mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Jer.vi" n="vi" next="Jer.vii" prev="Jer.v" progress="29.25%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Jer.vi-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.vi-p1" shownumber="no">Reproof for sin and threatenings of judgment are
intermixed in this chapter, and are set the one over against the
other: judgments are threatened, that the reproofs of sin might be
the more effectual to bring them to repentance; sin is discovered,
that God might be justified in the judgments threatened. I. The
sins they are charged with are very great:—Injustice (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.1" parsed="|Jer|5|1|0|0" passage="Jer 5:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), hypocrisy in religion
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.2" parsed="|Jer|5|2|0|0" passage="Jer 5:2">ver. 2</scripRef>), incorrigibleness
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.3" parsed="|Jer|5|3|0|0" passage="Jer 5:3">ver. 3</scripRef>), the corruption and
debauchery of both poor and rich (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.4-Jer.5.5" parsed="|Jer|5|4|5|5" passage="Jer 5:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>), idolatry and adultery (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.7-Jer.5.8" parsed="|Jer|5|7|5|8" passage="Jer 5:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>), treacherous departures
from God (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.11" parsed="|Jer|5|11|0|0" passage="Jer 5:11">ver. 11</scripRef>), and
impudent defiance of him (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.12-Jer.5.13" parsed="|Jer|5|12|5|13" passage="Jer 5:12,13">ver. 12,
13</scripRef>), and, that which is at the bottom of all this, want
of the fear of God, notwithstanding the frequent calls given them
to fear him, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.20-Jer.5.24" parsed="|Jer|5|20|5|24" passage="Jer 5:20-24">ver. 20-24</scripRef>.
In the close of the chapter they are charged with violence and
oppression (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.26-Jer.5.28" parsed="|Jer|5|26|5|28" passage="Jer 5:26-28">ver. 26-28</scripRef>),
and a combination of those to debauch the nation who should have
been active to reform it, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.30-Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|30|5|31" passage="Jer 5:30,31">ver. 30,
31</scripRef>. II. The judgments they are threatened with are very
terrible. In general, they shall be reckoned with, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.9 Bible:Jer.5.29" parsed="|Jer|5|9|0|0;|Jer|5|29|0|0" passage="Jer 5:9,29">ver. 9, 29</scripRef>. A foreign enemy shall
be brought in upon them (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.15-Jer.5.17" parsed="|Jer|5|15|5|17" passage="Jer 5:15-17">ver.
15-17</scripRef>), shall set guards upon them (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.6" parsed="|Jer|5|6|0|0" passage="Jer 5:6">ver. 6</scripRef>), shall destroy their fortification
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10" parsed="|Jer|5|10|0|0" passage="Jer 5:10">ver. 10</scripRef>), shall carry them
away into captivity (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.19" parsed="|Jer|5|19|0|0" passage="Jer 5:19">ver.
19</scripRef>), and keep all good things from them, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.25" parsed="|Jer|5|25|0|0" passage="Jer 5:25">ver. 25</scripRef>. Herein the words of God's
prophets shall be fulfilled, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.17" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.14" parsed="|Jer|5|14|0|0" passage="Jer 5:14">ver.
14</scripRef>. But, III. Here is an intimation twice given that God
would in the midst of wrath remember mercy, and not utterly destroy
them, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p1.18" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10 Bible:Jer.5.18" parsed="|Jer|5|10|0|0;|Jer|5|18|0|0" passage="Jer 5:10,18">ver. 10, 18</scripRef>. This
was the scope and purport of Jeremiah's preaching in the latter end
of Josiah's reign and the beginning of Jehoiakim's; but the success
of it did not answer expectation.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.vi-p1.19" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5" parsed="|Jer|5|0|0|0" passage="Jer 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.vi-p1.20" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.1-Jer.5.9" parsed="|Jer|5|1|5|9" passage="Jer 5:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.vi-p1.21">
<h4 id="Jer.vi-p1.22">The Universal Corruption to the
Age. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p1.23">b. c.</span> 608.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.vi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places
thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be <i>any</i> that
executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
  2 And though they say, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p2.1">Lord</span> liveth; surely they swear falsely.   3
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p2.2">O Lord</span>, <i>are</i> not thine eyes
upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved;
thou hast consumed them, <i>but</i> they have refused to receive
correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they
have refused to return.   4 Therefore I said, Surely these
<i>are</i> poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p2.3">Lord</span>, <i>nor</i> the judgment of
their God.   5 I will get me unto the great men, and will
speak unto them; for they have known the way of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p2.4">Lord</span>, <i>and</i> the judgment of their God: but
these have altogether broken the yoke, <i>and</i> burst the bonds.
