will in his own way and time work salvation for
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us. It is very applicable to the great salvation from sin, which Jesus
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Christ wrought out for us; that is the <I>salvation of the Lord,</I>
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his <I>great salvation.</I>
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4. They come justifying God in their troubles and judging themselves
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for their sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
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(1.) They impute all the calamities they had been under to their idols,
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which had not only done them no good, but had done them abundance of
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mischief, all the mischief that had been done them: <I>Shame</I> (the
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idol, that shameful thing) <I>has devoured the labour of our
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fathers.</I> Note,
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[1.] True penitents have learned to call sin <I>shame;</I> even the
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beloved sin which has been as an idol to them, which they have been
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|
most pleased with and proud of, even that they shall call a scandalous
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|
thing, shall put contempt upon it and be ashamed of it.
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[2.] True penitents have learned to call sin death and ruin, and to
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|
charge upon it all the mischiefs they suffer: "It has <I>devoured</I>
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|
all those good things which our fathers <I>laboured for</I> and left to
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|
us; we have found <I>from our youth</I> that our idolatry has been the
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|
destruction of our prosperity." Children often throw away upon their
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|
lusts that which their fathers took a great deal of pains for; and it
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|
is well if at length they are brought (as these here) to see the folly
|
|
of it, and to call those vices their shame which have wasted their
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estates and <I>devoured the labour of their fathers.</I> Of the labour
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|
of their fathers, which their idols had devoured, they mention
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particularly <I>their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
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daughters. First,</I> their idolatries had provoked God to bring these
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desolating judgments upon them, which had ruined their country and
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families, and made their estates a prey and their children captives to
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the conquering enemy. They had <I>procured these things to
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themselves.</I> Or, rather, <I>Secondly,</I> These had been sacrificed
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to their idols, had been <I>separated unto that shame</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:10">Hos. ix. 10</A>),
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and they had devoured them without mercy; they did <I>eat the fat of
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|
their sacrifices</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:38">Deut. xxxii. 38</A>),
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even their human sacrifices.
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(2.) They take to themselves the shame of their sin and folly
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
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"<I>We lie down in our shame,</I> being unable to bear up under it;
|
|
<I>our confusion covers us,</I> that is, both our penal and our
|
|
penitential shame. Sin has laid us under such rebukes of God's
|
|
providence, and such reproaches of our own consciences, as surround us
|
|
and fill us with shame. For <I>we have sinned,</I> and shame came in
|
|
with sin and still attends upon it. We are sinners by descent; guilt
|
|
and corruption are entailed upon us: <I>We and our fathers have
|
|
sinned.</I> We were sinners betimes; we began early in a course of sin:
|
|
We have sinned <I>from our youth;</I> we have continued in sin, have
|
|
sinned <I>even unto this day,</I> though often called to repent and
|
|
forsake our sins. That which is the malignity of sin, the worst thing
|
|
in it, is the affront we have put upon God by it: <I>We have not obeyed
|
|
the voice of the Lord our God,</I> forbidding us to sin and commanding
|
|
us, when we have sinned, to repent." Now all this seems to be the
|
|
language of the penitents of <I>the house of Israel</I>
|
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
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of the ten tribes, either of those that were in captivity or those of
|
|
them that remained in their own land. And the prophet takes notice of
|
|
their repentance to provoke the men of Judah to a holy emulation.
|
|
David used it as an argument with the elders of Judah that it would be
|
|
a shame for those that were <I>his bone and his flesh</I> to be <I>the
|
|
last in bringing the king back,</I> when the men of Israel appeared
|
|
forward in it,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+19:11,12">2 Sam. xix. 11, 12</A>.
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|
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So the prophet excites Judah to repent because Israel did: and well it
|
|
were if the zeal of others less likely would provoke us to strive to
|
|
get before them and go beyond them in that which is good.</P>
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