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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. IV.</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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It should seem that the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:29-37,4:1-2">first two verses</A>
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of this chapter might better have been joined to the close of the
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foregoing chapter, for they are directed to Israel, the ten tribes, by
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way of reply to their compliance with God's call, directing and
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encouraging them to hold their resolution,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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The rest of the chapter concerns Judah and Jerusalem.
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I. They are called to repent and reform,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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II. They are warned of the advance of Nebuchadnezzar and his forces
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against them, and are told that it is for their sins, from which they
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are again exhorted to wash themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:5-18">ver. 5-18</A>.
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III. To affect them the more with the greatness of the desolation that
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was coming, the prophet does himself bitterly lament it, and sympathize
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with his people in the calamities it brought upon them, and the plunge
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it brought them to, representing it as a reduction of the world to its
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first chaos,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:19-31">ver. 19-31</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_2"> </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>Exhortation to Repentance.</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 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, return unto
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me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight,
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then shalt thou not remove.
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2 And thou shalt swear, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> liveth, in truth, in judgment,
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and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in
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him, and in him shall they glory.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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When God called to backsliding Israel to return
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:22"><I>ch.</I> iii. 22</A>)
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they immediately answered, <I>Lord, we return;</I> now God here takes
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notice of their answer, and, by way of reply to it,</P>
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<P>
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I. He directs them how to pursue their good resolutions: "Dost thou
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say, <I>I will return?</I>"
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1. "Then thou must <I>return unto me;</I> make a thorough work of it.
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Do not only turn from thy idolatries, but return to the instituted
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worship of the God of Israel." Or, "Thou must return speedily and not
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delay (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:12">Isa. xxi. 12</A>,
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<I>If you will enquire, enquire you</I>); if you will return unto me,
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return you: do not talk of it, but do it."
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2. "Thou must utterly abandon all sin, and not retain any of the
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relics of idolatry: <I>Put away thy abominations out of my sight,</I>"
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that is, out of all places (for every place is under the eye of God),
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especially out of the temple, the house which he had in a particular
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manner his eye upon, to see that it was kept clean. It intimates that
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their idolatries were not only obvious, but offensive, to the eye of
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God. They were abominations which he could not endure the sight of;
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therefore they must be <I>put away out of his sight,</I> because they
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were a provocation to the pure eyes of God's glory. Sin must be put
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away out of the heart, else it is not put away out of God's sight, for
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the heart and all that is in it lie open before his eye.
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3. They must not return to sin again; so some understand that, <I>Thou
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shalt not remove,</I> reading it, <I>Thou shalt not,</I> or <I>must
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not, wander. "If thou wilt put away thy abominations, and wilt not
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wander</I> after them again, as thou hast done, all shall be well."
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4. They must give unto God the glory due unto his name
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Thou shalt sear, The Lord liveth.</I> His existence shall be with
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thee the most sacred fact, than which nothing can be more sure, and his
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judgment the supreme court to which thou shalt appeal, than which
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nothing can be more awful." Swearing is an act of religious worship, in
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which we are to give honour to God three ways:--
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(1.) We must swear by the true God only, and not by creatures, or any
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false gods,--by the God that liveth, not by the gods that are deaf and
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dumb and dead,--by him only, and not <I>by the Lord and by Malcham,</I>
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as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+1:5">Zech. i. 5</A>.
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(2.) We must swear that only which is true, <I>in truth and in
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righteousness,</I> not daring to assert that which is false, or which
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we do not know to be true, nor to assert that as certain which is
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doubtful, nor to promise that which we mean not to perform, nor to
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violate the promise we have made. To say that which is untrue, or to do
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that which is unrighteous, is bad, but to back either with an oath is
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much worse.
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(3.) We must do it solemnly, swear <I>in judgment,</I> that is, when
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judicially called to it, and not in common conversation. Rash swearing
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is as great a profanation of God's name as solemn swearing is an honour
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to it. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+10:20,Mt+5:34,37">Deut. x. 20; Matt. v. 34, 37</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He encourages them to keep in this good mind and adhere to their
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resolutions. If the scattered Israelites will thus return to God,
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1. They shall be blessed themselves; for to that sense the first words
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may be read: "<I>If thou wilt return to me,</I> then <I>thou shalt
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return,</I> that is, thou shalt be brought back out of thy captivity
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into thy own land again, as was of old promised,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:29,30:2">Deut. iv. 29; xxx. 2</A>.
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Or, "Then <I>thou shalt rest in me,</I> shalt return to me as they
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rest, even while thou art in the land of thy captivity."
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2. They shall be blessings to others; for their returning to God again
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will be a means of others turning to him who never new him. If thou
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wilt own the living Lord, thou wilt thereby influence the nations among
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whom thou art to bless themselves in him, to place their happiness in
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his favour and to think themselves happy in being brought to the fear
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of him. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:16">Isa. lxv. 16</A>.
