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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. XXII.</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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Upon occasion of the message sent in the foregoing chapter to the house
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of the king, we have here recorded some sermons which Jeremiah preached
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at court, in some preceding reigns, that it might appear they had had
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fair warning long before that fatal sentence was pronounced upon them,
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and were put in a way to prevent it. Here is,
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I. A message sent to the royal family, as it should seem in the reign
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of Jehoiakim, relating partly to Jehoahaz, who was carried away captive
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into Egypt, and partly to Jehoiakim, who succeeded him and was now upon
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the throne. The king and princes are exhorted to execute judgment, and
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are assured that, if they did so, the royal family should flourish, but
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otherwise it should be ruined,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:1-9">ver. 1-9</A>.
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Jehoahaz, called here Shallum, is lamented,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:10-12">ver. 10-12</A>.
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Jehoiakim is reproved and threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:13-19">ver. 13-19</A>.
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II. Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias,
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Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal
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to hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in
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him Solomon's house should fail,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:20-30">ver. 20-30</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer22_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_9"> </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>Jeremiah Preaches before Jehoiakim.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 590.</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>; Go down to the house of the king of
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Judah, and speak there this word,
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2 And say, Hear the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, O king of Judah, that
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sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy
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people that enter in by these gates:
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3 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Execute ye judgment and righteousness,
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and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do
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no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the
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widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
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4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by
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the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David,
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riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his
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people.
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5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that this house shall become a desolation.
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6 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto the king's house of Judah; Thou
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<I>art</I> Gilead unto me, <I>and</I> the head of Lebanon: <I>yet</I> surely I
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will make thee a wilderness, <I>and</I> cities <I>which</I> are not
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inhabited.
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7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with
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his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast
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<I>them</I> into the fire.
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8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say
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every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> done thus
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unto this great city?
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9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the
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covenant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God, and worshipped other gods, and
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served them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. Orders given to Jeremiah to go and preach before the king. In the
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foregoing chapter we are told that Zedekiah sent messengers to the
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prophet, but here the prophet is bidden to go, in his own proper
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person, <I>to the house of the king,</I> and demand his attention to
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the word of the King of kings
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah!</I> Subjects must own
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that where the word of the king is there is power over them, but kings
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must own that where the word of the Lord is there is power over them.
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The <I>king of Judah</I> is here spoken to <I>as sitting upon the
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throne of David,</I> who was a man after God's own heart, as holding
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his dignity and power by the covenant made with David; let him
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therefore conform to his example, that he may have the benefit of the
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promises made to him. With the king his <I>servants</I> are spoken to,
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because a good government depends upon a good ministry as well as a
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good king.</P>
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<P>
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II. Instructions given him what to preach.</P>
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<P>
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1. He must tell them what was their duty, what was the good which the
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Lord their God required of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They must take care,
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(1.) That they do all the good they can with the power they have. They
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must do justice in defence of those that were injured, and must
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<I>deliver the spoiled out of the hand of their oppressors.</I> This
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was the duty of their place,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:3">Ps. lxxxii. 3</A>.
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Herein they must be ministers of God for good.
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(2.) That they do no hurt with it, <I>no wrong, no violence.</I> That
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is the greatest wrong and violence which is done under colour of law
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and justice, and by those whose business it is to punish and protect
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from wrong and violence. They must <I>do no wrong to the stranger,
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fatherless, and widow;</I> for these God does in a particular matter
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patronise and take under his tuition,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+22:21,22">Exod. xxii. 21, 22</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. He must assure them that the faithful discharge of their duty would
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advance and secure their prosperity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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There shall then be a succession of kings, an uninterrupted succession,
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<I>upon the throne of David</I> and of his line, these enjoying a
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perfect tranquillity, and living in great state and dignity, <I>riding
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in chariots and on horses,</I> as before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:25"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 25</A>.
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Note, the most effectual way to preserve the dignity of the government
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is to do the duty of it.</P>
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<P>
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3. He must likewise assure them that the iniquity of their family, if
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they persisted in it, would be the ruin of their family, though it was
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a royal family
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>If you will not hear,</I> will not obey, <I>this house shall become
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a desolation,</I> the palace of the kings of Judah shall fare no better
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than other habitations in Jerusalem. Sin has often been the ruin of
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royal palaces, though ever so stately, ever so strong. This sentence is
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ratified by an oath: <I>I swear by myself</I> (and God can swear by no
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greater,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:13">Heb. vi. 13</A>)
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that this house shall be laid in ruins. Note, Sin will be the ruin of
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the houses of princes as well as of mean men.</P>
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<P>
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4. He must show how fatal their wickedness would be to their kingdom as
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well as to themselves, to Jerusalem especially, the royal city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:6-9"><I>v.</I> 6-9</A>.
