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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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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. XII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. The prophet's humble complaint to God of the success that wicked
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people had in their wicked practices
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>)
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and his appeal to God concerning his own integrity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:3">ver. 3</A>),
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with a prayer that God would, for the sake of the public, bring the
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wickedness of the wicked to an end,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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II. God's rebuke to the prophet for his uneasiness at his present
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troubles, bidding him prepare for greater,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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III. A sad lamentation of the present deplorable state of the Israel of
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God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:7-13">ver. 7-13</A>.
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IV. An intimation of mercy to God's people, in a denunciation of wrath
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against their neighbours that helped forward their affliction, that
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they should be plucked out; but with a promise that if they would at
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last join themselves with the people of God they should come in sharers
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with them in their privileges,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:14-17">ver. 14-17</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer12_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer12_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer12_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer12_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer12_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer12_6"> </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 Prophet's Appeal to God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</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 Righteous <I>art</I> thou, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, when I plead with thee: yet let
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me talk with thee of <I>thy</I> judgments: Wherefore doth the way of
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the wicked prosper? <I>wherefore</I> are all they happy that deal very
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treacherously?
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2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow,
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yea, they bring forth fruit: thou <I>art</I> near in their mouth, and
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far from their reins.
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3 But thou, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried
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mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the
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slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
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4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field
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wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts
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are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see
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our last end.
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5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied
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thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and <I>if</I> in the
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land of peace, <I>wherein</I> thou trustedst, <I>they wearied thee,</I>
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then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
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6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they
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have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a
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multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair
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words unto thee.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet doubts not but it would be of use to others to know what
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had passed between God and his soul, what temptations he had been
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assaulted with and how he had got over them; and therefore he here
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tells us,</P>
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<P>
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I. What liberty he humbly took, and was graciously allowed him, to
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reason with God concerning his judgments,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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He is about to <I>plead</I> with God, not to quarrel with him, or find
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fault with his proceedings, but to enquire into the meaning of them,
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that he might more and more see reason to be satisfied in them, and
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might have wherewith to answer both his own and others' objections
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against them. The works of the Lord, and the reasons of them, are
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<I>sought out</I> even <I>of those that have pleasure therein.</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+111:2">Ps. cxi. 2</A>.
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We may not <I>strive with our Maker,</I> but we may reason with him.
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The prophet lays down a truth of unquestionable certainty, which he
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resolves to abide by in managing this argument: <I>Righteous art thou,
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O Lord! when I plead with thee.</I> Thus he arms himself against the
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temptation wherewith he was assaulted, to envy the prosperity of the
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wicked, before he entered into a parley with it. Note, When we are
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most in the dark concerning the meaning of God's dispensations we must
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still resolve to keep up right thoughts of God, and must be confident
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of this, that he never did, nor ever will do, the least wrong to any of
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his creatures; even when his <I>judgments are</I> unsearchable as <I>a
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great deep,</I> and altogether unaccountable, yet <I>his
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righteousness</I> is as conspicuous and immovable as <I>the great
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mountains,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</A>.
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Though sometimes <I>clouds and darkness are round about him,</I> yet
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<I>justice and judgment are</I> always <I>the habitation of his
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throne,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+97:2">Ps. xcvii. 2</A>.
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When we find it hard to understand particular providences we must have
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recourse to general truths as our first principles, and abide by them;
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however dark the providence may be, <I>the Lord is righteous;</I> see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:1">Ps. lxxiii. 1</A>.
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And we must acknowledge it to him, as the prophet here, even when we
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<I>plead with him,</I> as those that have no thoughts of contending but
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of learning, being fully assured that he will be <I>justified when he
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speaks.</I> Note, However we may see cause for our own information to
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plead with God, yet it becomes us to own that, whatever he says or
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does, he is in the right.</P>
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<P>
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II. What it was in the dispensations of divine Providence that he
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stumbled at and that he thought would bear a debate. It was that which
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has been a temptation to many wise and good men, and such a one as they
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have with difficulty got over. They see the designs and projects of
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wicked people successful: <I>The way of the wicked prospers;</I> they
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compass their malicious designs and gain their point. They see their
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affairs and concerns in a good posture: <I>They are happy,</I> happy as
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the world can make them, though <I>they deal</I> treacherously, <I>very
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treacherously,</I> both with God and man. Hypocrites are chiefly meant
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(as appears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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who dissemble in their good professions, and depart from their good
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beginnings and good promises, and in both they deal treacherously, very
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treacherously. It has been said that men cannot expect to prosper who
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are unjust and dishonest in their dealings; but these deal
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treacherously, and yet <I>they are happy.</I> The prophet shows
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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both their prosperity and their abuse of their prosperity.