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They shall bless themselves <I>in the God of truth,</I> and not in
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false gods, shall do themselves the honour, and give themselves the
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satisfaction, to join themselves to him; and then <I>in him shall they
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glory;</I> they shall make him their glory, and shall please, nay,
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shall pride, themselves in the blessed change they have made. Those
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that part with their sins to return to God, however they scrupled at
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the bargain at first, <I>when they go away, then they boast.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jer4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_4"> </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>Punishment Predicted.</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>3 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,
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Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
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4 Circumcise yourselves to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and take away the
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foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of
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Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none
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can quench <I>it,</I> because of the evil of your doings.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet here turns his speech, in God's name, to the men of the
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place where he lived. We have heard what words he proclaimed <I>towards
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the north</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:12"><I>ch.</I> iii. 12</A>),
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for the comfort of those that were now in captivity and were humbled
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under the hand of God; let us now see what he says to the <I>men of
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Judah and Jerusalem,</I> who were now in prosperity, for their
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conviction and awakening. In these two verses he exhorts them to
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repentance and reformation, as the only way left them to prevent the
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desolating judgments that were ready to break in upon them.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The duties required of them, which they are concerned to do.</P>
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<P>
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1. They must do by their hearts as they do by their ground that they
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expect any good of; they must plough it up
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>Break up your fallow-ground. Plough to yourselves a ploughing</I>
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(or <I>plough up your plough land</I>), that you <I>sow not among
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thorns,</I> that you may not labour in vain, for your own safety and
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welfare, as those do that sow good seed among thorns and as you have
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been doing a great while. Put yourselves into a frame fit to receive
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mercy from God, and put away all that which keeps it from you, and then
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you may expect to receive mercy and to prosper in your endeavours to
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help yourselves." Note,
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(1.) An unconvinced unhumbled heart is like fallow-ground, ground
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untilled, unoccupied. It is ground capable of improvement; it is our
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ground, let out to us, and we must be accountable for it; but it is
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fallow; it is unfenced and lies common; it is unfruitful and of no
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advantage to the owner, and (which is principally intended) it is
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overgrown with thorns and weeds, which are the natural product of the
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corrupt heart; and, if it be not renewed with grace, rain and sunshine
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are lost upon it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:7,8">Heb. vi. 7, 8</A>.
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(2.) We are concerned to get this fallow-ground ploughed up. We must
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search into our own hearts, let the word of God divide (as the plough
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does) <I>between the joints and the marrow,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:12">Heb. iv. 12</A>.
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We must <I>rend our hearts,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:13">Joel ii. 13</A>.
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We must pluck up by the roots those corruptions which, as thorns, choke
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both our endeavours and our expectations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+10:12">Hos. x. 12</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. They must do that to their souls which was done to their bodies when
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they were taken into covenant with God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskin of
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your heart.</I> Mortify the flesh and the lusts of it. Pare off that
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<I>superfluity of naughtiness</I> which hinders your <I>receiving with
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meekness the engrafted word,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:21">Jam. i. 21</A>.
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Boast not of, and rest not in, the circumcision of the body, for that
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is but a sign, and will not serve without the thing signified. It is a
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dedicating sign. Do that in sincerity which was done in profession by
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your circumcision; devote and consecrate yourselves unto the Lord, to
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be to him a peculiar people. Circumcision is an <I>obligation to keep
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the law;</I> lay yourselves afresh under that obligation. It is a
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<I>seal of the righteousness of faith;</I> lay hold then of that
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righteousness, and so <I>circumcise yourselves to the Lord.</I>"</P>
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<P>
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II. The danger they are threatened with, which they are concerned to
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avoid. Repent and reform, <I>lest my fury come forth like fire,</I>
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which it is now ready to do, as that fire which came forth from the
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Lord and consumed the sacrifices, and which was always kept burning
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upon the altar and none might quench it; such is God's wrath against
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impenitent sinners, <I>because of the evil of their doings.</I> Note,
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1. That which is to be dreaded by us more than any thing else is the
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wrath of God; for that is the spring and bitterness of all present
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miseries and will be the quintessence and perfection of everlasting
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misery.
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2. It is the <I>evil of our doings</I> that kindles the fire of God's
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wrath against us.
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3. The consideration of the imminent danger we are in of falling and
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perishing under this wrath should awaken us with all possible care to
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<I>sanctify ourselves to God's glory</I> and to see to it that we be
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<I>sanctified by his grace.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jer4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Punishment Predicted.</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>5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow
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ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say,
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Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
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6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will
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bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
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7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of
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the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to
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make thy land desolate; <I>and</I> thy cities shall be laid waste,
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without an inhabitant.
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8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the
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fierce anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> is not turned back from us.
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9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>that</I>
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the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes;
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and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall
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wonder.
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10 Then said I, Ah, Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>! surely thou hast greatly deceived
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this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas
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the sword reacheth unto the soul.
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11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to
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Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward
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the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
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12 <I>Even</I> a full wind from those <I>places</I> shall come unto me:
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now also will I give sentence against them.
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13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots <I>shall
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be</I> as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto
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us! for we are spoiled.
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14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou
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mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within
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thee?
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15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction
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from mount Ephraim.
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16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against
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Jerusalem, <I>that</I> watchers come from a far country, and give out
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their voice against the cities of Judah.
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17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about;
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because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these <I>things</I> unto
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thee; this <I>is</I> thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it
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reacheth unto thine heart.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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|
God's usual method is to warn before he wounds. In these verses,
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|
accordingly, God gives notice to the Jews of the general desolation
|
|
that would shortly be brought upon them by a foreign invasion. This
|
|
must be declared and published in all the cities of Judah and streets
|
|
of Jerusalem, that all might hear and fear, and by this loud alarm be
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|
either brought to repentance or left inexcusable. The prediction of
|
|
this calamity is here given very largely, and in lively expressions,
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|
which one would think should have awakened and affected the most
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|
stupid. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The war proclaimed, and general notice given of the advance of the
|
|
enemy. It is published now, some years before, by the prophet; but,
|
|
since this will be slighted, it shall be published after another manner
|
|
when the judgment is actually breaking in,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>trumpet</I> must be <I>blown,</I> the <I>standard</I> must be
|
|
<I>set up,</I> a summons must be issued out to the people to <I>gather
|
|
together</I> and to draw <I>towards Zion,</I> either to guard it or
|
|
expecting to be guarded by it. There must be a general rendezvous. The
|
|
militia must be raised and all the forces mustered. Those that are able
|
|
men, and fit for service, must <I>go into the defenced cities,</I> to
|
|
garrison them; those that are weak, and would lessen their provisions,
|
|
but not increase their strength, must <I>retire,</I> and <I>not
|
|
stay.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. An express arrived with intelligence of the approach of the king of
|
|
Babylon and his army. It is an evil that God will <I>bring from the
|
|
north</I> (as he had said,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:15"><I>ch.</I> i. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>even a great destruction,</I> beyond all that had yet come upon the
|
|
nation of the Jews. The enemy is here compared,
|
|
|
|
1. To <I>a lion</I> that <I>comes up from his thicket,</I> when he is
|
|
hungry, to seek his prey,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
The helpless beasts are so terrified with his roaring (as some report)
|
|
that they cannot flee from him, and so become an easy prey to him.