  6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them,
<i>and</i> a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall
watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be
torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, <i>and</i>
their backslidings are increased.   7 How shall I pardon thee
for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by <i>them that
are</i> no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then
committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses.   8 They were <i>as</i> fed horses in the
morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.   9
Shall I not visit for these <i>things?</i> saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p2.5">Lord</span>: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a
nation as this?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A challenge to produce any one
right honest man, or at least any considerable number of such, in
Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.1" parsed="|Jer|5|1|0|0" passage="Jer 5:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
Jerusalem had become like the old world, in which <i>all flesh had
corrupted their way.</i> There were some perhaps who flattered
themselves with hopes that there were yet many good men in
Jerusalem, who would stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of
God; and there might be others who boasted of its being the holy
city and thought that this would save it. But God bids them search
the town, and intimates that they should scarcely find a man in it
who executed judgment and made conscience of what he said and did:
"Look in <i>the streets,</i> where they make their appearance and
converse together, and in <i>the broad places,</i> where they keep
their markets; <i>see if you can find a man, a magistrate</i> (so
some), <i>that executes judgment,</i> and administers justice
impartially, that will put the laws in execution against vice and
profaneness." When the faithful thus cease and fail it is time to
cry <i>Woe is me!</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1-Mic.7.2" parsed="|Mic|7|1|7|2" passage="Mic 7:1,2">Mic. vii. 1,
2</scripRef>), high time to cry, <i>Help Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.12.1" parsed="|Ps|12|1|0|0" passage="Ps 12:1">Ps. xii. 1</scripRef>. "If there be here and
there a man that is truly conscientious, and does at least <i>speak
the truth,</i> yet you shall not find him <i>in the streets and
broad places;</i> he dares not appear publicly, lest he should be
abused and run down. <i>Truth has fallen in the street</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.59.14" parsed="|Isa|59|14|0|0" passage="Isa 59:14">Isa. lix. 14</scripRef>), and is
forced to <i>seek for corners.</i>" So pleasing would it be to God
to find any such that for their sake he would pardon the city; if
there were but ten righteous men in Sodom, if but one of a
thousand, of ten thousand, in Jerusalem, it should be spared. See
how ready God is to forgive, how swift to show mercy. But it might
be said, "What do you make of those in Jerusalem that continue to
make profession of religion and relation to God? Are not they men
for whose sakes Jerusalem may be spared?" No, for they are not
sincere in their profession (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.2" parsed="|Jer|5|2|0|0" passage="Jer 5:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): <i>They say, The Lord liveth,</i> and will swear by
his name only, but they <i>swear falsely,</i> that is, 1. They are
not sincere in the profession they make of respect to God, but are
false to him; they <i>honour him with their lips, but their hearts
are far from him.</i> 2. Though they appeal to God only, they make
no conscience of calling him to witness to a lie. Though they do
not swear by idols, they forswear themselves, which is no less an
affront to God, as the God of truth, than the other is as the only
true God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p4" shownumber="no">II. A complaint which the prophet makes to
God of the obstinacy and wilfulness of these people. God had
appealed to their eyes (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.1" parsed="|Jer|5|1|0|0" passage="Jer 5:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>); but here the prophet appeals to his eyes (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.3" parsed="|Jer|5|3|0|0" passage="Jer 5:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>Are not thy eyes
upon the truth?</i> Dost thou not see every man's true character?
And is not this the truth of their character, that <i>they have
made their faces harder than a rock?</i>" Or, "<i>Behold, thou
desirest truth in the inward part;</i> but where is it to be found
among the men of this generation? For though they say, <i>The Lord
liveth,</i> yet they never regard him; <i>thou hast stricken
them</i> with one affliction after another, <i>but they have not
grieved</i> for the affliction, they have been as stocks and stones
under it, much less have they grieved for the sin by which they
have brought it upon themselves. <i>Thou</i> hast gone further yet,
<i>hast consumed them,</i> hast corrected them yet more severely;
<i>but they have refused to receive correction,</i> to accommodate
themselves to thy design in correcting them and to answer to it.
They would not receive instruction by the correction. They have set
themselves to outface the divine sentence and to outbrave the
execution of it, for <i>they have made their faces harder than a
rock;</i> they cannot change countenance, neither blush for shame
nor look pale for fear, cannot be beaten back from the pursuit of
their lusts, whatever check is given them; for, though often called
to it, <i>they have refused to return,</i> and would go forward,
right or wrong, as <i>the horse into the battle.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p5" shownumber="no">III. The trial made both of rich and poor,
and the bad character given of both.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p6" shownumber="no">1. The poor were ignorant, and therefore
they were wicked. He found many that <i>refused to return,</i> for
whom he was willing to make the best excuse their case would bear,
and it was this (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.4" parsed="|Jer|5|4|0|0" passage="Jer 5:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): "<i>Surely, these are poor, they are foolish.</i>
They never had the advantage of a good education, nor have they
wherewithal to help themselves now with the means of instruction.
They are forced to work hard for their living, and have no time nor
capacity for reading or hearing, so that <i>they know not the way
of the Lord, nor the judgments of their God;</i> they understand
neither the way in which God by his precepts will have them to walk
towards him nor the way in which he by his providence is walking
towards them." Note, (1.) Prevailing ignorance is the lamentable
cause of abounding impiety and iniquity. What can one expect but
works of darkness from brutish sottish people that know nothing of
God and religion, but choose to <i>sit in darkness?</i> (2.) This
is commonly a reigning sin among poor people. There are the devil's
poor as well as God's, who, notwithstanding their poverty, might
<i>know the way of the Lord,</i> so as to walk in it and do their
duty, without being book-learned; but they are willingly ignorant,
and therefore their ignorance will not be their excuse.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p7" shownumber="no">2. The rich were insolent and haughty, and
therefore they were wicked (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.5" parsed="|Jer|5|5|0|0" passage="Jer 5:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): "<i>I will get me to the great men,</i> and see if I
can find them more pliable to the word and providence of God. I
will <i>speak to them,</i> preach at court, in hopes to make some
impression upon men of polite literature. But all in vain;
<i>for,</i> though <i>they know the way of the Lord and the
judgment of their God,</i> yet they are too stiff to stoop to his
government: <i>These have altogether broken the yoke and burst the
bonds.</i> They know their Master's will, but are resolved to have
their own will, to <i>walk in the way of their heart and in the
sight of their eyes.</i> They think themselves too goodly to be
controlled, too big to be corrected, even by the sovereign Lord of
all himself. They are for breaking even <i>his bands asunder,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.3" parsed="|Ps|2|3|0|0" passage="Ps 2:3">Ps. ii. 3</scripRef>. The poor are weak,
the rich are wilful, and so neither do their duty."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p8" shownumber="no">IV. Some particular sins specified, which
they were notoriously guilty of, and which cried most loudly to
heaven for vengeance. <i>Their transgressions</i> indeed <i>were
many,</i> of many kinds and often repeated, <i>and their
backslidings were increased;</i> they added to the number of them
and grew more and more impudent in them, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.6" parsed="|Jer|5|6|0|0" passage="Jer 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. But two sins especially were
justly to be looked upon as unpardonable crimes:—1. Their
spiritual whoredom, giving that honour to idols which is due to God
only. "<i>Thy children have forsaken me,</i> to whom they were born
and dedicated and under whom they have been brought up, <i>and</i>
they <i>have sworn by those that are no gods,</i> have made their
appeal to them as if they had been omniscient and their proper
judges." This is here put for all acts of religious worship due to
God only, but with which they had honoured their idols. <i>They
have sworn to them</i> (so it may be read), have joined themselves
to them and covenanted with them. Those that forsake God make a bad
change for those that are no gods. 2. Their corporal whoredom.