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1. God had been very indulgent to them and they were got beforehand in
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the world: "They are planted in a good land, a land flowing with milk
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and honey, and <I>thou hast planted them!</I> nay, thou didst cast out
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the heathen to plant them,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:2,80:8">Ps. xliv. 2, lxxx. 8</A>.
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Many a tree is planted that yet never grows nor comes to any thing; but
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<I>they have taken root;</I> their prosperity seems to be confirmed and
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settled. They take root in the earth, for there they fix themselves,
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and thence they draw the sap of all their satisfaction. Many trees
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however take root which yet never come on; but these <I>grow, yea they
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bring forth fruit;</I> their families are built up, they live high, and
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spend at a great rate; and all this was owing to the benignity of the
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divine Providence, which smiled upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:7">Ps. lxxiii. 7</A>.
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2. Thus God had favoured them, though they had dealt treacherously with
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him: <I>Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins.</I> This
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was no uncharitable censure, for he spoke by the Spirit of prophecy,
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without which it is not safe to charge men with hypocrisy whose
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appearances are plausible. Observe,
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(1.) Thought they cared not for thinking of God, nor had any sincere
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affection to him, yet they could easily persuade themselves to speak of
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him frequently and with an air of seriousness. Piety from the teeth
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outward is no difficult thing. Many speak the language of Israel that
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are not Israelites indeed.
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(2.) Though they had on all occasions the name of God ready in their
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mouth, and accustomed themselves to those forms of speech that savoured
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of piety, yet they could not persuade themselves to keep up the fear of
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God in their hearts. The form of godliness should engage us to keep up
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the power of it; but with them it did not do so.</P>
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<P>
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III. What comfort he had in appealing to God concerning his own
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integrity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>But thou, O Lord! knowest me.</I> Probably the wicked men he
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complains of were forward to reproach and censure him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+18:18"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 18</A>),
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in reference to which this was his comfort, that God was a witness of
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his integrity. God knew he was not such a one as they were (who had God
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<I>near in their mouths, but far from their reins</I>), nor such a one
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as they took him to be, and represented him, a deceiver and a false
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prophet; those that thus abused him did not know him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:8">1 Cor. ii. 8</A>.
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"<I>But thou, O Lord! knowest me,</I> though they think me not worth
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their notice."
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1. Observe what the matter is concerning which he appeals to God: Thou
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knowest <I>my heart towards thee.</I> Note, We are as our hearts are,
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and our hearts are good or bad according as they are, or are not,
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towards God; and this is that therefore concerning which we should
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examine ourselves, that we may approve ourselves to God.
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2. The cognizance to which he appeals: <I>"Thou knowest me</I> better
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than I know myself, not by hearsay or report, for <I>thou hast seen
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me,</I> not with a transient glance, but thou hast <I>tried my
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heart.</I>" God's knowledge of us is as clear and exact and certain as
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if he had made the most strict scrutiny. Note, The God with whom we
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have to do perfectly knows how our hearts are towards him. He knows
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both the guile of the hypocrite and the sincerity of the upright.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He prays that God would turn his hand against these wicked people,
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and not suffer them to prosper always, though they had prospered long:
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"Let some judgment come to <I>pull them out</I> of this fat pasture
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<I>as sheep for the slaughter,</I> that it may appear their long
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prosperity was but like the feeding of lambs in a large place, to
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<I>prepare them for the day of slaughter,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:16">Hos. iv. 16</A>.
