mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xiii" n="xiii" next="Jer.xiv" prev="Jer.xii" progress="32.64%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Jer.xiii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xiii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The prophet's humble
complaint to God of the success that wicked people had in their
wicked practices (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.1-Jer.12.2" parsed="|Jer|12|1|12|2" passage="Jer 12:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>) and his appeal to God concerning his own integrity
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.3" parsed="|Jer|12|3|0|0" passage="Jer 12:3">ver. 3</scripRef>), with a prayer
that God would, for the sake of the public, bring the wickedness of
the wicked to an end, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.3-Jer.12.4" parsed="|Jer|12|3|12|4" passage="Jer 12:3,4">ver. 3,
4</scripRef>. II. God's rebuke to the prophet for his uneasiness at
his present troubles, bidding him prepare for greater, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.5-Jer.12.6" parsed="|Jer|12|5|12|6" passage="Jer 12:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>. III. A sad lamentation
of the present deplorable state of the Israel of God, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.7-Jer.12.13" parsed="|Jer|12|7|12|13" passage="Jer 12:7-13">ver. 7-13</scripRef>. IV. An intimation of
mercy to God's people, in a denunciation of wrath against their
neighbours that helped forward their affliction, that they should
be plucked out; but with a promise that if they would at last join
themselves with the people of God they should come in sharers with
them in their privileges, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.14-Jer.12.17" parsed="|Jer|12|14|12|17" passage="Jer 12:14-17">ver.
14-17</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12" parsed="|Jer|12|0|0|0" passage="Jer 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xiii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.1-Jer.12.6" parsed="|Jer|12|1|12|6" passage="Jer 12:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Jer.xiii-p1.10">The Prophet's Appeal to God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Righteous <i>art</i> thou, <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p2.1">O Lord</span>, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk
with thee of <i>thy</i> judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the
wicked prosper? <i>wherefore</i> are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?   2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have
taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou <i>art</i>
near in their mouth, and far from their reins.   3 But thou,
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p2.2">O Lord</span>, knowest me: thou hast seen
me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for
the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.   4
How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither,
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are
consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our
last end.   5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have
wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and
<i>if</i> in the land of peace, <i>wherein</i> thou trustedst,
<i>they wearied thee,</i> then how wilt thou do in the swelling of
Jordan?   6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy
father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they
have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they
speak fair words unto thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet doubts not but it would be of
use to others to know what had passed between God and his soul,
what temptations he had been assaulted with and how he had got over
them; and therefore he here tells us,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p4" shownumber="no">I. What liberty he humbly took, and was
graciously allowed him, to reason with God concerning his
judgments, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.1" parsed="|Jer|12|1|0|0" passage="Jer 12:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. He
is about to <i>plead</i> with God, not to quarrel with him, or find
fault with his proceedings, but to enquire into the meaning of
them, that he might more and more see reason to be satisfied in
them, and might have wherewith to answer both his own and others'
objections against them. The works of the Lord, and the reasons of
them, are <i>sought out</i> even <i>of those that have pleasure
therein.</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.111.2" parsed="|Ps|111|2|0|0" passage="Ps 111:2">Ps. cxi. 2</scripRef>. We
may not <i>strive with our Maker,</i> but we may reason with him.
The prophet lays down a truth of unquestionable certainty, which he
resolves to abide by in managing this argument: <i>Righteous art
thou, O Lord! when I plead with thee.</i> Thus he arms himself
against the temptation wherewith he was assaulted, to envy the
prosperity of the wicked, before he entered into a parley with it.