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(1.) It is confessed that Judah and Jerusalem had been valuable in
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God's eyes and considerable in their own: <I>thou art Gilead unto me
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and the head of Lebanon.</I> Their lot was cast in a place that was
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rich and pleasant as Gilead; Zion was a stronghold, as stately as
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Lebanon: this they trusted to as their security. But,
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(2.) This shall not protect them; the country that is now fruitful as
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Gilead shall be made <I>a wilderness.</I> The cities that are now
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strong as Lebanon shall be cities <I>not inhabited;</I> and, when the
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country is laid waste, the cities must be dispeopled. See how easily
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God's judgments can ruin a nation, and how certainly sin will do it.
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When this desolating work is to be done,
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[1.] There shall be those that shall do it effectually
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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"<I>I will prepare destroyers against thee;</I> I will <I>sanctify</I>
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them" (so the word is); "I will appoint them to this service and use
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them in it." Note, When destruction is designed destroyers are
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prepared, and perhaps are in the preparing, and things are working
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towards the designed destruction, and are getting ready for it, long
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before. And who can contend with destroyers of God's preparing? They
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shall destroy cities as easily as men fell trees in a forest: <I>They
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shall cut down thy choice cedars;</I> and yet, when they are down,
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shall value them no more than thorns and briers; they shall <I>cast
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them into the fire,</I> for their choicest cedars have become rotten
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ones and good for nothing else.
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[2.] There shall be those who shall be ready to justify God in the
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doing of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>);
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persons of <I>many nations,</I> when they <I>pass by</I> the ruins of
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<I>this city</I> in their travels, will ask, "<I>Wherefore hath the
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Lord done thus unto this city?</I> How came so strong a city to be
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overpowered? so rich a city to be impoverished? so populous a city to
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be depopulated? so holy a city to be profaned? and a city that had been
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so dear to God to be abandoned by him?" The reason is so obvious that
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it shall be ready in every man's mouth. Ask those <I>that go by the
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way,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:29">Job xxi. 29</A>.
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Ask the next man you meet, and he will tell you it was because they
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changed their gods, which other nations never used to do. They forsook
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<I>the covenant</I> of Jehovah their own God, revolted from their
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allegiance to him and from the duty which their covenant with him bound
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them to, and they <I>worshipped other gods and served them,</I> in
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contempt of him; and therefore he gave them up to this destruction.
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Note, God never casts any off until they first cast him off. "Go," says
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God to the prophet, "and preach this to the royal family."</P>
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<A NAME="Jer22_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer22_19"> </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 Doom of Shallum and Jehoiakim.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 590.</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>10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: <I>but</I> weep
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sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor
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see his native country.
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11 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> touching Shallum the son of Josiah
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king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which
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went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any
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more:
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12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him
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captive, and shall see this land no more.
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13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and
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his chambers by wrong; <I>that</I> useth his neighbour's service
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without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
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14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers,
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and cutteth him out windows; and <I>it is</I> cieled with cedar, and
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painted with vermilion.
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15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest <I>thyself</I> in cedar?
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did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice,
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<I>and</I> then <I>it was</I> well with him?
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16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then <I>it was</I>
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well <I>with him: was</I> not this to know me? saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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17 But thine eyes and thine heart <I>are</I> not but for thy
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covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression,
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and for violence, to do <I>it.</I>
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18 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> concerning Jehoiakim the son
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of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, <I>saying,</I>
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Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him,
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<I>saying,</I> Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
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19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast
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forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Kings, though they are gods to us, are men to God, and shall <I>die
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like men;</I> so it appears in these verses, where we have a sentence
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of death passed upon two kings who reigned successively in Jerusalem,
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two brothers, and both the ungracious sons of a very pious father.</P>
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<P>
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I. Here is the doom of Shallum, who doubtless is the same with
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Jehoahaz, for he is that son of Josiah king of Judah who reigned <I>in
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the stead of Josiah his father</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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which Jehoahaz did by the act of the people, who made him king though
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he was not the eldest son,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:30,2Ch+36:1">2 Kings xxiii. 30; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1</A>.
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Among the sons of Josiah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+3:15">1 Chron. iii. 15</A>)
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there is one Shallum mentioned, and not Jehoahaz. Perhaps the people
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preferred him before his elder brother because they thought him a more
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active daring young man, and fitter to rule; but God soon showed them
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the folly of their injustice, and that it could not prosper, for within
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three months the king of Egypt came upon him, deposed him, and carried
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him away prisoner into Egypt, as God had threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:68">Deut. xxviii. 68</A>.
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It does not appear that any of the people were taken into captivity
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with him. We have the story
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:34,2Ch+36:4">2 Kings xxiii. 34; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4</A>.