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God suffered them to prosper that by their pride and luxury they might
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fill up the measure of their iniquity and so be ripened for
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destruction; and therefore he thinks it a piece of necessary justice
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that they should fall into mischief themselves, because they had done
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so much mischief to others, that they should be pulled out of their
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land, because they had brought ruin upon the land, and the longer they
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continued in it the more hurt they did, as the plagues of their
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generation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>How long shall the land mourn.</I> (as it does under the judgments
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of God inflicted upon it) <I>for the wickedness of those that dwell
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therein?</I> Lord, shall those prosper themselves that ruin all about
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them?"
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1. See here what the judgment was which the land was now groaning
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under: <I>The herbs of every field wither</I> (the grass is burnt up
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and all the products of the earth fail), and then it follows of course,
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the beasts are consumed, and the birds,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:5">1 Kings xviii. 5</A>.
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This was the effect of a long drought, or want of rain, which happened,
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as it should seem, at the latter end of Josiah's reign and the
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beginning of Jehoiakim's; it is mentioned
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:3,8:13,9:10,12"><I>ch.</I> iii. 3, viii. 13, ix. 10, 12</A>,
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and more fully afterwards,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:1-22"><I>ch.</I> xiv.</A>
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If they would have been brought to repentance by this less judgment,
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the greater would have been prevented. Now why was it that this
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<I>fruitful land</I> was <I>turned into barrenness,</I> but <I>for the
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wickedness of those that dwelt therein?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:34">Ps. xvii. 34</A>.
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Therefore the prophet prays that these wicked people might <I>die for
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their own sin,</I> and that the whole nation might not suffer for it.
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2. See here what was the language of their wickedness: <I>They said, He
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shall not see our last end,</I> either,
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(1.) God himself shall not. Atheism is the root of hypocrisy. God is
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<I>far from their reins,</I> though <I>near in their mouth,</I> because
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they say, <I>How doth God know?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:11,Job+22:13">Ps. lxxiii. 11; Job xxii. 13</A>.
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He knows not what way we take nor what it will end in. Or,
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(2.) Jeremiah <I>shall not see our last end;</I> whatever he pretends,
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when he asks us what shall be in the end hereof he cannot himself
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foresee it. They look upon him as a false prophet. Or, "whatever it
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is, he shall not live to see it, for we will be the death of him,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+11:21"><I>ch.</I> xi. 21</A>.
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Note,
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[1.] Men's setting their latter end at a great distance, or looking
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upon it as uncertain, is at the bottom of all their wickedness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:9">Lam. i. 9</A>.
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[2.] The whole creation groans under the burden of the sin of man,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:22">Rom. viii. 22</A>.
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It is for this that <I>the earth mourns</I> (so it may be read);
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<I>cursed is the ground for thy sake.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. He acquaints us with the answer God gave to those complaints of his,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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We often find the prophets admonished, whose business it was to
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admonish others, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:11">Isa. viii. 11</A>.
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Ministers have lessons to learn as well as lessons to teach, and must
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themselves hear God's voice and preach to themselves. Jeremiah
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complained much of the wickedness of the men of Anathoth, and that,
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notwithstanding that, they prospered. Now, this seems to be an answer
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to that complaint.
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1. It is allowed that he had cause to complain
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Thy brethren,</I> the priests of Anathoth, who are of <I>the house
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of thy father,</I> who ought to have protected thee and pretended to do
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so, <I>even they have dealt treacherously with thee,</I> have been
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false to thee, and, under colour of friendship, have designedly done
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thee all the mischief they could; they <I>have called a multitude after
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thee,</I> raised the mob upon thee, to whom they have endeavoured, by
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|
all arts possible, to render thee despicable or odious, while at the
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same time they pretended that they had no design to persecute thee nor
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|
to deprive thee of thy liberty. They are indeed such as thou canst
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<I>not believe, though they speak fair words to thee.</I> They seem to
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be thy friends, but are really thy enemies." Note, God's faithful
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servants must not think it at all strange if their foes be <I>those of
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their own house</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:36">Matt. x. 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
and if those they expect kindness from prove such as they can put no
|
|
confidence in,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:5">Mic. vii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet he is told that he carried the matter too far.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He laid the unkindness of his countrymen too much to heart.