Note, When we are most in the dark concerning the meaning of God's
dispensations we must still resolve to keep up right thoughts of
God, and must be confident of this, that he never did, nor ever
will do, the least wrong to any of his creatures; even when his
<i>judgments are</i> unsearchable as <i>a great deep,</i> and
altogether unaccountable, yet <i>his righteousness</i> is as
conspicuous and immovable as <i>the great mountains,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.6" parsed="|Ps|36|6|0|0" passage="Ps 36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</scripRef>. Though sometimes
<i>clouds and darkness are round about him,</i> yet <i>justice and
judgment are</i> always <i>the habitation of his throne,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.97.2" parsed="|Ps|97|2|0|0" passage="Ps 97:2">Ps. xcvii. 2</scripRef>. When we find
it hard to understand particular providences we must have recourse
to general truths as our first principles, and abide by them;
however dark the providence may be, <i>the Lord is righteous;</i>
see <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.1" parsed="|Ps|73|1|0|0" passage="Ps 73:1">Ps. lxxiii. 1</scripRef>. And we
must acknowledge it to him, as the prophet here, even when we
<i>plead with him,</i> as those that have no thoughts of contending
but of learning, being fully assured that he will be <i>justified
when he speaks.</i> Note, However we may see cause for our own
information to plead with God, yet it becomes us to own that,
whatever he says or does, he is in the right.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p5" shownumber="no">II. What it was in the dispensations of
divine Providence that he stumbled at and that he thought would
bear a debate. It was that which has been a temptation to many wise
and good men, and such a one as they have with difficulty got over.
They see the designs and projects of wicked people successful:
<i>The way of the wicked prospers;</i> they compass their malicious
designs and gain their point. They see their affairs and concerns
in a good posture: <i>They are happy,</i> happy as the world can
make them, though <i>they deal</i> treacherously, <i>very
treacherously,</i> both with God and man. Hypocrites are chiefly
meant (as appears, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.2" parsed="|Jer|12|2|0|0" passage="Jer 12:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), who dissemble in their good professions, and depart
from their good beginnings and good promises, and in both they deal
treacherously, very treacherously. It has been said that men cannot
expect to prosper who are unjust and dishonest in their dealings;
but these deal treacherously, and yet <i>they are happy.</i> The
prophet shows (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.2" parsed="|Jer|12|2|0|0" passage="Jer 12:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>)
both their prosperity and their abuse of their prosperity. 1. God
had been very indulgent to them and they were got beforehand in the
world: "They are planted in a good land, a land flowing with milk
and honey, and <i>thou hast planted them!</i> nay, thou didst cast
out the heathen to plant them," <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.2 Bible:Ps.80.8" parsed="|Ps|44|2|0|0;|Ps|80|8|0|0" passage="Ps 44:2,80:8">Ps. xliv. 2, lxxx. 8</scripRef>. Many a tree is
planted that yet never grows nor comes to any thing; but <i>they
have taken root;</i> their prosperity seems to be confirmed and
settled. They take root in the earth, for there they fix
themselves, and thence they draw the sap of all their satisfaction.
Many trees however take root which yet never come on; but these
<i>grow, yea they bring forth fruit;</i> their families are built
up, they live high, and spend at a great rate; and all this was
owing to the benignity of the divine Providence, which smiled upon
them, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.7" parsed="|Ps|73|7|0|0" passage="Ps 73:7">Ps. lxxiii. 7</scripRef>. 2. Thus
God had favoured them, though they had dealt treacherously with
him: <i>Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins.</i>
This was no uncharitable censure, for he spoke by the Spirit of
prophecy, without which it is not safe to charge men with hypocrisy
whose appearances are plausible. Observe, (1.) Thought they cared
not for thinking of God, nor had any sincere affection to him, yet
they could easily persuade themselves to speak of him frequently
and with an air of seriousness. Piety from the teeth outward is no
difficult thing. Many speak the language of Israel that are not
Israelites indeed. (2.) Though they had on all occasions the name
of God ready in their mouth, and accustomed themselves to those
forms of speech that savoured of piety, yet they could not persuade
themselves to keep up the fear of God in their hearts. The form of
godliness should engage us to keep up the power of it; but with
them it did not do so.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p6" shownumber="no">III. What comfort he had in appealing to
God concerning his own integrity (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.3" parsed="|Jer|12|3|0|0" passage="Jer 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>But thou, O Lord! knowest
me.</i> Probably the wicked men he complains of were forward to
reproach and censure him (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.18" parsed="|Jer|18|18|0|0" passage="Jer 18:18"><i>ch.</i>
xviii. 18</scripRef>), in reference to which this was his comfort,
that God was a witness of his integrity. God knew he was not such a
one as they were (who had God <i>near in their mouths, but far from
their reins</i>), nor such a one as they took him to be, and
represented him, a deceiver and a false prophet; those that thus
abused him did not know him, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.2.8" parsed="|1Cor|2|8|0|0" passage="1Co 2:8">1 Cor. ii.