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Now here,
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1. The people are directed to lament him rather than his father Josiah:
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"<I>Weep not for the dead,</I> weep not any more for Josiah." Jeremiah
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had been himself a true mourner for him, and had stirred up the people
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to mourn for him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:25">2 Chron. xxxv. 25</A>):
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yet now he will have them go out of mourning for him, though it was but
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three months after his death, and to turn their tears into another
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channel. They must weep sorely for Jehoahaz, who had gone into Egypt;
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|
not that there was any great loss of him to the public, as there was of
|
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his father, but that his case was much more deplorable. Josiah went to
|
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the grave in peace and honour, was prevented from seeing the evil to
|
|
come in this world and removed to see the good to come in the other
|
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world; and therefore, <I>Weep not for him,</I> but for his unhappy son,
|
|
who is likely to live and die in disgrace and misery, a wretched
|
|
captive. Note, Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners
|
|
are justly pitied. And so dismal perhaps the prospect of the times may
|
|
be that tears even for a Josiah, even for a Jesus, must be restrained,
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|
that they may be reserved for <I>ourselves and for our children,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+23:28">Luke xxiii. 28</A>.
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2. The reason given is because he shall never return out of captivity,
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as he and his people expected, but shall die there. They were loth to
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believe this, therefore it is repeated here again and again, He shall
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|
<I>return no more,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall never have the pleasure of seeing <I>his native country,</I>
|
|
but shall have the continual grief of hearing of the desolations of it.
|
|
He has gone <I>forth out of this place,</I> and shall <I>never
|
|
return,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He shall die in the place whither they have led him captive,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
This came of his forsaking the good example of his father, and usurping
|
|
the right of his elder brother. In Ezekiel's lamentation for the
|
|
princes of Israel this Jehoahaz is represented as a young lion, that
|
|
soon learned to <I>catch the prey,</I> but was taken, and brought in
|
|
chains to Egypt, and was long expected to return, but in vain. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+19:3-5">Ezek. xix. 3-5</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is the doom of Jehoiakim, who succeeded him. Whether he had
|
|
any better right to the crown than Shallum we know not; for, though he
|
|
was older than his predecessor, there seems to be another son of
|
|
Josiah, older than he, called <I>Johanan,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+3:15">1 Chron. iii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
But this we know he ruled no better, and fared no better at last. Here
|
|
we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. His sins faithfully reproved. It is not fit for a private person to
|
|
say to a king, <I>Thou art wicked;</I> but a prophet, who has a message
|
|
from God, betrays his trust if he does not deliver it, be it ever so
|
|
unpleasing, even to kings themselves. Jehoiakim is not here charged
|
|
with idolatry, and probably he had not yet put Urijah the prophet to
|
|
death (as we find afterwards he did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+26:22,23"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 22, 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
for then he would have been told of it here; but the crimes for which
|
|
he is here reproved are,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Pride and affection of pomp and splendour; as if all the business
|
|
of a king were to look great, and to do good were to be the least of
|
|
his care. He must build himself a stately palace, a <I>wide house,</I>
|
|
and <I>large chambers,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
He must have <I>windows cut out</I> after the newest fashion, perhaps
|
|
like sash-windows with us. The rooms must be <I>ceiled with cedar,</I>
|
|
the richest sort of wood. His house must be as well-roofed and
|
|
wainscoted as the temple itself, or else it will not please him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+6:15,16">1 Kings vi. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, it must exceed that, for it must be painted with <I>minium,</I> or
|
|
<I>vermilion,</I> which dyes red, or, as some read it, with
|
|
<I>indigo,</I> which dyes blue. No doubt it is lawful for princes and
|
|
great men to build, and beautify, and furnish their houses so as is
|
|
agreeable to their dignity; but he that knows what is in man knew that
|
|
Jehoiakim did this in the pride of his heart, which makes that to be
|
|
sinful, exceedingly sinful, which is in itself lawful. Those therefore
|
|
that are enlarging their houses, and making them more sumptuous, have
|
|
need to look well to the frame of their own spirits in the doing of it,
|
|
and carefully to watch against all the workings of vain-glory. But that
|
|
which was particularly amiss in Jehoiakim's case was that he did this
|
|
when he could not but perceive, both by the word of God and by his
|
|
providence, that divine judgments were breaking in upon him. He reigned
|
|
his first three years by the permission and allowance of the king of
|
|
Egypt, and all the rest by the permission and allowance of the king of
|
|
Babylon; and yet he that was no better than a viceroy will covet to vie