Because they had forsaken God and served idols, he gave them up to
vile affections; and those that dishonoured him were left to
dishonour themselves and their own families. They <i>committed
adultery</i> most scandalously, without sense of shame or fear of
punishment, for they <i>assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses</i> and did not blush to be seen by one another in
the most scandalous places. So impudent and violent was their lust,
so impatient of check, and so eager to be gratified, that they
became perfect beasts (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.8" parsed="|Jer|5|8|0|0" passage="Jer 5:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>); like high-fed horses, they <i>neighed every one
after his neighbour's wife,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.8" parsed="|Jer|5|8|0|0" passage="Jer 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Unbridled lusts make men <i>like
natural brute beasts,</i> such monstrous odious things are they.
And that which aggravated their sin was that it was the abuse of
God's favours to them: <i>When they were fed to the full,</i> then
their lusts grew thus furious. Fulness of bread was fuel to the
fire of Sodom's lusts. <i>Sine Cerere et Bacchio friget
Venu—Luxurious living feeds the flames of lust.</i> Fasting would
help to tame the unruly evil that is so <i>full of deadly
poison,</i> and bring the body into subjection.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p9" shownumber="no">V. A threatening of God's wrath against
them for their wickedness and the universal debauchery of their
land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p10" shownumber="no">1. The particular judgment that is
threatened, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.6" parsed="|Jer|5|6|0|0" passage="Jer 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. A
foreign enemy shall break in upon them, get dominion over them, and
shall lay waste: their country shall be as if it were overrun and
perfectly mastered by wild beasts. This enemy shall be, (1.) Like
<i>a lion of the forest;</i> so strong, so furious, so
irresistible; and he <i>shall slay them.</i> (2.) Like <i>a wolf of
the evening,</i> which comes out at night, when he is hungry, to
seek his prey, and is very fierce and ravenous; and the noise both
of the lions' roaring and of the wolves' howling is very hideous.
(3.) Like <i>a leopard,</i> which is very swift and very cruel, and
withal careful not to miss his prey. The army of the enemy shall
<i>watch over their cities</i> so strictly as to put the
inhabitants to this sad dilemma—if they stay in, they are starved;
if they stir out, they are stabbed; <i>Every one that goeth out
thence shall be torn in pieces,</i> which intimates that in many
places the enemy gave no quarter. And all this bloody work is owing
to the <i>multitude of their transgressions.</i> It is sin that
makes the great slaughter.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p11" shownumber="no">2. An appeal to themselves concerning the
equity of it (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.9" parsed="|Jer|5|9|0|0" passage="Jer 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>);
"<i>Shall I not visit for these things?</i> Can you yourselves
think that the God whose name is <i>Jealous</i> will let such
idolatries go unpunished, or that a God of infinite purity will
connive at such abominable uncleanness?" These are things that must
be reckoned for, else the honour of God's government cannot be
maintained, nor his laws saved from contempt; but sinners will be
tempted to think him <i>altogether such a one as themselves,</i>
contrary to that conviction of their own consciences concerning the
judgment of God which is necessary to be supported, That <i>those
who</i> do <i>such things are worthy of death,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.32" parsed="|Rom|1|32|0|0" passage="Ro 1:32">Rom. i. 32</scripRef>. Observe, when God punishes
sin, he is said to <i>visit</i> for it, or enquire into it; for he
weighs the cause before he passes sentence. Sinners have reason to
expect punishment upon the account of God's holiness, to which sin
is highly offensive, as well as upon the account of his justice, to
which it renders us obnoxious; this is intimated in that, <i>Shall
not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?</i> It is not only
the word of God, but his soul, that takes vengeance. And he has
national judgments wherewith to take vengeance for national sins.
<i>Such nations as this</i> was cannot long go unpunished. <i>How
shall I pardon thee for this?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.7" parsed="|Jer|5|7|0|0" passage="Jer 5:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Not but that those who have been
guilty of these sins have found mercy with God, as to their eternal
state (Manasseh himself did, though so much accessory to the
iniquity of these times); but nations, <i>as such,</i> being
rewardable and punishable only in this life, it would not be for
the glory of God to let a nation so very wicked as this pass
without some manifest tokens of his displeasure.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.vi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10-Jer.5.19" parsed="|Jer|5|10|5|19" passage="Jer 5:10-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.vi-p11.5">
<h4 id="Jer.vi-p11.6">Divine Judgments Threatened; Divine
Judgments Vindicated. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p11.7">b. c.</span> 608.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.vi-p12" shownumber="no">10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but
make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they <i>are</i>
not the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.1">Lord</span>'s.   11 For the
house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.2">Lord</span>.   12 They have belied the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.3">Lord</span>, and said, <i>It is</i> not he;
neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor
famine:   13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word
<i>is</i> not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.   14
Wherefore thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.4">Lord</span> God of
hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in
thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
  15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of
Israel, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.5">Lord</span>: it <i>is</i>
a mighty nation, it <i>is</i> an ancient nation, a nation whose
language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
  16 Their quiver <i>is</i> as an open sepulchre, they
<i>are</i> all mighty men.   17 And they shall eat up thine
harvest, and thy bread, <i>which</i> thy sons and thy daughters
should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they
shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy
fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.   18
Nevertheless in those days, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.6">Lord</span>, I will not make a full end with you.