8</scripRef>. "<i>But thou, O Lord! knowest me,</i> though they
think me not worth their notice." 1. Observe what the matter is
concerning which he appeals to God: Thou knowest <i>my heart
towards thee.</i> Note, We are as our hearts are, and our hearts
are good or bad according as they are, or are not, towards God; and
this is that therefore concerning which we should examine
ourselves, that we may approve ourselves to God. 2. The cognizance
to which he appeals: <i>"Thou knowest me</i> better than I know
myself, not by hearsay or report, for <i>thou hast seen me,</i> not
with a transient glance, but thou hast <i>tried my heart.</i>"
God's knowledge of us is as clear and exact and certain as if he
had made the most strict scrutiny. Note, The God with whom we have
to do perfectly knows how our hearts are towards him. He knows both
the guile of the hypocrite and the sincerity of the upright.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. He prays that God would turn his hand
against these wicked people, and not suffer them to prosper always,
though they had prospered long: "Let some judgment come to <i>pull
them out</i> of this fat pasture <i>as sheep for the slaughter,</i>
that it may appear their long prosperity was but like the feeding
of lambs in a large place, to <i>prepare them for the day of
slaughter,</i>" <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.16" parsed="|Hos|4|16|0|0" passage="Ho 4:16">Hos. iv. 16</scripRef>.
God suffered them to prosper that by their pride and luxury they
might fill up the measure of their iniquity and so be ripened for
destruction; and therefore he thinks it a piece of necessary
justice that they should fall into mischief themselves, because
they had done so much mischief to others, that they should be
pulled out of their land, because they had brought ruin upon the
land, and the longer they continued in it the more hurt they did,
as the plagues of their generation (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.4" parsed="|Jer|12|4|0|0" passage="Jer 12:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>How long shall the land
mourn.</i> (as it does under the judgments of God inflicted upon
it) <i>for the wickedness of those that dwell therein?</i> Lord,
shall those prosper themselves that ruin all about them?" 1. See
here what the judgment was which the land was now groaning under:
<i>The herbs of every field wither</i> (the grass is burnt up and
all the products of the earth fail), and then it follows of course,
the beasts are consumed, and the birds, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.5" parsed="|1Kgs|18|5|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:5">1 Kings xviii. 5</scripRef>. This was the effect of a
long drought, or want of rain, which happened, as it should seem,
at the latter end of Josiah's reign and the beginning of
Jehoiakim's; it is mentioned <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3 Bible:Jer.8.13 Bible:Jer.9.10 Bible:Jer.9.12" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0;|Jer|8|13|0|0;|Jer|9|10|0|0;|Jer|9|12|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3,8:13,9:10,12"><i>ch.</i> iii. 3, viii. 13, ix. 10,
12</scripRef>, and more fully afterwards, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.1-Jer.14.22" parsed="|Jer|14|1|14|22" passage="Jer 14:1-22"><i>ch.</i> xiv.</scripRef> If they would have been
brought to repentance by this less judgment, the greater would have
been prevented. Now why was it that this <i>fruitful land</i> was
<i>turned into barrenness,</i> but <i>for the wickedness of those
that dwelt therein?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.34" parsed="|Ps|17|34|0|0" passage="Ps 17:34">Ps. xvii.
34</scripRef>. Therefore the prophet prays that these wicked people
might <i>die for their own sin,</i> and that the whole nation might
not suffer for it. 2. See here what was the language of their
wickedness: <i>They said, He shall not see our last end,</i>
either, (1.) God himself shall not. Atheism is the root of
hypocrisy. God is <i>far from their reins,</i> though <i>near in
their mouth,</i> because they say, <i>How doth God know?</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.11 Bible:Job.22.13" parsed="|Ps|73|11|0|0;|Job|22|13|0|0" passage="Ps 73:11,Job 22:13">Ps. lxxiii. 11; Job xxii.
13</scripRef>. He knows not what way we take nor what it will end
in. Or, (2.) Jeremiah <i>shall not see our last end;</i> whatever
he pretends, when he asks us what shall be in the end hereof he
cannot himself foresee it. They look upon him as a false prophet.