|
|
with the greatest monarchs in building and furniture. Observe how
|
|
peremptory he is in this resolution: "<I>I will build myself a wide
|
|
house;</I> I am resolved <I>I will,</I> whoever advises me to the
|
|
contrary." Note, It is the common folly of those that are sinking in
|
|
their estates to covet to make a fair show. Many have unhumbled hearts
|
|
under humbling providences, and look most haughty when God is bringing
|
|
them down. This is striving with our Maker.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Carnal security and confidence in his wealth, depending upon the
|
|
continuance of his prosperity, as if his mountain now stood so strong
|
|
that it could never be moved. He thought he must reign without any
|
|
disturbance or interruption because he had <I>enclosed himself in
|
|
cedar</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
as if that were too fine to be assaulted and too strong to be broken
|
|
through, and as if God himself could not, for pity, give up such a
|
|
stately house as that to be burned. Thus when Christ spoke of the
|
|
destruction of the temple his disciples came to him, to show him what a
|
|
magnificent structure it was,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:38,24:1">Matt. xxiii. 38; xxiv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those wretchedly deceive themselves who think their present
|
|
prosperity is a lasting security, and dream of reigning because they
|
|
are <I>enclosed in cedar.</I> It is but in his own conceit that <I>the
|
|
rich man's wealth is his strong city.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) Some think he is here charged with sacrilege, and robbing the
|
|
house of God to beautify and adorn his own house. He <I>cuts him
|
|
out</I> my <I>windows</I> (so it is in the margin), which some
|
|
understand as if he had taken windows out of the temple to put into his
|
|
own palace and then <I>painted them</I> (as it follows) <I>with
|
|
vermilion,</I> that it might not be discovered, but might look of a
|
|
piece with his own buildings. Note, Those cheat themselves, and ruin
|
|
themselves at last, who think to enrich themselves by robbing God and
|
|
his house; and, however they may disguise it, God discovers it.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He is here charged with extortion and oppression, violence and
|
|
injustice. He <I>built his house by unrighteousness,</I> with money
|
|
unjustly got and materials which were not honestly come by, and perhaps
|
|
upon ground obtained as Ahab obtained Naboth's vineyard. And, because
|
|
he went beyond what he could afford, he defrauded his workmen of their
|
|
wages, which is one of the sins that <I>cries in the ears of the Lord
|
|
of hosts,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+5:4">Jam. v. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
God takes notice of the wrong done by the greatest of men to their poor
|
|
servants and labourers, and will repay those, in justice, that will not
|
|
in justice pay those whom they employ, but <I>use their neighbour's
|
|
service without wages.</I> Observe, The greatest of men must look upon
|
|
the meanest as their neighbours, and be just to them accordingly, and
|
|
love them as themselves. Jehoiakim was oppressive, not only in his
|
|
buildings, but in the administration of his government. He did not do
|
|
justice, made no conscience of shedding innocent blood, when it was to
|
|
serve the purposes of his ambition, avarice, and revenge. He was all
|
|
for <I>oppression</I> and <I>violence,</I> not to threaten it only, but
|
|
to do it; and, when he was set upon any act of injustice, nothing
|
|
should stop him, but he would go through with it. And that which was at
|
|
the bottom of all was covetousness, that love of <I>money which is the
|
|
root of all evil. Thy eyes and thy heart are not but for
|
|
covetousness;</I> they were for that, and nothing else. Observe, In
|
|
covetousness the heart walks after the eyes: it is therefore called
|
|
<I>the lust of the eye,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:16,Job+31:7">1 John ii. 16; Job xxxi. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is <I>setting the eyes upon that which is not,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The eyes and the heart are then for covetousness when the aims and
|
|
affections are wholly set upon the wealth of this world; and, where
|
|
they are so, the temptation is strong to murder, oppression, and all
|
|
manner of violence and villany.
|
|
|
|
(5.) That which aggravated all his sins was that he was the son of a
|
|
good father, who had left him a good example, if he would but have
|
|
followed it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Did not thy father eat and drink?</I> When Jehoiakim enlarged and
|
|
enlightened his house it is probable that he spoke scornfully of his
|
|
father for contenting himself with such a mean and inconvenient
|
|
dwelling, below the grandeur of a sovereign prince, and ridiculed him
|
|
as one that had a dull fancy, a low spirit, and could not find in his
|
|
heart to lay out his money, nor cared for what was fashionable; that
|
|
should not serve him which served his father: but God, by the prophet,
|
|
tells him that his father, though he had not the spirit of building,
|
|
was a man of an excellent spirit, a better man than he, and did better
|
|
for himself and his family. Those children that despise their parents'
|
|
old fashions commonly come short of their real excellences. Jeremiah
|
|
tells him,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he was directed to do his duty by his father's practice: He
|
|
<I>did judgment and justice;</I> he never did wrong to any of his
|
|
subjects, never oppressed them, nor put any hardship upon them, but was
|
|
careful to preserve all their just rights and properties. Nay, he not
|
|
only did not abuse his power for the support of wrong, but he used it
|
|
for the maintaining of right. He <I>judged the cause of the poor and
|
|
needy,</I> was ready to hear the cause of the meanest of his subjects
|
|
and do them justice. Note, The care of magistrates must be, not to
|
|
support their grandeur and take their ease, but to do good, not only
|
|
not to oppress the poor themselves, but to defend those that are
|
|
oppressed.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he was encouraged to do his duty by his father's prosperity.