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar is this roaring tearing lion, <I>the destroyer of the
|
|
nations,</I> that has laid many countries waste, and now is <I>on his
|
|
way</I> in full speed towards the land of Judah. The <I>destroyer of
|
|
the Gentiles</I> shall be the <I>destroyer of the Jews</I> too, when
|
|
they have by their idolatry made themselves like the Gentiles. "He has
|
|
<I>gone forth from his place,</I> from Babylon, or the place of the
|
|
rendezvous of his army, on purpose against <I>this land;</I> that is
|
|
the prey he has now his eye upon, not to plunder it only, but to make
|
|
it desolate, and herein he shall succeed to such a degree that the
|
|
cities shall be <I>laid waste, without inhabitants,</I> shall be
|
|
<I>overgrown with grass</I> as a field;" so some read it.
|
|
|
|
2. To a <I>drying</I> blasting <I>wind</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
a parching scorching wind, which spoils the fruits of the earth and
|
|
withers them, not a wind which brings rain, but such as comes <I>out of
|
|
the north,</I> which <I>drives away rain</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:23">Prov. xxv. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
but brings something worse instead of it; such shall this evil out of
|
|
the north be to this people, a <I>black</I> freezing wind, which they
|
|
can neither fence against nor flee from, but, wherever they go, it
|
|
shall surround and pursue them; and they cannot see it before it comes,
|
|
but, when it comes, they shall feel it. It is a <I>wind of the high
|
|
places in the wilderness,</I> or <I>plain,</I> that beats upon the tops
|
|
of the hills or that carries all before it in the plain, where there is
|
|
no shelter, but the ground is all champaign. It shall come in its full
|
|
force <I>towards the daughters of my people,</I> that have been brought
|
|
up so tenderly and delicately that they could not endure to have the
|
|
wind blow upon them. Now this fierce wind shall come against them,
|
|
<I>not to fan, nor cleanse</I> them, not such a gentle wind as is used
|
|
in winnowing corn, but a <I>full wind</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
a strong and violent wind, blowing full upon them. This shall come
|
|
<I>to me,</I> or rather <I>for me;</I> it shall come with commission
|
|
from God and shall accomplish that for which he sends it; for this, as
|
|
other <I>stormy winds, fulfills his word.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. To clouds and whirlwinds for swiftness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Chaldean army shall <I>come up as clouds</I> driven with the wind,
|
|
so thick shall they stand, so fast shall they march, and it shall be to
|
|
no purpose to offer to stop them or make head against them, any more
|
|
than to arrest a cloud or give check to a whirlwind. The horses are
|
|
<I>swifter than eagles</I> when they fly upon their prey; it is in vain
|
|
to think either of opposing them or of outrunning them.
|
|
|
|
4. To watchers and the keepers of a field,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:15-17"><I>v.</I> 15-17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The voice declares from Dan,</I> a city which lay furthest north of
|
|
all the cities of Canaan, and therefore received the first tidings of
|
|
this <I>evil from the north</I> and hastened it to Mount Ephraim, that
|
|
part of the land of Israel which lay next to Judea; they received the
|
|
news of the affliction and transmitted it to Jerusalem. Ill news flies
|
|
apace; and an impenitent people, that hates to be reformed, can expect
|
|
no other that ill news. Now, what is the news? "<I>Tell the
|
|
nations,</I> those mixed nations that now inhabit the cities of the ten
|
|
tribes, mention it to them, that they may provide for their own safety;
|
|
but publish it <I>against Jerusalem,</I> that is the place aimed at,
|
|
the game shot at, let them know that <I>watchers have come from a far
|
|
country,</I> that is, soldiers, that will watch all opportunities to do
|
|
mischief." Private soldiers we call <I>private sentinels,</I> or
|
|
<I>watchmen.</I> "They are coming in full career, and <I>give out their
|
|
voice against the cities of Judah;</I> they design to invest them, to
|
|
make themselves masters of them, and to attack them with loud shouts,
|
|
as sure of victory. As <I>keepers of a field</I> surround it, to keep
|
|
all out from it, so shall they surround the cities of Judah, to keep
|
|
all in them, till they be constrained to surrender at discretion; they
|
|
are <I>against her round about, compassing her in on every side."</I>
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:43">Luke xix. 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
As formerly the good angels, <I>those watchers,</I> and <I>holy
|
|
ones,</I> were like <I>keepers of a field</I> to Jerusalem, watching
|
|
about it, that nothing might go in to its prejudice, so now their
|
|
enemies were as watchers and keepers of a field, surrounding it that
|
|
nothing might go in to its relief and succour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The lamentable cause of this judgment. How is it that Judah and
|
|
Jerusalem come to be thus abandoned to ruin? See how it came to this.
|
|
|
|
1. They sinned against God; it was all owing to themselves: <I>She has
|
|
been rebellious against me, saith the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their enemies surrounded them as keepers of a field, because they had
|
|
taken up arms against their rightful Lord and sovereign, and were to be
|
|
seized as rebels. The Chaldeans were breaking in upon them, and it was
|
|
sin that opened the gap at which they entered: <I>Thy way and thy
|
|
doings have procured these things unto thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
thy evil way and thy doings that have not been good. It was not a false
|
|
step or two that did them this mischief, but their way and course of
|
|
living were bad. Note, Sin is the procuring cause of all our troubles.
|
|
Those that go on in sin while they are endeavouring to ward off
|
|
mischiefs with one hand are at the same time pulling them upon their
|
|
own heads with the other.