  19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore
doeth the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p12.7">Lord</span> our God all these
<i>things</i> unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have
forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye
serve strangers in a land <i>that is</i> not yours.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p13" shownumber="no">We may observe in these verses, as
before,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p14" shownumber="no">I. The sin of this people, upon which the
commission signed against them is grounded. God disowns them and
dooms them to destruction, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10" parsed="|Jer|5|10|0|0" passage="Jer 5:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. But <i>is there not a cause?</i> Yes; for, 1. They
have deserted the law of God (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.11" parsed="|Jer|5|11|0|0" passage="Jer 5:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>The house of Israel and the
house of Judah,</i> though at variance with one another, yet both
agreed to <i>deal very treacherously against God.</i> They forsook
the worship of him, and therein violated their covenants with him;
they revolted from him, and played the hypocrite with him. 2. They
have defied the judgments of God and given the lie to his
threatenings in the mouth of his prophets, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.12-Jer.5.13" parsed="|Jer|5|12|5|13" passage="Jer 5:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>. They were often told
that evil would certainly come upon them; they must expect some
desolating judgment, <i>sword or famine;</i> but they were secure
and said, <i>We shall have peace, though we go on.</i> For, (1.)
They did not fear what God is. They belied him, and confronted the
dictates even of natural light concerning him; for they said,
"<i>It is not he,</i> that is, he is not such a one as we have been
made to believe he is; he does not see, or not regard, or will not
require it; and therefore <i>no evil shall come upon us.</i>"
Multitudes are ruined by being made to believe that God will not be
so strict with them as his word says he will; nay, by this artifice
Satan undid us all: <i>You shall not surely die.</i> So here:
<i>Neither shall we see sword nor famine.</i> Vain hopes of
impunity are the deceitful support of all impiety. (2.) They did
not fear what God said. The prophets gave them fair warning, but
they turned it off with a jest: "They do but talk so, because it is
their trade; they are words of course, and words are but wind. It
is not the word of the Lord that is in them; it is only the
language of their melancholy fancy or their ill-will to their
country, because they are not preferred." Note, Impenitent sinners
are not willing to own any thing to be the word of God that makes
against them, that tends either to part them from, or disquiet them
in, their sins. They threaten the prophets: "<i>They shall become
wind,</i> shall pass away unregarded, and <i>thus shall it be done
unto them;</i> what they threaten against us we will inflict upon
them. Do they frighten us with famine? Let them be <i>fed with the
bread of affliction.</i>" So Micaiah was, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.22.27" parsed="|1Kgs|22|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 22:27">1 Kings xxii. 27</scripRef>. "Do they tell us of the
sword? Let them perish by the sword," <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.30" parsed="|Jer|2|30|0|0" passage="Jer 2:30"><i>ch.</i> ii. 30</scripRef>. Thus their mocking and
misusing God's messengers filled the measure of their iniquity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p15" shownumber="no">II. The punishment of this people for their
sin. 1. The threatenings they laughed at shall be executed
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.14" parsed="|Jer|5|14|0|0" passage="Jer 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>Because
you speak this word</i> of contempt concerning the prophets, and
the word in their mouths, therefore God will put honour upon them
and their words, for not one iota or tittle of them shall <i>fall
to the ground,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.19" parsed="|1Sam|3|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:19">1 Sam. iii.
19</scripRef>. Here God turns to the prophet Jeremiah, who had been
thus bantered, and perhaps had been a little uneasy at it:
<i>Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire.</i> God owns
them for his words, though men denied them, and will as surely make
them to take effect as the fire consumes combustible material that
is in its way. <i>The word shall be fire and the people wood.</i>
Sinners by sin make themselves fuel to that wrath of God which is
<i>revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men</i> in the scripture. The word of God will certainly be too
hard for those that contend with it. Those shall break who will not
bow before it. 2. The enemy they thought themselves in no danger of
shall be brought upon them. God gives them their commission
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10" parsed="|Jer|5|10|0|0" passage="Jer 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): "<i>Go you
up upon her walls,</i> mount them, trample upon them, tread them
down. Walls of stone, before the divine commission, shall be but
mud walls. Having made yourselves masters of the walls, you may
<i>destroy</i> at pleasure. You may <i>take away her
battlements,</i> and leave the fenced fortified cities to lie open;
for her battlements <i>are not the Lord's</i> he does not own them
and therefore will not protect and fortify them." They were not
erected in his fear, nor with a dependence upon him; the people
have trusted to them more than to God, and therefore they are not
his. When the city is filled with sin God will not patronise the
fortifications of it, and then they are paper walls. What can
defend us when he who is our defence, and the defender of all our
defences, has <i>departed from us?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.9" parsed="|Num|14|9|0|0" passage="Nu 14:9">Num. xiv. 9</scripRef>. What is not of God cannot stand,
not stand long, nor stand us in any stead. What dreadful work these
invaders should make is here described (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.15" parsed="|Jer|5|15|0|0" passage="Jer 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>Lo, I will bring a nation
upon you, O house of Israel!</i> Note, God has all nations at his
command, does what he pleases with them and makes what use he
pleases of them. And sometimes he is pleased to make the nations of
the earth, the heathen nations, a scourge to the house of Israel,
when that has become a <i>hypocritical nation.</i> This nation of
the Chaldeans is here said to be a remote nation; it is <i>brought
upon them from afar,</i> and therefore will make the greater spoil
and the longer stay, that the soldiers may pay themselves well for
so long a march. "It is a nation that thou hast had no commerce
with, by reason of their distance, and therefore canst not expect
to find favour with." God can bring trouble upon us from places and
causes very remote. It is a <i>mighty nation,</i> that there is no
making head against, an <i>ancient nation,</i> that value
themselves upon their antiquity and will therefore be the more
haughty and imperious. It is <i>a nation whose language thou
knowest not;</i> they spoke the Syriac tongue, which the Jews at
that time were not acquainted with, as appears, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.26" parsed="|2Kgs|18|26|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:26">2 Kings xviii. 26</scripRef>. The difference of
language would make it the more difficult to treat with them of
peace. Compare this with the threatening, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.49" parsed="|Deut|28|49|0|0" passage="De 28:49">Deut. xxviii. 49</scripRef>, which it seems to have a
reference to, for the law and the prophets exactly agree. They are
well armed: <i>Their quiver is as an open sepulchre;</i> their
arrows shall fly so thick, hit so sure, and wound so deep, that
they shall be reckoned to breathe nothing but death and slaughter:
they are able-bodied, all effective, <i>mighty men,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.16" parsed="|Jer|5|16|0|0" passage="Jer 5:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. And, when they have
made themselves masters of the country, they shall devour all
before them, and reckon all their own that they can lay their hands
on, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.17" parsed="|Jer|5|17|0|0" passage="Jer 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. (1.) They
shall strip the country, shall not only sustain, but surfeit, their
soldiers with the rich products of this fruitful land. "They shall
not store up (then it might possibly by retrieved), but <i>eat up
thy harvest</i> in the field <i>and thy bread</i> in the house,
<i>which thy sons and thy daughters should eat.</i>" Note, What we
have we have for our families, and it is a comfort to see our sons
and daughters eating that which we have taken care and pains for.