|
|
<I>They wearied</I> him, because it was <I>in a land of peace wherein
|
|
he trusted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was very grievous to him to be thus hated and abused by his own
|
|
kindred. He was disturbed in his mind by it; his spirit was sunk and
|
|
overwhelmed with it, so that he was in great agitation and distress
|
|
about it. Nay, he was discouraged in his work by it, began to be weary
|
|
of prophesying, and to think of giving it up.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He did not consider that this was but the beginning of his sorrow,
|
|
and that he had sorer trials yet before him; and, whereas he should
|
|
endeavour by a patient bearing of this trouble to prepare himself for
|
|
greater, by his uneasiness under this he did but unfit himself for what
|
|
further lay before him: <I>If thou hast run with the footmen and they
|
|
have wearied thee,</I> and run thee quite out of breath,<I>then how
|
|
wilt thou contend with horses?</I> If the injuries done him by the men
|
|
of Anathoth made such an impression upon him, what would he do when the
|
|
princes and chief priests at Jerusalem should set upon him with their
|
|
power, as they did afterwards?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:2,32:2"><I>ch.</I> xx. 2; xxxii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
If he was so soon tired <I>in a land of peace,</I> where there was
|
|
little noise or peril, <I>what would he do in the swellings of
|
|
Jordan,</I> when that overflows all its banks and frightens even lions
|
|
out of their thickets?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+49:19"><I>ch.</I> xlix. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] While we are in this world we must expect troubles, and
|
|
difficulties. Our life is a race, a warfare; we are in danger of being
|
|
run down.
|
|
|
|
[2.] God's usual method being to begin with smaller trials, it is our
|
|
wisdom to expect greater than any we have yet met with. We may be
|
|
called out to <I>contend with horsemen,</I> and the sons of Anak may
|
|
perhaps be reserved for the last encounter.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It highly concerns us to prepare for such trials and to consider
|
|
what we should do in them. How shall we preserve our integrity and
|
|
peace when we come to <I>the swellings of Jordan?</I>
|
|
|
|
[4.] In order to our preparation for further and greater trials, we are
|
|
concerned to approve ourselves well in present smaller trials, to keep
|
|
up our spirits, keep hold of the promise, keep in our way, with our eye
|
|
upon the prize, so run that we may obtain it. Some good interpreters
|
|
understand this as spoken to the people, who were very secure and
|
|
fearless of the threatened judgments. If they have been so humbled and
|
|
impoverished by smaller calamities, so wasted by the Assyrians,--if the
|
|
Ammonites and Moabites, who were their brethren, and with whom they
|
|
were in league, proved false to them (as undoubtedly they would),--then
|
|
how would they be able to deal with such a powerful adversary as the
|
|
Chaldeans would be? How would they bear up their head against that
|
|
invasion which should come like <I>the swelling of Jordan?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_7"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_13"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The State of Judah and Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have
|
|
given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
|
|
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth
|
|
out against me: therefore have I hated it.
|
|
9 Mine heritage <I>is</I> unto me <I>as</I> a speckled bird, the birds
|
|
round about <I>are</I> against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts
|
|
of the field, come to devour.
|
|
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden
|
|
my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a
|
|
desolate wilderness.
|
|
11 They have made it desolate, <I>and being</I> desolate it mourneth
|
|
unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth
|
|
<I>it</I> to heart.
|
|
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the
|
|
wilderness: for the sword of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall devour from the <I>one</I>
|
|
end of the land even to the <I>other</I> end of the land: no flesh
|
|
shall have peace.