|
|
|
|
2. God was angry with them for their sin. It is the <I>fierce anger of
|
|
the Lord</I> that makes the army of the Chaldeans thus fierce, thus
|
|
furious; that is kindled against us, and is <I>not turned back from
|
|
us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, In men's anger against us, and the violence of that, we must see
|
|
and own God's anger and the power of that. If that were turned back
|
|
from us, our enemies could not come forward against us.
|
|
|
|
3. In his just and holy anger he condemned them to this dreadful
|
|
punishment: <I>Now also will I give sentence against them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The execution was done, not in a heat, but in pursuance of a sentence
|
|
solemnly passed, according to equity, and upon mature deliberation.
|
|
Some read it, <I>Now will I do execution upon them,</I> according to
|
|
the doom formerly passed; and <I>we are sure that the judgment of God
|
|
is according to the truth,</I> and the execution of that judgment.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The lamentable effects of this judgment, upon the first alarm given
|
|
of it.
|
|
|
|
1. The people that should fight shall quite despair and shall not have
|
|
a heart to make the least stand against the enemy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>For this gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and howl,</I>" that
|
|
is, "you will do so. When the cry is made through the kingdom, <I>Arm,
|
|
arm!</I> all will be seized with a consternation, and all put into
|
|
confusion. Instead of girding on the sword, they will gird on the
|
|
sackcloth; instead of animating one another to a vigorous resistance,
|
|
they will <I>lament and howl,</I> and so dishearten one another. While
|
|
the enemy is yet at a distance they will give up all for gone, and cry,
|
|
<I>Woe unto us! for we are spoiled,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are all undone, the spoilers will certainly carry the day, and it is
|
|
in vain to make head against them." Judah and Jerusalem had been famed
|
|
for valiant men; but see what is the effect of sin: by depriving men of
|
|
their confidence towards God, it deprives them of their courage towards
|
|
men.
|
|
|
|
2. Their great men, who should contrive for the public safety, shall be
|
|
at their wits' end
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>At that day the heart of the king shall perish,</I> both his wisdom
|
|
and his courage. Despairing of success, he shall have no spirit to do
|
|
any thing, and, if he had, he will not know what to do. His princes and
|
|
privy-counselors, who should animate and advise him, shall be as much
|
|
at a loss and as much in despair as he. See how easily, how
|
|
effectually, God can bring ruin upon a people that are doomed to it,
|
|
merely by dispiriting them, <I>taking away the heart of the chief</I>
|
|
of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:20,24">Job xii. 20, 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>cutting off the spirit of princes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:12">Ps. lxxvi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The business of the priests was to encourage the people in the time of
|
|
war; they were to say to the people, <I>Fear not, and let not your
|
|
hearts faint,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+20:2,3">Deut. xx. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were to blow the trumpets, for an assurance to them that in the
|
|
day of battle they should be <I>remembered before the Lord their
|
|
God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+10:9">Num. x. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
But now <I>the priests</I> themselves <I>shall be astonished,</I> and
|
|
shall have no heart themselves to do their office, and therefore shall
|
|
not be likely to put spirit into the people. <I>The prophets</I> too,
|
|
the false prophets, who had cried <I>peace</I> to them, shall be put
|
|
into the greatest amazement imaginable, seeing their own guilty blood
|
|
ready to be shed by that sword which they had often told the people
|
|
there was no danger of. Note, God's judgments come with the greatest
|
|
terror upon those that have been most secure. Our Saviour foretels that
|
|
at the last destruction of Jerusalem <I>men's hearts</I> should <I>fail
|
|
them for fear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:26">Luke xxi. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is common for those who have cheated and flattered people into a
|
|
carnal security not only to fail them, but to discourage them, when the
|
|
trouble comes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The prophet's complaint of the people's being deceived,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is expressed strangely, as we read it: <I>Ah! Lord God, surely thou
|
|
hast greatly deceived this people, saying, You shall have peace.</I> We
|
|
are sure that God deceives none. <I>Let no man say, when he is
|
|
tempted</I> or deluded, that God has tempted or deluded him. But,
|
|
|
|
1. The people deceived themselves with the promises that God had made
|
|
in general of his favour to that nation, and the many peculiar
|
|
privileges with which they were dignified, building upon them, though
|
|
they took no care to perform the conditions on which the accomplishment
|
|
of those promises and the continuance of those privileges did depend;
|
|
and they had no regard to the threatenings which in the law were set
|
|
over-against those promises. Thus they cheated themselves and then
|
|
wickedly complained that God had cheated them.
|
|
|
|
2. The false prophets deceived them with promises of peace, which they
|
|
made them in God's name.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:17,27:9"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 17; xxvii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
If God had sent them, he had indeed greatly deceived the people, but he
|
|
had not. It was the people's fault that they gave them credit; and here
|
|
also they deceived themselves.
|
|
|
|
3. God had permitted the false prophets to deceive, and the people to
|
|
be deceived by them, giving both up to <I>strong delusions,</I> to
|
|
punish them <I>for not receiving the truth in the love of it.</I>
|
|
Herein the Lord was righteous; but the prophet complains of it as the
|
|
sorest judgment of all, for by this means they had been hardened in
|
|
their sins.
|
|
|
|
4. It may be read with an interrogation, "<I>Hast thou indeed thus
|
|
deceived this people?</I> It is plain that they are greatly deceived,
|
|
for they expect <I>peace,</I> whereas <I>the sword reaches unto the
|
|
soul;</I> that is, it is a killing sword, abundance of lives are lost,
|
|
and more likely to be." Now, was it God that deceived them? No, he had
|
|
often given them warning of judgments in general and of this in
|
|
particular; but their own prophets deceive them, and cry peace to those
|
|
to whom the God of heaven does not speak peace. It is a pitiable thing,
|
|
and that which every good man greatly laments, to see people flattered
|
|
into their own ruin, and promising themselves peace when war is at the
|
|
door; and this we should complain of to God, who alone can prevent such
|
|
a fatal delusion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The prophet's endeavour to undeceive them. When the prophets they
|
|
loved and caressed dealt falsely with them, he whom they hated and
|
|
persecuted dealt faithfully.