|
|
<I>First,</I> God accepted him: "<I>Was not this to know me, saith the
|
|
Lord?</I> Did he not hereby make it to appear that he rightly knew his
|
|
God, and worshipped him, and consequently was known and owned of him?"
|
|
Note, The right knowledge of God consists in doing our duty,
|
|
particularly that which is the duty of our place and station in the
|
|
world. <I>Secondly,</I> He himself had the comfort of it: <I>Did he
|
|
not eat and drink</I> soberly and cheerfully, so as to fit himself for
|
|
his business, <I>for strength and not for drunkenness?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:17">Eccl. x. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
He did <I>eat, and drink, and do judgment;</I> he did not (as perhaps
|
|
Jehoiakim and his princes did) <I>drink, and forget the law, and
|
|
pervert the judgment of the afflicted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:5">Prov. xxxi. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
He did <I>eat and drink;</I> that is, God blessed him with great
|
|
plenty, and he had the comfortable enjoyment of it himself and gave
|
|
handsome entertainments to his friends, was very hospitable and very
|
|
charitable. It was Jehoiakim's pride that he had built a fine house,
|
|
but Josiah's true praise that he kept a good house. Many times those
|
|
have least in them of true generosity that have the greatest affection
|
|
for pomp and grandeur; for, to support the extravagant expense of that,
|
|
hospitality, bounty to the poor, yea, and justice itself, will be
|
|
pinched. It is better to live with Josiah in an old-fashioned house,
|
|
and do good, than live with Jehoiakim in a stately house, and leave
|
|
debts unpaid. Josiah did <I>justice and judgment,</I> and then <I>it
|
|
was well with him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
and it is repeated again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
He lived very comfortably; his own subjects, and all his neighbours,
|
|
respected him; and whatever he put his hand to prospered. Note, While
|
|
we do well we may expect it will be well with us. This Jehoiakim knew,
|
|
that his father found the way of duty to be the way of comfort, and yet
|
|
he would not tread in his steps. Note, It should engage us to keep up
|
|
religion in our day that our godly parents kept it up in theirs and
|
|
recommended it to us from their own experience of the benefit of it.
|
|
They told us that they had found the promises which godliness has of
|
|
the <I>life that now</I> is made good to them, and that religion and
|
|
piety are friendly to outward prosperity. So that we are inexcusable if
|
|
we turn aside from that good way.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Here we have Jehoiakim's doom faithfully read,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
We may suppose that it was in the utmost peril of his own life that
|
|
Jeremiah here foretold the shameful death of Jehoiakim; but <I>thus
|
|
saith the Lord concerning</I> him, and therefore thus saith he.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall die unlamented; he shall make himself so odious by his
|
|
oppression and cruelty that all about him shall be glad to part with
|
|
him, and none shall do him the honour of dropping one tear for him,
|
|
whereas his father, who <I>did judgment and justice,</I> was
|
|
universally lamented; and it is promised to Zedekiah that he should be
|
|
lamented at his death, for he conducted himself better than Jehoiakim
|
|
had done,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+34:5"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
His relations shall not <I>lament him,</I> no, not with the common
|
|
expressions of grief used at the funeral of the meanest, where they
|
|
cried, <I>Ah, my brother!</I> or, <I>Ah, sister!</I> His subjects shall
|
|
not lament him, nor cry out, as they used to do at the graves of their
|
|
princes, <I>Ah, lord!</I> or <I>Ah his glory!</I> It is sad for any to
|
|
live so that, when they die, none will be sorry to part with them. Nay,
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall lie unburied. This is worse than the former. Even those
|
|
that have no tears to grace the funerals of the dead with would
|
|
willingly have them buried out of their sight; but Jehoiakim shall be
|
|
<I>buried with the burial of an ass,</I> that is, he shall have no
|
|
burial at all, but his dead body shall be cast into a ditch or upon a
|
|
dunghill; it shall be <I>drawn,</I> or dragged, ignominiously, and
|
|
<I>cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.</I> It is said, in the
|
|
story of Jehoiakim
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:6">2 Chron. xxxvi. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
that Nebuchadnezzar <I>bound him in fetters, to carry him to
|
|
Babylon,</I> and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+19:9">Ezek. xix. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
that he was <I>brought in chains to the king of Babylon.</I> But it is
|
|
probable that he died a prisoner, before he was carried away to Babylon
|
|
as was intended; perhaps he died for grief, or, in the pride of his
|
|
heart, hastened his own end, and, for that reason, was denied a decent
|
|
burial, as self-murderers usually are with us. Josephus says that
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar slew him at Jerusalem, and left his body thus exposed,
|
|
somewhere at a great distance from the <I>gates of Jerusalem.</I> And it
|
|
is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+24:6">2 Kings xxiv. 6</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>he slept with his fathers.</I> When he built himself a stately
|
|
house, no doubt he designed himself a stately sepulchre; but see how he
|
|
was disappointed. Note, Those that are lifted up with great pride are
|
|
commonly reserved for some great disgrace in life or death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer22_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Desolation of Judah; The Doom of Jeconiah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 590.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan,
|
|
and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
|
|
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; <I>but</I> thou saidst, I
|
|
will not hear. This <I>hath been</I> thy manner from thy youth, that
|
|
thou obeyedst not my voice.