Or, "whatever it is, he shall not live to see it, for we will be
the death of him," <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.11.21" parsed="|Jer|11|21|0|0" passage="Jer 11:21"><i>ch.</i> xi.
21</scripRef>. Note, [1.] Men's setting their latter end at a great
distance, or looking upon it as uncertain, is at the bottom of all
their wickedness, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.9" parsed="|Lam|1|9|0|0" passage="La 1:9">Lam. i. 9</scripRef>.
[2.] The whole creation groans under the burden of the sin of man,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.22" parsed="|Rom|8|22|0|0" passage="Ro 8:22">Rom. viii. 22</scripRef>. It is for
this that <i>the earth mourns</i> (so it may be read); <i>cursed is
the ground for thy sake.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p8" shownumber="no">V. He acquaints us with the answer God gave
to those complaints of his, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.5-Jer.12.6" parsed="|Jer|12|5|12|6" passage="Jer 12:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. We often find the prophets
admonished, whose business it was to admonish others, as <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.11" parsed="|Isa|8|11|0|0" passage="Isa 8:11">Isa. viii. 11</scripRef>. Ministers have lessons
to learn as well as lessons to teach, and must themselves hear
God's voice and preach to themselves. Jeremiah complained much of
the wickedness of the men of Anathoth, and that, notwithstanding
that, they prospered. Now, this seems to be an answer to that
complaint. 1. It is allowed that he had cause to complain
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.6" parsed="|Jer|12|6|0|0" passage="Jer 12:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "<i>Thy
brethren,</i> the priests of Anathoth, who are of <i>the house of
thy father,</i> who ought to have protected thee and pretended to
do so, <i>even they have dealt treacherously with thee,</i> have
been false to thee, and, under colour of friendship, have
designedly done thee all the mischief they could; they <i>have
called a multitude after thee,</i> raised the mob upon thee, to
whom they have endeavoured, by all arts possible, to render thee
despicable or odious, while at the same time they pretended that
they had no design to persecute thee nor to deprive thee of thy
liberty. They are indeed such as thou canst <i>not believe, though
they speak fair words to thee.</i> They seem to be thy friends, but
are really thy enemies." Note, God's faithful servants must not
think it at all strange if their foes be <i>those of their own
house</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.36" parsed="|Matt|10|36|0|0" passage="Mt 10:36">Matt. x. 36</scripRef>),
and if those they expect kindness from prove such as they can put
no confidence in, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.5" parsed="|Mic|7|5|0|0" passage="Mic 7:5">Mic. vii.
5</scripRef>. 2. Yet he is told that he carried the matter too far.
(1.) He laid the unkindness of his countrymen too much to heart.
<i>They wearied</i> him, because it was <i>in a land of peace
wherein he trusted,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.5" parsed="|Jer|12|5|0|0" passage="Jer 12:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. It was very grievous to him to be thus hated and
abused by his own kindred. He was disturbed in his mind by it; his
spirit was sunk and overwhelmed with it, so that he was in great
agitation and distress about it. Nay, he was discouraged in his
work by it, began to be weary of prophesying, and to think of
giving it up. (2.) He did not consider that this was but the
beginning of his sorrow, and that he had sorer trials yet before
him; and, whereas he should endeavour by a patient bearing of this
trouble to prepare himself for greater, by his uneasiness under
this he did but unfit himself for what further lay before him:
<i>If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied
thee,</i> and run thee quite out of breath,<i>then how wilt thou
contend with horses?</i> If the injuries done him by the men of
Anathoth made such an impression upon him, what would he do when
the princes and chief priests at Jerusalem should set upon him with
their power, as they did afterwards? <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.20.2 Bible:Jer.32.2" parsed="|Jer|20|2|0|0;|Jer|32|2|0|0" passage="Jer 20:2,32:2"><i>ch.</i> xx. 2; xxxii. 2</scripRef>. If he was so
soon tired <i>in a land of peace,</i> where there was little noise
or peril, <i>what would he do in the swellings of Jordan,</i> when
that overflows all its banks and frightens even lions out of their
thickets? <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.19" parsed="|Jer|49|19|0|0" passage="Jer 49:19"><i>ch.</i> xlix.