|
|
|
|
1. He shows them their wound. They were loth to see it, very loth to
|
|
have it searched into; but, if they will allow themselves the liberty
|
|
of a free thought, they might discover their punishment in their sin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>This is thy wickedness because it is bitter.</I> Now thou seest
|
|
that it is a bitter thing to depart from God, and will certainly be
|
|
<I>bitterness in the latter end,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:19"><I>ch.</I> ii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
It produces bitter effects, and grief that <I>reaches unto the
|
|
heart,</I> touches to the quick, and in the most tender part; the sword
|
|
<I>reaches to the soul,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
God can make trouble reach the heart even of those that would lay
|
|
nothing to heart. "And by this thou mayest see <I>what is thy
|
|
wickedness,</I> that it is a bitter thing, <I>a root of bitterness,
|
|
that bears gall and wormwood,</I> and that it has <I>reached to the
|
|
heart;</I> it is the corruption of the soul, of the <I>imagination of
|
|
the thought of the heart.</I>" If the heart were not polluted with sin,
|
|
it would not be disturbed and disquieted as it is with trouble.
|
|
|
|
2. He shows them the cure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Since <I>thy wickedness reaches to the heart,</I> there the
|
|
application must be made. <I>O Jerusalem! wash thy heart from
|
|
wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.</I>" By Jerusalem he means each
|
|
one of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; for every man has a heart of his
|
|
own to take care of, and it is personal reformation that must help the
|
|
public. Every one must return from <I>his own evil way,</I> and, in
|
|
order to that, cleanse <I>his own evil heart.</I> "And let <I>the heart
|
|
of the city</I> too be purified, not the suburbs only, the outskirts of
|
|
it." The vitals of a state must be amended by the reformation of those
|
|
that have the commanding influence upon it. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Reformation is absolutely necessary to salvation. There is no
|
|
other way of preventing judgments, or turning them away when we are
|
|
threatened with them, but taking away the sin by which we have procured
|
|
them to ourselves.
|
|
|
|
(2.) No reformation is saving but that which reaches the heart. There
|
|
is heart-wickedness that is defiling to the soul, from which we must
|
|
wash ourselves. By repentance and faith we must wash our hearts from
|
|
the guilt we have contracted by spiritual wickedness, by those sins
|
|
which begin and end in the heart and go no further; and by
|
|
mortification and watchfulness we must suppress and prevent this
|
|
heart-wickedness for the future. The tree must be made good, else the
|
|
fruit will not. Jerusalem was all overspread with the leprosy of sin.
|
|
Now as the physicians agree with respect to the body when afflicted
|
|
with leprosy that external applications will do no good, unless physic
|
|
be taken inwardly to carry off the humours that lurk there and to
|
|
change the mass of the blood, so it is with the soul, so it is with the
|
|
state: there will be no effectual reformation of the manners without a
|
|
reformation of the mind; the mistakes there must be rectified, the
|
|
corruptions there must be mortified, and the evil dispositions there
|
|
changed. "Though thou art Jerusalem, called a <I>holy city,</I> that
|
|
will not save thee, unless thou <I>wash thy heart from wickedness.</I>"
|
|
In the latter part of the verse he reasons with them: <I>How long shall
|
|
thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?</I> He complains here
|
|
|
|
[1.] Of the delays of their reformation: "<I>How long</I> shall that
|
|
filthy heart of thine continue unwashed? When shall it once be?" Note,
|
|
The God of heaven thinks the time long that his room is usurped, and
|
|
his interest opposed, in our souls,
|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:27"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 27</A>.
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[2.] Of the root of their corruption, the <I>vain thoughts that lodged
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within them</I> and defiled their hearts, from which they must wash
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their hearts. <I>Thoughts of iniquity</I> or <I>mischief,</I> these are
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the evil thoughts that are the spawn of the evil <I>heart,</I> from
|
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which all other wickedness is produced,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:19">Matt. xv. 19</A>.
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These are our own, the conceptions of our own lusts
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:15">Jam. i. 15</A>),
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and they are the most dangerous when they lodge within us, when they
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are admitted and entertained as guests, and are suffered to continue.
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Some read it <I>thoughts of affliction,</I> such thoughts as will bring
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nothing but affliction and misery. Some by the vain thoughts here
|
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understand all those frivolous pleas and excuses with which they turned
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|
off the reproofs and calls of the word and rendered them ineffectual,
|
|
and bolstered themselves up in their wickedness. <I>Wash thy heart from
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|
wickedness,</I> and think not to say, <I>We are not polluted</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:23"><I>ch.</I> ii. 23</A>),
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or, "We are Jerusalem; <I>we have Abraham to our father,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:8,9">Matt. iii. 8, 9</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Jer4_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer4_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Punishment Predicted.</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>19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart
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maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast
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heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
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20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is
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spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, <I>and</I> my curtains in a
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moment.
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21 How long shall I see the standard, <I>and</I> hear the sound of
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|
the trumpet?
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22 For my people <I>is</I> foolish, they have not known me; they
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<I>are</I> sottish children, and they have none understanding: they
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|
<I>are</I> wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
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23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, <I>it was</I> without form, and
|
|
void; and the heavens, and they <I>had</I> no light.
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24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the
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|
hills moved lightly.
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25 I beheld, and, lo, <I>there was</I> no man, and all the birds of
|
|
the heavens were fled.
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|
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place <I>was</I> a wilderness,
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|
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of
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|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>and</I> by his fierce anger.