|
|
13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put
|
|
themselves to pain, <I>but</I> shall not profit: and they shall be
|
|
ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The people of the Jews are here marked for ruin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God is here brought in falling out with them and leaving them
|
|
desolate; and they could never have been undone if they had not
|
|
provoked God to desert them. It is a terrible word that God here says
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I have forsaken my house</I>--the temple, which had been his palace;
|
|
they had polluted it, and so forced him out of it: <I>I have left my
|
|
heritage,</I> and will look after it no more. His people that he has
|
|
taken such delight in, and care of, are now thrown out of his
|
|
protection. They had been <I>the dearly beloved of his soul,</I>
|
|
precious in his sight and honorable above any people, which is
|
|
mentioned to aggravate their sin in returning him hatred for his love
|
|
and their misery in throwing themselves out of the favour of one that
|
|
had such a kindness for them, and to justify God in his dealings with
|
|
them. He sought not occasion against them, but, if they would have
|
|
conducted themselves with any tolerable propriety, he would have made
|
|
the best of them, for they were <I>the beloved of his soul;</I> but
|
|
they had conducted themselves so that they had provoked him to <I>give
|
|
them into the hand of their enemies,</I> to leave them unguarded, an
|
|
easy prey to those that bore them ill-will. But what was the quarrel
|
|
God had with a people that had been so long dear to him? Why, truly,
|
|
they had degenerated.
|
|
|
|
1. They had become like <I>beasts of prey,</I> which nobody loves, but
|
|
every body avoids and gets as far off from as he can
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest.</I> Their sins cry
|
|
to heaven for vengeance as loud as a lion roars. Nay, they <I>cry out
|
|
against God</I> in the threatenings and slaughter which they breathe
|
|
against his prophets that speak to them in his name; and what is said
|
|
and done against them God takes as said and done against himself. They
|
|
blaspheme his name, oppose his authority, and bid defiance to his
|
|
justice, and so <I>cry out against him as a lion in the forest.</I>
|
|
Those that were the <I>sheep of God's pasture</I> had become barbarous
|
|
and ravenous, and as ungovernable as lions in the forest; <I>therefore
|
|
he hated them;</I> for what delight could the God of love take in a
|
|
people that had now become as roaring lions and raging beasts, fit to
|
|
be taken and shot at, as a vexation and torment to all about them?
|
|
|
|
2. They had become like <I>birds of prey,</I> and therefore also
|
|
unworthy a place in God's house, where neither beasts nor birds of prey
|
|
were admitted to be offered in sacrifice
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My heritage is unto me as a bird with talons</I> (so some read it,
|
|
and so the margin); they are continually pulling and pecking at one
|
|
another; they have by their unnatural contentions made their country a
|
|
cock-pit. Or <I>as a speckled bird,</I> dyed, or sprinkled, or bedewed
|
|
with the blood of her prey. The shedding of innocent blood was
|
|
Jerusalem's measure-filling sin, and hastened their ruin, not only as
|
|
it provoked their neighbours likewise; for those that have <I>their
|
|
hand against every man</I> shall have <I>every man's hand against
|
|
them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+16:12">Gen. xvi. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so it follows here: <I>The birds round about are against her.</I>
|
|
Some make her a <I>speckled, pied,</I> or <I>motley bird,</I> upon the
|
|
account of their mixing the superstitious customs and usages of the
|
|
heathen with divine institutions in the worship of God; they were fond
|
|
of a party-coloured religion, and thought it made them fine, when
|
|
really it made them odious. God's turtle-dove is no speckled bird.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The enemies are here brought in falling upon them and laying them
|
|
desolate. And some think it is upon this account that they are compared
|
|
to a speckled bird, because fowls usually make a noise about a bird of
|
|
an odd unusual colour. God's people are, among the children of this
|
|
world, as <I>men wondered at,</I> as a <I>speckled bird;</I> but this
|
|
people had by their own folly made themselves so; and the beasts and
|
|
birds are called and commissioned to prey upon them. Let <I>all the
|
|
birds round</I> be <I>against her,</I> for God has forsaken her, and
|
|
with them let <I>all the beasts of the field come to devour.</I> Those
|
|
that have made a prey of others shall themselves be preyed upon. It did
|
|
not lessen the sin of the nations, but very much increased the misery
|
|
of Judah and Jerusalem, that the desolation brought upon them was by
|
|
order from heaven. The birds and beasts are perhaps called to feast
|
|
upon the bodies of the slain, as in St. John's vision,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+19:17,18">Rev. xix. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The utter desolation of the land by the Chaldean army is here spoken of
|
|