19</scripRef>. Note, [1.] While we are in this world we must expect
troubles, and difficulties. Our life is a race, a warfare; we are
in danger of being run down. [2.] God's usual method being to begin
with smaller trials, it is our wisdom to expect greater than any we
have yet met with. We may be called out to <i>contend with
horsemen,</i> and the sons of Anak may perhaps be reserved for the
last encounter. [3.] It highly concerns us to prepare for such
trials and to consider what we should do in them. How shall we
preserve our integrity and peace when we come to <i>the swellings
of Jordan?</i> [4.] In order to our preparation for further and
greater trials, we are concerned to approve ourselves well in
present smaller trials, to keep up our spirits, keep hold of the
promise, keep in our way, with our eye upon the prize, so run that
we may obtain it. Some good interpreters understand this as spoken
to the people, who were very secure and fearless of the threatened
judgments. If they have been so humbled and impoverished by smaller
calamities, so wasted by the Assyrians,—if the Ammonites and
Moabites, who were their brethren, and with whom they were in
league, proved false to them (as undoubtedly they would),—then how
would they be able to deal with such a powerful adversary as the
Chaldeans would be? How would they bear up their head against that
invasion which should come like <i>the swelling of Jordan?</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xiii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.7-Jer.12.13" parsed="|Jer|12|7|12|13" passage="Jer 12:7-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiii-p8.10">
<h4 id="Jer.xiii-p8.11">The State of Judah and
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p8.12">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiii-p9" shownumber="no">7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine
heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand
of her enemies.   8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the
forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.  
9 Mine heritage <i>is</i> unto me <i>as</i> a speckled bird, the
birds round about <i>are</i> against her; come ye, assemble all the
beasts of the field, come to devour.   10 Many pastors have
destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot,
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.   11
They have made it desolate, <i>and being</i> desolate it mourneth
unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth
<i>it</i> to heart.   12 The spoilers are come upon all high
places through the wilderness: for the sword of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p9.1">Lord</span> shall devour from the <i>one</i> end of the
land even to the <i>other</i> end of the land: no flesh shall have
peace.   13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they
have put themselves to pain, <i>but</i> shall not profit: and they
shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p9.2">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p10" shownumber="no">The people of the Jews are here marked for
ruin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p11" shownumber="no">I. God is here brought in falling out with
them and leaving them desolate; and they could never have been
undone if they had not provoked God to desert them. It is a
terrible word that God here says (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.7" parsed="|Jer|12|7|0|0" passage="Jer 12:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>I have forsaken my
house</i>—the temple, which had been his palace; they had polluted
it, and so forced him out of it: <i>I have left my heritage,</i>
and will look after it no more. His people that he has taken such
delight in, and care of, are now thrown out of his protection. They
had been <i>the dearly beloved of his soul,</i> precious in his
sight and honorable above any people, which is mentioned to
aggravate their sin in returning him hatred for his love and their
misery in throwing themselves out of the favour of one that had
such a kindness for them, and to justify God in his dealings with
them. He sought not occasion against them, but, if they would have
conducted themselves with any tolerable propriety, he would have
made the best of them, for they were <i>the beloved of his
soul;</i> but they had conducted themselves so that they had
provoked him to <i>give them into the hand of their enemies,</i> to
leave them unguarded, an easy prey to those that bore them
ill-will. But what was the quarrel God had with a people that had
been so long dear to him? Why, truly, they had degenerated. 1. They
had become like <i>beasts of prey,</i> which nobody loves, but
every body avoids and gets as far off from as he can (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.8" parsed="|Jer|12|8|0|0" passage="Jer 12:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>My heritage is unto
me as a lion in the forest.</i> Their sins cry to heaven for
vengeance as loud as a lion roars. Nay, they <i>cry out against
God</i> in the threatenings and slaughter which they breathe
against his prophets that speak to them in his name; and what is
said and done against them God takes as said and done against
himself. They blaspheme his name, oppose his authority, and bid
defiance to his justice, and so <i>cry out against him as a lion in
the forest.</i> Those that were the <i>sheep of God's pasture</i>
had become barbarous and ravenous, and as ungovernable as lions in