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|
27 For thus hath the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, The whole land shall be
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|
desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
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|
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be
|
|
black: because I have spoken <I>it,</I> I have purposed <I>it,</I> and will
|
|
not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
|
|
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and
|
|
bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:
|
|
every city <I>shall be</I> forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
|
|
30 And <I>when</I> thou <I>art</I> spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though
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|
thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with
|
|
ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in
|
|
vain shalt thou make thyself fair; <I>thy</I> lovers will despise
|
|
thee, they will seek thy life.
|
|
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, <I>and</I> the
|
|
anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice
|
|
of the daughter of Zion, <I>that</I> bewaileth herself, <I>that</I>
|
|
spreadeth her hands, <I>saying,</I> Woe <I>is</I> me now! for my soul is
|
|
wearied because of murderers.
|
|
</FONT></P>
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet is here in an agony, and cries out like one upon the rack
|
|
of pain with some acute distemper, or as a woman in travail. The
|
|
expressions are very pathetic and moving, enough to melt a heart of
|
|
stone into compassion: <I>My bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my very
|
|
heart;</I> and yet well, and in health himself, and nothing ails him.
|
|
Note, A good man, in such a bad world as this is, cannot but be a
|
|
<I>man of sorrows. My heart makes a noise in me,</I> through the tumult
|
|
of my spirits, and <I>I cannot hold my peace.</I> Note, The grievance
|
|
and the grief sometimes may be such that the most prudent patient man
|
|
cannot forbear complaining.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now, what is the matter? What is it that puts the good man into such
|
|
agitation? It is not for himself, or any affliction in his family that
|
|
he grieves thus; but it is purely upon the public account, it is his
|
|
people's case that he lays to heart thus.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. They are very sinful and will not be reformed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
These are the words of God himself, for so the prophet chose to give
|
|
this character of the people, rather than in his own words, or as from
|
|
himself: <I>My people are foolish.</I> God calls them his people,
|
|
though they are foolish. They have cast him off, but he has not cast
|
|
them off,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1">Rom. xi. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
"They are <I>my people,</I> whom I have been in covenant with, and
|
|
still have mercy in store for. They are <I>foolish,</I> for <I>they
|
|
have not known me.</I>" Note, Those are foolish indeed that have not
|
|
known God, especially that call themselves his people, and have the
|
|
advantages of coming into acquaintance with him, and yet have not known
|
|
him. They are <I>sottish children,</I> stupid and senseless, and have
|
|
<I>no understanding.</I> They cannot distinguish between truth and
|
|
falsehood, good and evil; they cannot discern the mind of God either in
|
|
his word or in his providence; they do not understand what their true
|
|
interest is, nor on which side it lies. They are <I>wise to do
|
|
evil,</I> to plot mischief against the quiet in the land, wise to
|
|
contrive the gratification of their lusts, and then to conceal and
|
|
palliate them. But <I>to do good they have no knowledge,</I> no
|
|
contrivance, no application of mind; they know not how to make a good
|
|
use either of the ordinances or of the providences of God, nor how to
|
|
bring about any design for the good of their country. Contrary to this
|
|
should be our character.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:19">Rom. xvi. 19</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning
|
|
evil.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They are miserable, and cannot be relieved.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
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|
|
|
1. He cries out, <I>Because thou hast heard, O my soul! the sound of
|
|
the trumpet,</I> and <I>seen the standard,</I> both giving <I>the alarm
|
|
of war,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:19,21"><I>v.</I> 19, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does not say, <I>Thou hast heard,</I> O my <I>ear!</I> but, O my
|
|
<I>soul!</I> because the event was yet future, and it is by the spirit
|
|
of prophecy that he see it and receives the impression of it. His
|
|
<I>soul</I> heard it from the words of God, and therefore he was as
|
|
well assured of it, and as much affected with it, as if he had heard it
|
|
with his bodily ears. He expresses this deep concern,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To show that, though he foretold this calamity, yet he was far
|
|
from <I>desiring the woeful day;</I> for a woeful day it would be to
|
|
him. It becomes us to tremble at the thought of the misery that sinners
|
|
are running themselves into, though we have good hopes, through grace,
|
|
that we ourselves are <I>delivered from the wrath to come.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) To awaken them to a holy fear, and so to a care to prevent so
|
|
great a judgment by a true and timely repentance. Note, Those that
|
|
would affect other with the word of God should evidence that they are
|
|
themselves affected with it. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Let us see what there is in the destruction here foreseen and
|
|
foretold that is so very affecting.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is a swift and <I>sudden</I> destruction; it comes upon Judah
|
|
and Jerusalem ere they are aware, and pours in so fast upon them that
|
|
they have not the east breathing time. They have no time to recollect
|
|
their thoughts, much less to recruit or recover their strength:
|
|
<I>Destruction upon destruction is cried</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>breach upon breach,</I> one sad calamity, like Job's messengers,
|
|
treading upon the heels of another. The death of Josiah breaks the ice,
|
|
and plucks up the flood-gates; within three months after that his son
|
|
and successor Jehoahaz is deposed by the king of Egypt; within two or
|
|
three years after Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took it, and
|
|
thenceforward he was continually making descents upon the land of Judah
|
|
with his armies during the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah,
|
|
till about nineteen years after he completed their ruin in the
|
|
destruction of Jerusalem: but <I>suddenly were their tents spoiled and
|
|
their curtains in a moment.</I> Though the cities held out for some
|
|
time, the country was laid waste at the very first. The shepherds and
|
|
all that lived in tents were plundered immediately; they and their
|
|
effects fell into the enemies' hands; therefore we find the Rechabites,
|
|
who dwelt in tents, upon the first coming of the army of the Chaldees
|
|
into the land retiring to Jerusalem,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+35:11">Jer. xxxv. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The inhabitants of the villages soon ceased: <I>Suddenly were the tents
|
|
spoiled.</I> The plain men that dwelt in tents were first made a prey
|
|
of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) This dreadful war continued a great while, not in the borders, but
|
|
in the bowels of the country; for the people were very obstinate, and
|
|
would not submit to the king of Babylon, but took all opportunities to
|
|
rebel against him, which did but lengthen out the calamity; they might
|
|
as well have yielded at first as at last. This is complained of
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>How long shall I see the standard?</I> Shall the sword devour for
|
|
ever? Good men are none of those that <I>delight in war,</I> for they
|
|
know not how to fish in troubled waters; they are <I>for peace</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+120:7">Ps. cxx. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and will heartily say <I>Amen</I> to that prayer, "Give peace in out