But it is a grievous vexation to see it devoured by strangers and
enemies, to see their camps victualled with our stores, while those
that are dear to us are perishing for want of it: this also is
according to the curse of the law, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.33" parsed="|Deut|28|33|0|0" passage="De 28:33">Deut. xxviii. 33</scripRef>. "<i>They shall eat up thy
flocks and herds,</i> out of which thou hast taken sacrifices for
thy idols; they shall not leave thee the fruit of <i>thy vines and
fig-trees.</i>" (2.) They shall starve the towns: "They <i>shall
impoverish thy fenced cities</i>" (and what fence is there against
poverty, when it comes like an armed man?), "those cities
<i>wherein thou trustedst</i> to be a protection to the country."
Note, It is just with God to impoverish that which we make our
confidence. They shall impoverish them <i>with the sword,</i>
cutting off all provisions from coming to them and intercepting
trade and commerce, which will impoverish even fenced cities.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p16" shownumber="no">III. An intimation of the tender compassion
God has yet for them. The enemy is commissioned to destroy and lay
waste, but must not <i>make a full end,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.10" parsed="|Jer|5|10|0|0" passage="Jer 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Though they make a great
slaughter, yet some must be left to live; though they make a great
spoil, yet something must be left to live upon, for God has said it
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.18" parsed="|Jer|5|18|0|0" passage="Jer 5:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>) with a
<i>non obstante—a nevertheless</i> to the present desolation:
"Even <i>in those days,</i> dismal as they are, <i>I will not make
a full end with you;</i>" and, if God will not, the enemy shall
not. God has mercy in store for his people, and therefore will set
bounds to this desolating judgment. <i>Hitherto it shall come, and
no further.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p17" shownumber="no">IV. The justification of God in these
proceedings against them. As he will appear to be gracious in not
making a full end with them, so he will appear to be righteous in
coming so near it, and will have it acknowledged that he has done
them no wrong, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.19" parsed="|Jer|5|19|0|0" passage="Jer 5:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. Observe, 1. A reason demanded, insolently demanded,
by the people for these judgments. They <i>will say "Wherefore doth
the Lord our God do all this unto us?</i> What provocation have we
given him, or what quarrel has he with us?" As if against such a
sinful nation there did not appear cause enough of action. Note,
Unhumbled hearts are ready to charge God with injustice in their
afflictions, and pretend they have to seek for the cause of them
when it is written in the forehead of them. But, 2. Here is a
reason immediately assigned. The prophet is instructed what answer
to give them; for God <i>will be justified when he speaks,</i>
though he speaks with ever so much terror. He must tell them that
God does this against them for what they have done against him, and
that they may, if they please, read their sin in their punishment.
Do not they know very well that they have <i>forsaken God,</i> and
therefore can they think it strange if he has forsaken them? Have
they forgotten how often they <i>served gods in their own land,</i>
that good land, in the abundance of the fruits of which they ought
to have served God with gladness of heart? and therefore is it not
just with God to make them <i>serve strangers</i> in a strange
land, where they can call nothing their own, as he has threatened
to do? <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.47-Deut.28.48" parsed="|Deut|28|47|28|48" passage="De 28:47,48">Deut. xxviii. 47,
48</scripRef>. Those that are fond of strangers, to strangers let
them go.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.vi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.20-Jer.5.24" parsed="|Jer|5|20|5|24" passage="Jer 5:20-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.vi-p17.4">
<h4 id="Jer.vi-p17.5">Expostulation with Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p17.6">b. c.</span> 608.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.vi-p18" shownumber="no">20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and
publish it in Judah, saying,   21 Hear now this, O foolish
people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not;
which have ears, and hear not:   22 Fear ye not me? saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p18.1">Lord</span>: will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand <i>for</i> the bound of the
sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the
waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though
they roar, yet can they not pass over it?   23 But this people
hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and
gone.   24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p18.2">Lord</span> our God, that giveth rain,
both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us
the appointed weeks of the harvest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p19" shownumber="no">The prophet, having reproved them for sin
and threatened the judgments of God against them, is here sent to
them again upon another errand, which he must <i>publish in
Judah;</i> the purport of it is to persuade them to fear God, which
would be an effectual principle of their reformation, as the want
of that fear had been at the bottom of their apostasy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p20" shownumber="no">I. He complains of the shameful stupidity
of this people, and their bent to backslide from God, speaking as
if he knew not what course to take with them. For,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p21" shownumber="no">1. Their understandings were darkened and
unapt to admit the rays of the divine light: They are a <i>foolish
people and without understanding;</i> they apprehend not the mind
of God, though ever so plainly declared to them by the written
word, by his prophets, and by his providence (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.21" parsed="|Jer|5|21|0|0" passage="Jer 5:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): <i>They have eyes, but they
see not, ears, but they hear not,</i> like the idols which they
made and worshipped, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.5-Ps.115.6 Bible:Ps.115.8" parsed="|Ps|115|5|115|6;|Ps|115|8|0|0" passage="Ps 115:5,6,8">Ps. cxv. 5,
6, 8</scripRef>. One would have thought that they took notice of
things, but really they did not; they had intellectual faculties
and capacities, but they did not employ and improve them as they
ought. Herein they disappointed the expectations of all their
neighbours, who, observing what excellent means of knowledge they
had, concluded, <i>Surely they are a wise and an understanding
people</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.6" parsed="|Deut|4|6|0|0" passage="De 4:6">Deut. iv. 6</scripRef>), and
yet really they are a <i>foolish people and without
understanding.</i> Note, We cannot judge of men by the advantages
and opportunities they enjoy: there are those that sit in darkness
in a land of light, that live in sin even in a holy land, that are
bad in the best places. 2. Their wills were stubborn and unapt to
submit to the rules of the divine law (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.23" parsed="|Jer|5|23|0|0" passage="Jer 5:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>This people has a revolting
and a rebellious heart;</i> and no wonder when they were <i>foolish
and without understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.82.5" parsed="|Ps|82|5|0|0" passage="Ps 82:5">Ps.