|
|
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall
|
|
go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and
|
|
confounded for all thy wickedness.
|
|
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars,
|
|
how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as
|
|
of a woman in travail!
|
|
24 <I>As</I> I live, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, though Coniah the son of
|
|
Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet
|
|
would I pluck thee thence;
|
|
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy
|
|
life, and into the hand <I>of them</I> whose face thou fearest, even
|
|
into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the
|
|
hand of the Chaldeans.
|
|
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee,
|
|
into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye
|
|
die.
|
|
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither
|
|
shall they not return.
|
|
28 <I>Is</I> this man Coniah a despised broken idol? <I>is he</I> a
|
|
vessel wherein <I>is</I> no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he
|
|
and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
|
|
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
30 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Write ye this man childless, a man
|
|
<I>that</I> shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed
|
|
shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any
|
|
more in Judah.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This prophecy seems to have been calculated for the ungracious
|
|
inglorious reign of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, who
|
|
succeeded him in the government, reigned but three months, and was then
|
|
carried captive to Babylon, where he lived many years,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+52:31"><I>ch.</I> lii. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
We have, in these verses, a prophecy,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Of the desolations of the kingdom, which were now hastening on
|
|
apace,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:20-23"><I>v.</I> 20-23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jerusalem and Judah are here spoken to, or the Jewish state as a single
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person, and we have it here under a threefold character:--
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1. Very haughty in a day of peace and safety
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
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"<I>I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity,</I> spoke by my servants the
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prophets, reproofs, admonitions, counsels, <I>but thou saidst, I will
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not hear,</I> I will not heed, <I>thou obeyedst not my voice,</I> and
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wast resolved that thou wouldst not, and hadst the front to tell me
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|
so." It is common for those that live at ease to live in contempt of
|
|
the word of God. <I>Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked.</I> This is so
|
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much the worse that they had it by kind: <I>This has been thy manner
|
|
from thy youth.</I> They were called <I>transgressors from the
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womb,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+48:8">Isa. xlviii. 8</A>.
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2. Very timorous upon the alarms of trouble
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
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"When thou seest <I>all thy lovers destroyed,</I> when thou findest thy
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idols unable to help thee and thy foreign alliances failing thee, thou
|
|
wilt then go up to Lebanon, and cry, as one undone and giving up all
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|
for lost, cry with a bitter cry; thou wilt cry, <I>Help, help, or we
|
|
are lost;</I> thou wilt <I>lift up thy voice</I> in fearful shrieks
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|
upon <I>Lebanon and Bashan,</I> two high hills, in hope to be heard
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|
thence by the advantage of the rising ground. Thou wilt <I>cry from the
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|
passages,</I> from the roads, where thou wilt ever and anon be in
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|
distress." Thou wilt cry from <I>Abarim</I> (so some read it, as a
|
|
proper name), a famous mountain in the border of Moab. "Thou wilt cry,
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|
as those that are in great consternation use to do, to all about thee;
|
|
but in vain, for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
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<I>the wind shall eat up all thy pastors,</I> or <I>rulers,</I> that
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should protect and lead thee, and provide for thy safety; they shall be
|
|
blasted, and withered, and brought to nothing, as buds and blossoms are
|
|
by a bleak or freezing wind; they shall be devoured suddenly,
|
|
insensibly, and irresistibly, as fruits by the wind. <I>Thy lovers,</I>
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|
that thou dependest upon and hast an affection for, shall <I>go into
|
|
captivity,</I> and shall be so far from saving thee that they shall not
|
|
be able to save themselves."