|
|
time, O Lord!" <I>O thou sword of the Lord! when wilt thou be
|
|
quiet?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The desolations made by it in the land were general and universal:
|
|
<I>The whole land is spoiled,</I> or plundered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
so it was at first, and at length it became a perfect chaos. It was
|
|
such a desolation as amounted in a manner to a dissolution; not only
|
|
the superstructure, but even the foundations, were all <I>out of
|
|
course.</I> The prophet in vision saw the extent and extremity of this
|
|
destruction, and he here gives a most lively description of it, which
|
|
one would think might have made those uneasy in their sins who dwelt in
|
|
a land doomed to such a ruin, which might yet have been prevented by
|
|
their repentance.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The earth is <I>without form, and void</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
as it was
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:2">Gen. i. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is <I>Tohu</I> and <I>Bohu,</I> the words there used, as far as the
|
|
land of Judea goes. It is <I>confusion</I> and <I>emptiness,</I>
|
|
stripped of all its beauty, void of all its wealth, and, compared with
|
|
what it was, every thing out of place and out of shape. To a worse
|
|
chaos than this will the earth be reduced at the end of time, when it,
|
|
<I>and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The <I>heavens</I> too are <I>without light,</I> as the earth is
|
|
without fruits. This alludes to the <I>darkness</I> that was <I>upon
|
|
the face of the deep</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:2">Gen. i. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and represents God's displeasure against them, as the eclipse of the
|
|
sun did at our Saviour's death. It was not only the earth that failed
|
|
them, but heaven also frowned upon them; and with their trouble they
|
|
had darkness, for they could not see through their troubles. The smoke
|
|
of their houses and cities which the enemy burnt, and the dust which
|
|
their army raised in its march, even darkened the sun, so that <I>the
|
|
heavens had no light.</I> Or it may be taken figuratively: <I>The
|
|
earth</I> (that is, the common people) was impoverished and in
|
|
confusion; and the <I>heavens</I> (that is, the princes and rulers)
|
|
<I>had no light,</I> no wisdom in themselves, nor were any comfort to
|
|
the people, nor a guide to them. Comp.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:29">Matt. xxiv. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The <I>mountains trembled, and the hills moved lightly,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
So formidable were the appearances of God against his people, as in the
|
|
days of old they had been for them, that <I>the mountains skipped like
|
|
rams and the little hills like lambs,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+114:4">Ps. cxiv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>everlasting mountains</I> seemed to be <I>scattered,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+3:6">Hab. iii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The mountains on which they had worshipped their idols, the mountains
|
|
over which they had looked for succours, all trembled, as if they had
|
|
been conscious of the people's guilt. The mountains, those among them
|
|
that seemed to the highest and strongest, and of the firmest
|
|
resolution, trembled at the approach of the Chaldean army. The hills
|
|
moved lightly, as being eased of the burden of a sinful nation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24">Isa. i. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Not the earth only, but the air, was dispeopled, and left
|
|
uninhabited
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I beheld</I> the cities, the countries that used to be populous,
|
|
<I>and, lo, there was no man</I> to be seen; all the inhabitants were
|
|
either killed, or fled, or taken captives, such a ruining depopulating
|
|
thing is sin: nay, even <I>the birds of the heavens,</I> that used to
|
|
fly about and <I>sing among the branches,</I> had now <I>fled</I> away,
|
|
and were no more to be seen or heard. The <I>land of Judah</I> had now
|
|
become like the <I>lake of Sodom,</I> over which (they say) no bird
|
|
flies; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:23">Deut. xxix. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
The enemies shall make such havoc of the country that they shall not so
|
|
much as leave a bird alive in it.
|
|
|
|
[5.] Both the ground and the houses shall be laid waste
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,</I> being deserted by the
|
|
inhabitants that should cultivate it, and then soon overgrown with
|
|
thorns and briers, or being trodden down by the destroying army of the
|
|
enemy. The <I>cities</I> also and their gates and walls are <I>broken
|
|
down</I> and levelled with the ground. Those that look no further than
|
|
second causes impute it to the policy and fury of the invaders; but the
|
|
prophet, who looks to the first cause, says that it is <I>at the
|
|
presence of the Lord,</I> at <I>his face</I> (that is, the anger of his
|
|
countenance), even <I>by his fierce anger,</I> that this was done. Even
|
|
angry men cannot do us any real hurt, unless God be angry with us. If
|
|
our <I>ways please him,</I> all is well.
|
|
|
|
[6.] The meaning of all this is that the nation shall be entirely
|
|
ruined, and every part of it shall share in the destruction; neither
|
|
town nor country shall escape. <I>First,</I> Not the country, for
|
|
<I>the whole land shall be desolate,</I> corn land and pasture land,
|
|
both common and enclosed, it shall be laid waste
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>);
|
|
|
|
the conquerors will have occasion for it all. <I>Secondly,</I> Not the
|
|
men, for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>the whole city shall flee,</I> all the inhabitants of the town shall
|
|
quit their habitations by consent, <I>for fear of the horsemen and
|
|
bowmen.</I> Rather than lie exposed to their fury, they shall <I>go
|
|
into the thickets,</I> where they are in danger of being torn by
|
|
briers, nay, to be torn in pieces by wild beasts; and they shall
|
|
<I>climb up upon the rocks,</I> where their lodging will be hard and
|
|
cold, and the precipice dangerous. Let us not be over-fond of our
|
|
houses and cities; for the time may come when rocks and thickets may be
|
|
preferable, and chosen rather. This shall be the common case, for
|
|
<I>every city shall be forsaken,</I> and <I>not a man</I> shall be left
|
|
that dares <I>dwell therein.</I> Both government and trade shall be at
|
|
an end, and all civil societies and incorporations dissolved. It is a
|
|
very dismal idea which this gives of the approaching desolation; but in
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the midst of all these threatenings comes in one comfortable word
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
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<I>Yet will not I make a full end</I>--not a total consumption, for God
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will reserve a remnant to himself, that shall be hidden in the day of
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the Lord's anger--not a final consumption, for Jerusalem shall again be
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built and the land inhabited. This comes in here, in the midst of the
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threatenings, for the comfort of those that <I>trembled at God's
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word;</I> and it intimates to us the changeableness of God's
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providence; as it breaks down, so it raises up again; every end of our
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comforts is not a full end, however we may be ready to think it so. It
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also intimates the unchangeableness of God's covenant, which stands so
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|
firmly, that, though he may correct his people severely, yet he will
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not <I>cast them off,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:11"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(4.) Their case was helpless and without remedy.