lxxxii. 5</scripRef>. Nay, it is the corrupt bias of the will that
bribes and besots the understanding: none so blind as those that
will not see. The character of this people is the true character of
all people by nature, till the grace of God has wrought a change.
We are <i>foolish,</i> slow of understanding, and apt to mistake
and forget; yet that is not the worst. We have <i>a revolting and a
rebellious heart,</i> a carnal mind, that is enmity against God,
and is not in subjection to his law, not only revolting from him by
a rooted aversion to that which is good, but rebellious against him
by a strong inclination to that which is evil. Observe, The
revolting heart is a rebellious one: those that withdraw from their
allegiance to God do not stop there, but by siding in with sin and
Satan take up arms against him. <i>They have revolted and gone.</i>
The revolting heart will produce a revolting life. <i>They are
gone,</i> and they <i>will go</i> (so it may be read); now
<i>nothing will be restrained from them,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.11.6" parsed="|Gen|11|6|0|0" passage="Ge 11:6">Gen. xi. 6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p22" shownumber="no">II. He ascribed this to the want of the
fear of God. When he observes them to be without understanding he
asks, "<i>Fear you not me, saith the Lord, and will you not tremble
at my presence?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.22" parsed="|Jer|5|22|0|0" passage="Jer 5:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. If you would but keep up an awe of God, you would be
more observant of what he says to you: and, did you but understand
your own interest better, you would be more under the commanding
rule of God's fear." When he observes that <i>they have revolted
and gone</i> he adds this, as the root and cause of their apostasy
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.24" parsed="|Jer|5|24|0|0" passage="Jer 5:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>), <i>Neither
say they in their hearts, Let us now fear the Lord our God.</i>
Therefore so many bad thoughts come into their mind, and hurry them
to that which is evil, because they will not admit and entertain
good thoughts, and particularly not this good thought, <i>Let us
now fear the Lord our God.</i> It is true it is God's work to put
his fear into our hearts; but it is our work to stir up ourselves
to fear him, and to fasten upon those considerations which are
proper to affect us with a holy awe of him; and it is because we do
not do this that our hearts are so destitute of his fear as they
are, and so apt to revolt and rebel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p23" shownumber="no">III. He suggests some of those things which
are proper to possess us with a holy fear of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p24" shownumber="no">1. We must fear the Lord and his greatness,
<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.22" parsed="|Jer|5|22|0|0" passage="Jer 5:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Upon this
account he demands our fear: <i>Shall we not tremble at his
presence,</i> and not be afraid of affronting him, or trifling with
him, who in the kingdom of nature and providence gives such
incontestable proofs of his almighty power and sovereign dominion?
Here is one instance given of very many that might be given: he
keeps the sea within compass. Though the tides flow with a mighty
strength twice every day, and if they should flow on awhile would
drown the world, though in a storm the billows rise high and dash
to the shore with incredible force and fury, yet they are under
check, they return, they retire, and no harm is done. <i>This is
the Lord's doing,</i> and, if it were not common, it would be
<i>marvellous in our eyes.</i> He has <i>placed the sand for the
bound of the sea,</i> not only for a <i>meer-stone,</i> to mark out
how far it may come and where it must stop, but as a <i>mound,</i>
or fence, to put a stop to it. A wall of sand shall be as effectual
as a wall of brass to check the flowing waves, when God is pleased
to make it so; nay, that is chosen rather, to teach us that a
<i>soft answer,</i> like the soft sand, <i>turns away wrath,</i>
and quiets a foaming rage, when <i>grievous words,</i> like hard
rocks, do but exasperate, and make <i>the waters cast forth</i> so
much the more <i>mire and dirt.</i> This bound is placed <i>by a
perpetual decree,</i> by an ordinance <i>of antiquity</i> (so some
read it), and then it sends us as far back as to the creation of
the world, when God divided between the sea and dry land, and fixed
marches between them, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.9-Gen.1.10" parsed="|Gen|1|9|1|10" passage="Ge 1:9,10">Gen. i. 9,
10</scripRef> (which is elegantly described, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.6-Ps.104.26" parsed="|Ps|104|6|104|26" passage="Ps 104:6-26">Ps. civ. 6</scripRef>, &amp;c., and <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.8-Job.38.41" parsed="|Job|38|8|38|41" passage="Job 38:8-41">Job xxxviii. 8</scripRef>, &amp;c.), or to
the period of Noah's flood, when God promised that he would never
drown the world again, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.11" parsed="|Gen|9|11|0|0" passage="Ge 9:11">Gen. ix.