as a thing done, so sure, so near, was it. God speaks of it as a thing
|
|
which he had appointed to be done, and yet which he had no pleasure in,
|
|
any more than in the death of other sinners.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. See with what a tender affection he speaks of this land,
|
|
notwithstanding the sinfulness of it, in remembrance of his covenant,
|
|
and the tribute of honour and glory he had formerly had from it: It is
|
|
<I>my vineyard, my portion, my pleasant portion,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, God has a kindness and concern for his church, though there be
|
|
much amiss in it; and his correcting it will every way consist with his
|
|
complacency in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. See with what a tender compassion he speaks of the desolations of
|
|
this land: <I>Many pastors</I> (the Chaldean generals that made
|
|
themselves masters of the country and ate it up with their armies as
|
|
easily as the Arabian shepherds with their flocks eat up the fruits of
|
|
a piece of ground that lies common) <I>have destroyed my vineyard,</I>
|
|
without any consideration had either of the value of it or of my
|
|
interest in it; they have with the greatest insolence and indignation
|
|
<I>trodden it under foot,</I> and that which was a pleasant land they
|
|
have made <I>a desolate wilderness.</I> The destruction was universal:
|
|
<I>The whole land is made desolate,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is made so by the sword of war: <I>The spoilers,</I> the Chaldean
|
|
soldiers,<I>have come through the plain upon all high places;</I> they
|
|
have made themselves masters of all the natural fastnesses and
|
|
artificial fortresses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The sword devours from one end of the land to the other;</I> all
|
|
places lie exposed, and the numerous army of the invaders disperse
|
|
themselves into every corner of that fruitful country, so that <I>no
|
|
flesh shall have peace,</I> none shall be exempt from the calamity nor
|
|
be able to enjoy any tranquillity. When all flesh have corrupted their
|
|
way, no flesh shall have peace; those only have peace that walk after
|
|
the Spirit.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. See whence all this misery comes.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It comes from the displeasure of God. It is <I>the sword of the
|
|
Lord</I> that <I>devours,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
While God's people keep close to him the sword of their protectors and
|
|
deliverers is the sword of the Lord, witness that of Gideon; but when
|
|
they have forsaken him, so that he has become their enemy and fights
|
|
against them, then the sword of their invaders and destroyers becomes
|
|
the <I>sword of the Lord;</I> witness this of the Chaldeans. It is
|
|
<I>because of the fierce anger of the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
it was this that kindled this fire among them and made their enemies so
|
|
furious. And <I>who may stand before him when he is angry?</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is their sin that has made God their enemy, particularly their
|
|
incorrigibleness under former rebukes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
The land <I>mourns unto me;</I> the country that lies desolate does, as
|
|
it were, pour out its complaint before God and humble itself under his
|
|
hand; but the inhabitants are so senseless and stupid that <I>none of
|
|
them lays it to heart;</I> they do not mourn to God, but are unaffected
|
|
with his displeasure, while the very ground they go upon shames them.
|
|
Note, When God's hand is lifted up, and men will not see, it shall be
|
|
laid on, and they shall be made to feel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:11">Isa. xxvi. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. See how unable they should be to guard against it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>They have sown wheat,</I> that is, they have taken a great deal of
|
|
pains for their own security and promised themselves great matters from
|
|
their endeavors, but it is all in vain; <I>they shall reap thorns,</I>
|
|
that is, that which shall prove very grievous and vexatious to them.
|
|
Instead of helping themselves, they shall but make themselves more
|
|
uneasy. <I>They have put themselves to pain,</I> both with their
|
|
labour and with their expectations, <I>but it shall not profit;</I>
|
|
they shall not prevail to extricate themselves out of the difficulties
|
|
into which they have plunged themselves. <I>They shall be ashamed of
|
|
your revenues,</I> ashamed that they have depended so much upon their
|
|
preparations for war and particularly upon their ability to bear the
|
|
charges of it." Money constitutes the sinews of war; they thought they
|
|
had enough of that, but shall be ashamed of it; for their silver and
|
|
gold shall not profit them in the day of the Lord's anger.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer12_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Predictions of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> against all mine evil neighbours, that
|
|
touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to
|
|
inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck
|
|
out the house of Judah from among them.