the forest; <i>therefore he hated them;</i> for what delight could
the God of love take in a people that had now become as roaring
lions and raging beasts, fit to be taken and shot at, as a vexation
and torment to all about them? 2. They had become like <i>birds of
prey,</i> and therefore also unworthy a place in God's house, where
neither beasts nor birds of prey were admitted to be offered in
sacrifice (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.9" parsed="|Jer|12|9|0|0" passage="Jer 12:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>):
<i>My heritage is unto me as a bird with talons</i> (so some read
it, and so the margin); they are continually pulling and pecking at
one another; they have by their unnatural contentions made their
country a cock-pit. Or <i>as a speckled bird,</i> dyed, or
sprinkled, or bedewed with the blood of her prey. The shedding of
innocent blood was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin, and hastened
their ruin, not only as it provoked their neighbours likewise; for
those that have <i>their hand against every man</i> shall have
<i>every man's hand against them</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.16.12" parsed="|Gen|16|12|0|0" passage="Ge 16:12">Gen. xvi. 12</scripRef>), and so it follows here: <i>The
birds round about are against her.</i> Some make her a <i>speckled,
pied,</i> or <i>motley bird,</i> upon the account of their mixing
the superstitious customs and usages of the heathen with divine
institutions in the worship of God; they were fond of a
party-coloured religion, and thought it made them fine, when really
it made them odious. God's turtle-dove is no speckled bird.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p12" shownumber="no">II. The enemies are here brought in falling
upon them and laying them desolate. And some think it is upon this
account that they are compared to a speckled bird, because fowls
usually make a noise about a bird of an odd unusual colour. God's
people are, among the children of this world, as <i>men wondered
at,</i> as a <i>speckled bird;</i> but this people had by their own
folly made themselves so; and the beasts and birds are called and
commissioned to prey upon them. Let <i>all the birds round</i> be
<i>against her,</i> for God has forsaken her, and with them let
<i>all the beasts of the field come to devour.</i> Those that have
made a prey of others shall themselves be preyed upon. It did not
lessen the sin of the nations, but very much increased the misery
of Judah and Jerusalem, that the desolation brought upon them was
by order from heaven. The birds and beasts are perhaps called to
feast upon the bodies of the slain, as in St. John's vision,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.17-Rev.19.18" parsed="|Rev|19|17|19|18" passage="Re 19:17,18">Rev. xix. 17, 18</scripRef>. The
utter desolation of the land by the Chaldean army is here spoken of
as a thing done, so sure, so near, was it. God speaks of it as a
thing which he had appointed to be done, and yet which he had no
pleasure in, any more than in the death of other sinners.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p13" shownumber="no">1. See with what a tender affection he
speaks of this land, notwithstanding the sinfulness of it, in
remembrance of his covenant, and the tribute of honour and glory he
had formerly had from it: It is <i>my vineyard, my portion, my
pleasant portion,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.10" parsed="|Jer|12|10|0|0" passage="Jer 12:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Note, God has a kindness and concern for his church,
though there be much amiss in it; and his correcting it will every
way consist with his complacency in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p14" shownumber="no">2. See with what a tender compassion he
speaks of the desolations of this land: <i>Many pastors</i> (the
Chaldean generals that made themselves masters of the country and
ate it up with their armies as easily as the Arabian shepherds with
their flocks eat up the fruits of a piece of ground that lies
common) <i>have destroyed my vineyard,</i> without any
consideration had either of the value of it or of my interest in
it; they have with the greatest insolence and indignation
<i>trodden it under foot,</i> and that which was a pleasant land
they have made <i>a desolate wilderness.</i> The destruction was
universal: <i>The whole land is made desolate,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.11" parsed="|Jer|12|11|0|0" passage="Jer 12:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. It is made so by the
sword of war: <i>The spoilers,</i> the Chaldean soldiers, <i>have
come through the plain upon all high places;</i> they have made
themselves masters of all the natural fastnesses and artificial
fortresses, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.12" parsed="|Jer|12|12|0|0" passage="Jer 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
<i>The sword devours from one end of the land to the other;</i> all
places lie exposed, and the numerous army of the invaders disperse
themselves into every corner of that fruitful country, so that
<i>no flesh shall have peace,</i> none shall be exempt from the
calamity nor be able to enjoy any tranquillity. When all flesh have
corrupted their way, no flesh shall have peace; those only have
peace that walk after the Spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p15" shownumber="no">3. See whence all this misery comes. (1.)