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3. Very tame under the heavy and lasting pressures of trouble: "When
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there appears no relief from any of thy confederates, and thy own
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|
priests are at a loss, <I>then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for
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|
all thy wickedness,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
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Note, Many will never be ashamed of their sins till they are brought by
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|
them to the last extremity; and it is well if we get this good by our
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|
straits to be brought by them to confusion for our sins. The Jewish
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state is here called <I>an inhabitant of Lebanon,</I> because that
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famous forest was within their border
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
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and all their country was wealthy, and well-guarded as with Lebanon's
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natural fastnesses; but so proud and haughty were they that they are
|
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said to <I>make their nest in the cedars,</I> where they thought
|
|
themselves out of the reach of all danger, and whence they looked with
|
|
contempt upon all about them. "But, <I>how gracious wilt thou be when
|
|
pangs come upon thee!</I> Then thou wilt humble thyself before God and
|
|
promise amendment. When thou art overthrown in stony places thou wilt
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|
be glad to <I>hear those words</I> which in thy prosperity <I>thou
|
|
wouldst not hear,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:6">Ps. cxli. 6</A>.
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Then thou wilt endeavour to make thyself acceptable with that God whom,
|
|
before, thou madest light of." Note, Many have their pangs of piety
|
|
who, when the pangs are over, show that they have no true piety. Some
|
|
give another sense of it: "What will all thy pomp, and state, and
|
|
wealth avail thee? What will become of it all, or what comfort shalt
|
|
thou have of it, when thou shalt be in these distresses? No more than
|
|
<I>a woman in travail,</I> full of pains and fears, can take comfort in
|
|
her ornaments while she is in that condition." So Mr. Gataker. Note,
|
|
Those that are proud of their worldly advantages would do well to
|
|
consider how they will look when pangs come upon them, and how they
|
|
will then have lost all their beauty.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is a prophecy of the disgrace of the king; his name was
|
|
<I>Jeconiah,</I> but he is here once and again called <I>Coniah,</I> in
|
|
contempt. The prophet shortens or nicks his name, and gives him, as we
|
|
say, a nickname, perhaps to denote that he should be despoiled of his
|
|
dignity, that his reign should be shortened, and the number of his
|
|
months cut off in the midst. Two instances of dishonour are here put
|
|
upon him:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He shall be carried away <I>into captivity</I> and shall spend and
|
|
end his days in bondage. He was born to a crown, but it should quickly
|
|
fall from his head, and he should exchange it for fetters. Observe the
|
|
steps of this judgment.
|
|
|
|
(1.) God will abandon him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The God of truth says it, and confirms it with an oath: "<I>Though he
|
|
were the signet upon my right hand</I> (his predecessors have been so,
|
|
and he might have been so if he had conducted himself well, but he
|
|
being degenerated) <I>I will pluck him thence.</I>" The godly kings of
|
|
Judah had been as signets on God's right hand, near and dear to him; he
|
|
had gloried in them, and made use of them as instruments of his
|
|
government, as the prince does of his signet-ring, or sign manual; but
|
|
Coniah has made himself utterly unworthy of the honour, and therefore
|
|
the privilege of his birth shall be no security to him; notwithstanding
|
|
that, he shall be thrown off. Answerable to this threatening against
|
|
Jeconiah is God's promise to Zerubbabel, when he made him his people's
|
|
guide in their return out of captivity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+2:23">Hag. ii. 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will take thee, O Zerubbabel! my servant, and make thee as a
|
|
signet.</I> Those that think themselves as signets on God's right hand
|
|
must not be secure, but fear lest they be plucked thence.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The king of Babylon shall seize him. <I>Those</I> know not what
|
|
enemies and mischiefs they lie exposed to who have thrown themselves
|
|
out of God's protection,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Chaldeans are here said to be such as had a spite to <I>Coniah;</I>
|
|
they <I>sought his life;</I> no less than that, they thought, would
|
|
satisfy their rage; they were such as he had a dread of (they are those
|
|
<I>whose face thou fearest</I>) which would make it the more terrible
|
|
to him to fall into their hands, especially when it was God himself
|
|
that gave <I>him into their hands.</I> And, if God deliver him to them,
|
|
who can deliver him from them?
|
|
|
|
(3.) He and his family shall be carried to Babylon, where they shall
|
|
wear out many tedious years of their lives in a miserable
|
|
captivity--<I>he and his mother</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>he and his seed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, he and all the royal family (for he had no children of his own
|
|
when he went into captivity), or he and the children in his loins; they
|
|
shall all be cast out to another country, to a strange country, <I>a
|
|
country where they were not born,</I> nor such a country as that where
|
|
they were born, <I>a land which they know not,</I> in which they have
|
|
no acquaintance with whom to converse or from whom to expect any
|
|
kindness. Thither they shall be carried, from a land where they were
|
|
entitled to dominion, into a land where they shall be compelled to
|
|
servitude. But have they no hopes of seeing their own country again?