|
|
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them
|
|
out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring
|
|
them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
|
|
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the
|
|
ways of my people, to swear by my name, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> liveth; as they
|
|
taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in
|
|
the midst of my people.
|
|
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and
|
|
destroy that nation, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophets sometimes, in God's name, delivered messages both of
|
|
judgment and mercy to the nations that bordered on the land of Israel:
|
|
but here is a message to all those in general who had in their turns
|
|
been one way or other injurious to God's people, had either oppressed
|
|
them or triumphed in their being oppressed. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What the quarrel was that God had with them. They were <I>his evil
|
|
neighbours</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
evil neighbours to his church, and what they did against it he took as
|
|
done against himself, and therefore called them <I>his evil
|
|
neighbours,</I> that should have been neighbourly to Israel, but were
|
|
quite otherwise. Note, It is often the lot of good people to live among
|
|
bad neighbours, that are unkind and provoking to them; and it is bad
|
|
indeed when they are all so. These evil neighbours were the Moabites,
|
|
Ammonites Syrians, Edomites, Egyptians, that had been evil neighbours
|
|
to Israel in helping to debauch them and draw them from God (therefore
|
|
God calls them his evil neighbours), and now they helped to make them
|
|
desolate, and joined with the Chaldeans against them. It is just with
|
|
God to make those the instruments of trouble to us whom we have made
|
|
instruments of sin. That which God lays to their charge is: They have
|
|
<I>meddled with the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to
|
|
inherit;</I> they unjustly seized that which was none of their own:
|
|
nay, they sacrilegiously turned that to their own use which was given
|
|
to God's peculiar people. He that said, <I>Touch not my anointed,</I>
|
|
said also, "<I>Touch not their inheritance;</I> it is at your peril if
|
|
you do." Not only the persons but the estates of God's people are under
|
|
his protection.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What course he would take with them.
|
|
|
|
1. He would break the power they had got over his people, and force
|
|
them to make restitution: <I>I will pluck out the house of Judah from
|
|
among them.</I> This would be a great favour to God's people, who had
|
|
either been taken captive by them, or, when they fled to them for
|
|
shelter, had been detained and made prisoners; but it would be a great
|
|
mortification to their enemies, who would be like a lion disappointed
|
|
of his prey. The house of Judah either cannot or will not make any bold
|
|
struggles towards their own liberty; but God will with a gracious
|
|
violence pluck them out, will by his Spirit compel them to come out and
|
|
by his power compel their task-masters to let them go, as he plucked
|
|
Israel out of Egypt.
|
|
|
|
2. He would bring upon them the same calamities that they had been
|
|
instrumental to bring upon his people: <I>I will pluck them out of
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their land.</I> Judgment began at the house of God, but it did not end
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there. Nebuchadnezzar, when he had wasted the land of Israel, turned
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his hand against their evil neighbours and was a scourge to them.</P>
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<P>
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III. What mercy God had in store for such of them as would join
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themselves to him and become his people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
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They had drawn in God's backsliding people to join with them in the
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service of idols. If now they would be drawn by a returning people to
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|
join with them in the service of the true and living God, they should
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|
not only have their enmity to the people of God forgiven them, but the
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|
distance which they had been kept at before should be removed, and they
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|
should be received to stand upon the same level with the Israel of God.
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|
This had its accomplishment in part when, after the return out of
|
|
captivity, many of the people of the lands that had been evil
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|
neighbours to Israel became Jews; and it was to have its accomplishment
|
|
in the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ. Let not
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Israel, though injured by them, be implacable towards them, for God is
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|
not: <I>After that I have plucked them out,</I> in justice for their
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|
sins and in jealousy for the honour of Israel, <I>I will return,</I>
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|
will change my way, <I>and have compassion on them.</I> Though, being
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|
heathen, they can lay no claim to the mercies of the covenant, yet they
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|
shall have benefit by the compassions of the Creator, who will
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|
notwithstanding look upon them as the work of his hands. Note, God's
|
|
controversies with his creatures, though they cannot be disputed, may
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|
be accommodated. Those who (as these) have been not only strangers, but
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|
<I>enemies in their minds by wicked works,</I> may be
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|
<I>reconciled,</I>
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:21">Col. i. 21</A>.