It comes from the displeasure of God. It is <i>the sword of the
Lord</i> that <i>devours,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.12" parsed="|Jer|12|12|0|0" passage="Jer 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. While God's people keep close
to him the sword of their protectors and deliverers is the sword of
the Lord, witness that of Gideon; but when they have forsaken him,
so that he has become their enemy and fights against them, then the
sword of their invaders and destroyers becomes the <i>sword of the
Lord;</i> witness this of the Chaldeans. It is <i>because of the
fierce anger of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.13" parsed="|Jer|12|13|0|0" passage="Jer 12:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); it was this that kindled this
fire among them and made their enemies so furious. And <i>who may
stand before him when he is angry?</i> (2.) It is their sin that
has made God their enemy, particularly their incorrigibleness under
former rebukes (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.11" parsed="|Jer|12|11|0|0" passage="Jer 12:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): The land <i>mourns unto me;</i> the country that
lies desolate does, as it were, pour out its complaint before God
and humble itself under his hand; but the inhabitants are so
senseless and stupid that <i>none of them lays it to heart;</i>
they do not mourn to God, but are unaffected with his displeasure,
while the very ground they go upon shames them. Note, When God's
hand is lifted up, and men will not see, it shall be laid on, and
they shall be made to feel, <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.11" parsed="|Isa|26|11|0|0" passage="Isa 26:11">Isa.
xxvi. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p16" shownumber="no">4. See how unable they should be to guard
against it (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.13" parsed="|Jer|12|13|0|0" passage="Jer 12:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>):
"<i>They have sown wheat,</i> that is, they have taken a great deal
of pains for their own security and promised themselves great
matters from their endeavors, but it is all in vain; <i>they shall
reap thorns,</i> that is, that which shall prove very grievous and
vexatious to them. Instead of helping themselves, they shall but
make themselves more uneasy. <i>They have put themselves to
pain,</i> both with their labour and with their expectations,
<i>but it shall not profit;</i> they shall not prevail to extricate
themselves out of the difficulties into which they have plunged
themselves. <i>They shall be ashamed of your revenues,</i> ashamed
that they have depended so much upon their preparations for war and
particularly upon their ability to bear the charges of it." Money
constitutes the sinews of war; they thought they had enough of
that, but shall be ashamed of it; for their silver and gold shall
not profit them in the day of the Lord's anger.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.14-Jer.12.17" parsed="|Jer|12|14|12|17" passage="Jer 12:14-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xiii-p16.3">
<h4 id="Jer.xiii-p16.4">Predictions of Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p16.5">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xiii-p17" shownumber="no">14 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p17.1">Lord</span> against all mine evil neighbours, that
touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to
inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out
the house of Judah from among them.   15 And it shall come to
pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have
compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his
heritage, and every man to his land.   16 And it shall come to
pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear
by my name, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p17.2">Lord</span> liveth; as they
taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the
midst of my people.   17 But if they will not obey, I will
utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xiii-p17.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p18" shownumber="no">The prophets sometimes, in God's name,
delivered messages both of judgment and mercy to the nations that
bordered on the land of Israel: but here is a message to all those
in general who had in their turns been one way or other injurious
to God's people, had either oppressed them or triumphed in their
being oppressed. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p19" shownumber="no">I. What the quarrel was that God had with
them. They were <i>his evil neighbours</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.14" parsed="|Jer|12|14|0|0" passage="Jer 12:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), evil neighbours to his
church, and what they did against it he took as done against
himself, and therefore called them <i>his evil neighbours,</i> that
should have been neighbourly to Israel, but were quite otherwise.