11</scripRef>. An ordinance of <i>perpetuity</i>—so our
translation takes it. It is a <i>perpetual decree;</i> it has had
its effect all along to this day and shall still continue till day
and night come to an end. This <i>perpetual decree</i> the waters
of the sea <i>cannot pass over</i> nor break through. <i>Though the
waves thereof toss themselves,</i> as the <i>troubled sea</i> does
<i>when it cannot rest,</i> yet <i>can they not prevail; though
they roar</i> and rage as if they were vexed at the check given
them, <i>yet can they not pass over.</i> Now this is a good reason
why we should fear God; for, (1.) By this we see that he is a God
of almighty power and universal sovereignty, and therefore to be
feared and had in reverence. (2.) This shows us how easily he could
drown the world again and how much we continually lie at his mercy,
and therefore we should be afraid of making him our enemy. (3.)
Even the unruly waves of the sea observe his decree and retreat at
his check, and shall not we then? Why are our hearts revolting and
rebellious, when the sea neither revolts nor rebels?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p25" shownumber="no">2. We must fear the Lord and his goodness,
<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.3.5" parsed="|Hos|3|5|0|0" passage="Ho 3:5">Hos. iii. 5</scripRef>. The instances of
this, as of the former, are fetched from God's common providence,
<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.24" parsed="|Jer|5|24|0|0" passage="Jer 5:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. We must
<i>fear the Lord our God,</i> that is, we must worship him, and
give him glory, and be always in care to keep ourselves in his
love, because he is continually doing us good: he gives us both
<i>the former and the latter rain,</i> the former a little after
seed-time, the latter a little before harvest, and both <i>in their
season;</i> and by this means <i>he reserves to us the appointed
weeks of harvest.</i> Harvest is reckoned by weeks, because in a
few weeks enough is gathered to serve for sustenance the year
round. The weeks of the harvest are appointed us by the promise of
God, that <i>seed-time and harvest shall not fail.</i> And in
performance of that promise they are reserved to us by the divine
providence, otherwise we should come short of them. In harvest
mercies therefore God is to be acknowledged, his power, and
goodness, and faithfulness, for they all come from him. And it is
good reason why we should fear him, that we may keep ourselves in
his love, because we have such a necessary dependence upon him. The
fruitful seasons were witnesses for God, even to the heathen world,
sufficient to leave them inexcusable in their contempt of him
(<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.14.17" parsed="|Acts|14|17|0|0" passage="Ac 14:17">Acts xiv. 17</scripRef>); and yet the
Jews, who had the written word to explain their testimony by, were
not wrought upon to fear the Lord, though it appears how much it is
our interest to do so.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.vi-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.25-Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|25|5|31" passage="Jer 5:25-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.vi-p25.5">
<h4 id="Jer.vi-p25.6">Expostulation with Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p25.7">b. c.</span> 608.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.vi-p26" shownumber="no">25 Your iniquities have turned away these
<i>things,</i> and your sins have withholden good <i>things</i>
from you.   26 For among my people are found wicked
<i>men:</i> they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a
trap, they catch men.   27 As a cage is full of birds, so
<i>are</i> their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become
great, and waxen rich.   28 They are waxen fat, they shine:
yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the
cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right
of the needy do they not judge.   29 Shall I not visit for
these <i>things?</i> saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.vi-p26.1">Lord</span>:
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?   30 A
wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;   31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love <i>to have it</i> so: and what will ye do
in the end thereof?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p27" shownumber="no">Here, I. The prophet shows them what
mischief their sins had done them: They <i>have turned away these
things</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.25" parsed="|Jer|5|25|0|0" passage="Jer 5:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>),
the <i>former and the latter rain,</i> which they used to have
<i>in due season</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.24" parsed="|Jer|5|24|0|0" passage="Jer 5:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>), but which had of late been withheld (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3"><i>ch.</i> iii. 3</scripRef>), by reason of which
the appointed weeks of harvest had sometimes disappointed them. "It
is <i>your sin</i> that <i>has withholden good from you,</i> when
God was ready to bestow it upon you." Note, It is sin that stops
the current of God's favour to us, and deprives us of the blessings
we used to receive. It is that which makes the heavens as brass and
the earth as iron.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p28" shownumber="no">II. He shows them how great their sins
were, how heinous and provoking. When they had forsaken the worship
of the true God, even moral honesty was lost among them: <i>Among
my people are found wicked men</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.26" parsed="|Jer|5|26|0|0" passage="Jer 5:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), some of the worst of men, and
so much the worse they were for being found among God's people. 1.
They were spiteful and malicious. Such are properly <i>wicked
men,</i> men that delight in doing mischief. They were <i>found</i>
(that is, caught) in the very act of their wickedness. As hunters
or fowlers lay snares for their game, so did they <i>lie in
wait</i> to <i>catch men,</i> and made a sport of it, and took as
much pleasure in it as if they had been entrapping beasts or birds.
They contrives ways of doing mischief to good people (whom they
hated for their goodness), especially to those that faithfully
reproved them (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.21" parsed="|Isa|29|21|0|0" passage="Isa 29:21">Isa. xxix.
21</scripRef>), or to those that stood in the way of their
preferment or whom they supposed to have affronted them or done
them a diskindness, or to those whose estates they coveted; so
Jezebel ensnared Naboth for his vineyard. Nay, they did mischief
for mischief's sake. 2. They were false and treacherous (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.27" parsed="|Jer|5|27|0|0" passage="Jer 5:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): "<i>As a cage,</i> or
<i>coop,</i> is <i>full of birds,</i> and of food for them to
fatten them for the table, so are <i>their houses full of
deceit,</i> of wealth obtained by fraudulent practices or of arts
and methods of defrauding. All the business of their families is
done with deceit; whoever deals with them, they will cheat him if
they can, which is easily done by those who make no conscience of
what they say and do. Herein <i>they overpass the deed of the
wicked,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.28" parsed="|Jer|5|28|0|0" passage="Jer 5:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>.