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Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. What were the terms on which God would show favour to them. It is
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|
always provided <I>that they will diligently learn the ways of my
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|
people,</I> that is, in general, the ways that they walk in when they
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conduct themselves as <I>my people</I> (not the crooked ways into which
|
|
they have turned aside), the ways which my people are directed to take.
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Note,
|
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(1.) There are good ways that are peculiarly <I>the ways of God's
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|
people,</I> which however they may differ in the choice of their paths,
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|
they are all agreed to walk in. The ways of holiness and
|
|
heavenly-mindedness, of love and peaceableness, the ways of prayer and
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|
sabbath-sanctification, and diligent attendance on instituted
|
|
ordinances--these, and the like, are <I>the ways of God's people.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Those that would have their lot with God's people, and their last
|
|
end like theirs, must learn their ways and walk in them, must observe
|
|
the rule they walk by and conform to that rule they walk by and conform
|
|
to that rule and go forth by those footsteps. By an intimate
|
|
conversation with God's people they must learn to do as they do.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It is impossible to learn the ways of God's people as they should
|
|
be learnt, without a great deal of care and pains. We must diligently
|
|
observe these ways and diligently obliges ourselves to walk in them,
|
|
must look diligently
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15">Heb. xii. 15</A>),
|
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|
|
and work diligently,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:24">Luke xiii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
In particular, they must learn to give honour to God's name by making
|
|
all their solemn appeals to him. They must learn to say, <I>The Lord
|
|
liveth</I> (to own him, to adore him, and to abide by his judgment),
|
|
<I>as they taught my people to swear by Baal.</I> It was bad enough
|
|
that they did themselves swear by Baal, worse that they taught God's
|
|
own people, who had been better taught; and yet, if they will at length
|
|
reform, they shall be accepted. Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] We must not despair of the conversion of the worst; no, not of
|
|
those who have been instrumental to pervert and debauch others; even
|
|
they may be brought to repentance, and, if they be, shall find mercy.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those whom we have been industrious to draw to that which is evil,
|
|
when God opens their eyes and ours, we should be as industrious to
|
|
follow in that which is good. It will be a holy revenge upon ourselves
|
|
to become pupils to those in the way of duty to whom we have been
|
|
tutors in the was of sin.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The conversion of the deceived may prove a happy occasion of the
|
|
conversion even of the deceivers. Thus those who fall together into the
|
|
ditch are sometimes plucked together out of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What should be the tokens and fruits of this favour when they return
|
|
to God and God to them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They shall be restored to and re-established in their own land
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will bring them again every man to his heritage.</I> The same hand
|
|
that plucked them up shall plant them again.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They shall become entitled to the spiritual privileges of God's
|
|
Israel: "If they will be towardly, and <I>learn the ways of my
|
|
people,</I> will conform to the rules and confine themselves to the
|
|
restraints of my family, <I>then shall they be built in the midst of my
|
|
people.</I> They shall not only be brought among them, to have a name
|
|
and a place in the house of the Lord, where there was a court for the
|
|
Gentiles, but they shall be built among them; they shall unite with
|
|
them; the former enmities shall be slain; they shall be both edified
|
|
and settled among them." See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+56:5-7">Isa. lvi. 5-7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that diligently learn the ways of God's people shall enjoy
|
|
the privileges and comforts of his people.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. What should become of those that were still wedded to their own
|
|
evil ways, yea, though many of those about them turned to the Lord
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>If there will not obey,</I> if any of them continue to stand it out,
|
|
<I>I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,</I> that family,
|
|
that particular person, <I>saith the Lord.</I> Those that will not be
|
|
ruled by the grace of God shall be ruined by the justice of God. And,
|
|
if disobedient nations shall be destroyed, much more disobedient
|
|
churches from whom better things are expected.</P>
|
|
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