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