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[1.] God would not help them; so he tells them plainly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
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And, if the Lord do not help them, who can? This is that which makes
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their case deplorable. "<I>For this the earth mourns and the heavens
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|
above are black</I> (there are no prospects but what are very dismal),
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<I>because I have spoken it;</I> I have given the word which shall not
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be called back; <I>I have purposed it</I> (it is a consumption decreed,
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|
determined) <I>and I will not repent,</I> not change this way, but
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|
proceed in it, and will not <I>turn back from it.</I>" They would not
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|
repent and turn back from the way of their sins
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:25"><I>ch.</I> ii. 25</A>),
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and therefore God will not repent and turn back from the way of his
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judgments.
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[2.] They could not help themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:30,31"><I>v.</I> 30, 31</A>.
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When the thing appeared at a distance they flattered themselves with
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|
hopes that, though God should not appear for them as he had done for
|
|
Hezekiah against the Assyrian army, yet they should find some means or
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|
other to secure themselves and give check to the forces of the enemy.
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|
But the prophet tells them that, when it comes to the setting to, they
|
|
will be quite at a loss: "<I>When thou art spoiled, what wilt thou
|
|
do?</I> What course wilt thou take? Sit down now, and consider this in
|
|
time." He assures them that, whatever were now their contrivances and
|
|
confidences, <I>First,</I> They will then be despised by their allies
|
|
whom they depended upon for assistance. He had often compared the sin
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|
of Jerusalem to whoredom, not only her idolatry, but her trust in
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|
creatures, in the neighbouring powers. Now here he compares her to a
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|
harlot abandoned by all the lewd ones that used to make court to her.
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|
She is supposed to do all she can to keep up her interest in their
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|
affections. She does what she can to make herself appear considerable
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|
among the nations, and a valuable ally. She compliments them by her
|
|
ambassadors to the highest degree, to engage them to stand by her now
|
|
in her distress. She <I>clothes herself with crimson,</I> as if she
|
|
were rich, and <I>decks herself with ornaments of gold,</I> as if her
|
|
treasuries were still as full as ever they had been. She <I>rents her
|
|
face with painting,</I> puts the best colours she can upon her present
|
|
distresses and does her utmost to palliate and extenuate her losses,
|
|
sets a good face upon them. But this painting, though it beautifies the
|
|
face for the present, really rends it; the frequent use of paint spoils
|
|
the skin, cracks it, and makes it rough; so the case which by false
|
|
colours has been made to appear better than really it was, when truth
|
|
comes to light, will look so much the worse. "And, after all, <I>in
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|
vain shalt thou make thyself fair;</I> all thy neighbours are sensible
|
|
how low thou art brought; the Chaldeans will strip thee of thy crimson
|
|
and ornaments, and then thy confederates will not only slight thee and
|
|
refuse to give thee any succour, but they will join with those that
|
|
<I>seek thy life,</I> that they may come in for a share in the prey of
|
|
so rich a country." Here seems to be an allusion to the story of
|
|
Jezebel, who thought, by making herself look fair and fine, to outface
|
|
her doom, but in vain,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:30,33">2 Kings ix. 30, 33</A>.
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|
See what creatures prove when we confide in them, how treacherous they
|
|
are; instead of saving the life, they seek the life; they often change,
|
|
so that they will sooner do us an ill turn than any service. And see to
|
|
how little purpose it is for those that have by sin deformed themselves
|
|
in God's eyes to think by any arts they can use to beautify themselves
|
|
in the eye of the world. <I>Secondly,</I> They will then be themselves
|
|
in despair; they will find their troubles to be like the pains of a
|
|
woman in travail, which she cannot escape: <I>I have heard the voice of
|
|
the daughter of Zion,</I> her groans echoing to the triumphal shouts of
|
|
the Chaldean army, which he heard,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is like the <I>voice of a woman in travail,</I> whose pain is
|
|
exquisite, and the fruit of sin and the curse too
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:16">Gen. iii. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and exhorts lamentable outcries, especially of a <I>woman in travail of
|
|
her first child,</I> who, having never known before what that pain is,
|
|
is the more terrified by it. Troubles are most grievous to those that
|
|
have not been used to them. Zion, in this distress, since her
|
|
neighbours refuse to pity her, <I>bewails herself,</I> fetching <I>deep
|
|
sighs</I> (so the word signifies), and she <I>spreads her hands,</I>
|
|
either wringing them for grief or reaching them forth for succour. All
|
|
the cry is, <I>Woe is me now!</I> (now that the decree has gone forth
|
|
against her and is past recall), for <I>my soul is wearied because of
|
|
murderers.</I> The Chaldean soldiers put all to the sword that gave
|
|
them any opposition, so that the land was full of murders. Zion was
|
|
weary of hearing tragical stories from all parts of the country, and
|
|
cried out, <I>Woe is me!</I> It was well if their sufferings put them
|
|
in mind of their sins, the murders committed upon them of the murders
|
|
committed by them; for God was now making inquisition for the
|
|
<I>innocent blood</I> shed in Jerusalem, <I>which the Lord would not
|
|
pardon,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+24:4">2 Kings xxiv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, As sin will find out the sinner, so sorrow will, sooner or later,
|
|
find out the secure.</P>
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|
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