Those that act by deceit, with a colour of law and justice, do more
mischief perhaps than those wicked men (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.26" parsed="|Jer|5|26|0|0" passage="Jer 5:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) that carry all before them by
open force and violence; or they are worse than the heathen
themselves, yea, the worst of them. And (would you think it?) they
prosper in these wicked courses and therefore their hearts are
hardened in them. They are greedy of the world, because they find
it flows in upon them, and they stick not at any wickedness in
pursuit of it, because they find that it is so far from hindering
their prosperity that it furthers it: <i>They have become great</i>
in the world; <i>they have waxen rich,</i> and thrive upon it. They
have wherewithal to make provision for the flesh to fulfill all the
lusts of it, to which they are very indulgent, so that <i>they have
waxen fat</i> with living at ease and bathing themselves in all the
delights of sense. They are sleek and smooth: <i>The shine;</i>
they look fair and gay; every body admires them. And they <i>pass
by matters of evil</i> (so some read the following words); they
escape the evils which one would expect their sins should bring
upon them; <i>they are not in trouble as other men,</i> much less
as we might expect bad men," <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.5" parsed="|Ps|73|5|0|0" passage="Ps 73:5">Ps.
lxxiii. 5</scripRef>, &amp;c. 3. When they had grown great, and had
got power in their hands, they did not do that good with it which
they ought to have done: <i>They judge not the cause, the cause of
the fatherless, and the right of the needy.</i> The fatherless are
often needy, always need assistance and advice, and advantage is
taken of their helpless condition to do them an injury. Who should
succour them then but the great and rich? What have men wealth for
but to do good with it? But these would take no cognizance of any
such distressed cases: they had not so much sense of justice, or
compassion for the injured; or, if they did concern themselves in
the cause, it was not to do right, but to protect those that did
wrong. And <i>yet they prosper</i> still; <i>God layeth not folly
to them.</i> Certainly then the things of this world are not the
best things, for often-times the worst men have the most of them;
yet we are not to think that, because they prosper, God allows of
their practices. No; <i>though sentence against</i> their <i>evil
works be not executed speedily,</i> it will be executed. 4. There
was a general corruption of all orders and degrees of men among
them (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.30-Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|30|5|31" passage="Jer 5:30,31"><i>v.</i> 30, 31</scripRef>);
<i>A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land.</i> The
degeneracy of such a people, so privileged and advanced, was a
wonderful thing, and to be viewed with amazement. How could they
ever break through so many obligations? It was a horrible thing, a
thing to be detested and the consequences of it dreaded. To
frighten ourselves from sin, let us call it a horrible thing. What
was the matter? In short, this: (1.) The leaders misled the people:
<i>The prophets prophesy falsely,</i> counterfeit a commission from
heaven when they are factors for hell. Religion is never more
dangerously attacked than under colour and pretence of divine
revelation. But why did not the priests, who had power in their
hands for that purpose, restrain these false prophets? Alas!
instead of doing that they made use of them as the tools of their
ambition and tyranny: <i>The priests bear rule by their means;</i>
they supported themselves in their grandeur and wealth, their
laziness and luxury, their impositions and oppressions, by the help
of the false prophets and their interest in the people. Thus they
were in a combination against every thing that was good, and
strengthened one another's hands in evil. (2.) The people were well
enough pleased to be so misled: "They are <i>my people,</i>" says
God, "and should have stood up for me, and borne their testimony
against the wickedness of their priests and prophets; but they
<i>love to have it so.</i>" If the priests and prophets will let
them alone in their sins, they will give them no disturbance in
theirs. They love to be ridden with a loose rein, and like those
rulers very well that will not restrain their lusts and those
teachers that will not reprove them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p29" shownumber="no">III. He shows them how fatal the
consequences of this would certainly be. Let them consider,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p30" shownumber="no">1. What the reckoning would be for their
wickedness (<scripRef id="Jer.vi-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.29" parsed="|Jer|5|29|0|0" passage="Jer 5:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>):
<i>Shall not I visit for these things?</i> as before, <scripRef id="Jer.vi-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.9" parsed="|Jer|5|9|0|0" passage="Jer 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Sometimes mercy rejoices
against judgment: <i>How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?</i> Here,
judgment is reasoning against mercy: <i>Shall I not visit?</i> We
are sure that Infinite Wisdom knows how to accommodate the matter
between them. The manner of expression is very emphatic, and
denotes, (1.) The certainty and necessity of God's judgments:
<i>Shall not my soul be avenged?</i> Yes, without doubt, vengeance
will come, it must come, if the sinner repent not. (2.) The justice
and equity of God's judgments; he appeals to the sinner's own
conscience, Do not those deserve to be punished that have been
guilty of such abominations? Shall he not be avenged on <i>such a
nation,</i> such a wicked provoking nation as this?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.vi-p31" shownumber="no">2. What the direct tendency of their
wickedness was: <i>What will you do in the end thereof?</i> That
is, (1.) "What a pitch of wickedness will you come to at last!
<i>What will you do?</i> What will you not do that is base and
wicked. What will this grow to? You will certainly grow worse and
worse, till you have filled up the measure of your iniquity." (2.)
"What a pit of destruction will you come to at last! When things
are brought to such a pass as this, nothing can be expected from
you but a deluge of sin, so nothing can be expected from God but a
deluge of wrath; and what will you do when that shall come?" Note,
Those that walk in bad ways would do well to consider the tendency
of them both to greater sin and utter ruin. An end will come; the
end of a wicked life will come, when it will be all called over
again, and without doubt will be bitterness in the latter end.</p>
</div></div2>