|
|
No: <I>To the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they
|
|
not return,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
They conducted themselves ill in it when they were in it, and therefore
|
|
they shall never see it more. Jehoahaz was carried to Egypt, the land
|
|
of the south, Jeconiah to Babylon, the land of the north, both far
|
|
remote, the quite contrary way, and must never expect to meet again,
|
|
nor either of them to breathe their native air again. Those that had
|
|
abused the dominion they had over others were justly brought thus under
|
|
the dominion of others. Those that had indulged and gratified their
|
|
sinful desires, by their oppression, luxury, and cruelty, were justly
|
|
denied the gratification of their innocent desire to see their own
|
|
native country again. We may observe something very emphatic in that
|
|
part of this threatening
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>In the country where you were not born, there shall you die.</I> As
|
|
there is a <I>time to be born</I> and a <I>time to die,</I> so there is
|
|
a place to be born in and a place to die in. We know where we were
|
|
born, but where we shall die we know not; it is enough that our God
|
|
knows. Let it be our care that we die in Christ, and then it will be
|
|
well with us, wherever we die, though it should be in a far country.
|
|
|
|
(4.) This shall render him very mean and despicable in the eyes of all
|
|
his neighbours. They shall be ready to say
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>This is Coniah a despised broken idol?</I> Yes, certainly he is,
|
|
and much debased from what he was."
|
|
|
|
[1.] Time was when he was dignified, nay, when he was almost deified.
|
|
The people who had seen his father lately deposed were ready to adore
|
|
him when they saw him upon the throne, but now <I>he is a despised
|
|
broken idol,</I> which, when it was whole, was worshipped, but, when it
|
|
is rotten and broken, is thrown by and despised, and nobody regards it,
|
|
or remembers what it has been. Note, What is idolized will, first or
|
|
last, be despised and broken; what is unjustly honoured will be justly
|
|
contemned, and rivals with God will be the scorn of man. Whatever we
|
|
idolize we shall be disappointed in and then shall despise.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Time was when he was delighted in; but now he is <I>a vessel in
|
|
which is not pleasure,</I> or to which there is no desire, either
|
|
because grown out of fashion or because cracked or dirtied, and so
|
|
rendered unserviceable. Those whom God has no pleasure in will, some
|
|
time or other, be so mortified that men will have no pleasure in
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He shall leave no posterity to inherit his honour. The prediction of
|
|
this is ushered in with a solemn preface
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>O earth, earth, earth! hear the word of the Lord.</I> Let all the
|
|
inhabitants of the world take notice of these judgments of God upon a
|
|
nation and a family that had been near and dear to him, and thence
|
|
infer that God is impartial in the administration of justice. Or it is
|
|
an appeal to the earth itself on which we tread, since those that dwell
|
|
on earth are so deaf and careless, like that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:2">Isa. i. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth!</I> God's word, however
|
|
slighted, will be heard; the earth itself will be made to hear it, and
|
|
yield to it, when it, and all the works that are therein, shall be
|
|
burnt up. Or it is a call to men that <I>mind earthly things,</I> that
|
|
are swallowed up in those things and are inordinate in the pursuit of
|
|
them; such have need to be called upon again and again, and a third
|
|
time, to <I>hear the word of the Lord.</I> Or it is a call to men
|
|
considered as mortal, of the earth, and hastening to the earth again.
|
|
We all are so; earth we are, <I>dust we are,</I> and, in consideration
|
|
of that, are concerned to hear and regard <I>the word of the Lord,</I>
|
|
that, though we are earth, we may be found among those whose names are
|
|
written in heaven. Now that which is here to be taken notice of is
|
|
that Jeconiah is <I>written childless</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, as it follows, <I>No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting
|
|
upon the throne of David.</I> In him the line of David was extinct as a
|
|
royal line. Some think that he had children born in Babylon because
|
|
mention is made of his seed being cast out there
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>)
|
|
|
|
and that they died before him. We read in the genealogy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+3:17">1 Chron. iii. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
of seven sons of Jeconiah Assir (that is, Jeconiah the captive) of whom
|
|
Salathiel is the first. Some think that they were only his adopted
|
|
sons, and that when it is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:12">Matt. i. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Jeconiah begat Salathiel,</I> no more is meant than that he
|
|
bequeathed to him what claims and pretensions he had to the government,
|
|
the rather because Salathiel is called the <I>son of Neri</I> of <I>the
|
|
house of Nathan,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+3:27,31">Luke iii. 27, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whether he had children begotten, or only adopted, thus far he was
|
|
childless that none of his seed ruled as kings in Judah. He was the
|
|
<I>Augustulus</I> of that empire, in whom it determined. Whoever are
|
|
childless, it is God that writes them so; and those who take no care to
|
|
do good in their days cannot expect to prosper in their days.</P>
|
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