Note, It is often the lot of good people to live among bad
neighbours, that are unkind and provoking to them; and it is bad
indeed when they are all so. These evil neighbours were the
Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians, Edomites, Egyptians, that had been
evil neighbours to Israel in helping to debauch them and draw them
from God (therefore God calls them his evil neighbours), and now
they helped to make them desolate, and joined with the Chaldeans
against them. It is just with God to make those the instruments of
trouble to us whom we have made instruments of sin. That which God
lays to their charge is: They have <i>meddled with the inheritance
which I have caused my people Israel to inherit;</i> they unjustly
seized that which was none of their own: nay, they sacrilegiously
turned that to their own use which was given to God's peculiar
people. He that said, <i>Touch not my anointed,</i> said also,
"<i>Touch not their inheritance;</i> it is at your peril if you
do." Not only the persons but the estates of God's people are under
his protection.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p20" shownumber="no">II. What course he would take with them. 1.
He would break the power they had got over his people, and force
them to make restitution: <i>I will pluck out the house of Judah
from among them.</i> This would be a great favour to God's people,
who had either been taken captive by them, or, when they fled to
them for shelter, had been detained and made prisoners; but it
would be a great mortification to their enemies, who would be like
a lion disappointed of his prey. The house of Judah either cannot
or will not make any bold struggles towards their own liberty; but
God will with a gracious violence pluck them out, will by his
Spirit compel them to come out and by his power compel their
task-masters to let them go, as he plucked Israel out of Egypt. 2.
He would bring upon them the same calamities that they had been
instrumental to bring upon his people: <i>I will pluck them out of
their land.</i> Judgment began at the house of God, but it did not
end there. Nebuchadnezzar, when he had wasted the land of Israel,
turned his hand against their evil neighbours and was a scourge to
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p21" shownumber="no">III. What mercy God had in store for such
of them as would join themselves to him and become his people,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.15-Jer.12.16" parsed="|Jer|12|15|12|16" passage="Jer 12:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. They
had drawn in God's backsliding people to join with them in the
service of idols. If now they would be drawn by a returning people
to join with them in the service of the true and living God, they
should not only have their enmity to the people of God forgiven
them, but the distance which they had been kept at before should be
removed, and they should be received to stand upon the same level
with the Israel of God. This had its accomplishment in part when,
after the return out of captivity, many of the people of the lands
that had been evil neighbours to Israel became Jews; and it was to
have its accomplishment in the conversion of the Gentiles to the
faith of Christ. Let not Israel, though injured by them, be
implacable towards them, for God is not: <i>After that I have
plucked them out,</i> in justice for their sins and in jealousy for
the honour of Israel, <i>I will return,</i> will change my way,
<i>and have compassion on them.</i> Though, being heathen, they can
lay no claim to the mercies of the covenant, yet they shall have
benefit by the compassions of the Creator, who will notwithstanding
look upon them as the work of his hands. Note, God's controversies
with his creatures, though they cannot be disputed, may be
accommodated. Those who (as these) have been not only strangers,
but <i>enemies in their minds by wicked works,</i> may be
<i>reconciled,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Col.1.21" parsed="|Col|1|21|0|0" passage="Col 1:21">Col. i.
21</scripRef>. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p22" shownumber="no">1. What were the terms on which God would
show favour to them. It is always provided <i>that they will
diligently learn the ways of my people,</i> that is, in general,
the ways that they walk in when they conduct themselves as <i>my
people</i> (not the crooked ways into which they have turned
aside), the ways which my people are directed to take. Note, (1.)
There are good ways that are peculiarly <i>the ways of God's
people,</i> which however they may differ in the choice of their
paths, they are all agreed to walk in. The ways of holiness and
heavenly-mindedness, of love and peaceableness, the ways of prayer
and sabbath-sanctification, and diligent attendance on instituted
ordinances—these, and the like, are <i>the ways of God's
people.</i> (2.) Those that would have their lot with God's people,
and their last end like theirs, must learn their ways and walk in
them, must observe the rule they walk by and conform to that rule
they walk by and conform to that rule and go forth by those
footsteps. By an intimate conversation with God's people they must
learn to do as they do. (3.) It is impossible to learn the ways of
God's people as they should be learnt, without a great deal of care
and pains. We must diligently observe these ways and diligently
obliges ourselves to walk in them, must look diligently (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.15" parsed="|Heb|12|15|0|0" passage="Heb 12:15">Heb. xii. 15</scripRef>), and work diligently,
<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.13.24" parsed="|Luke|13|24|0|0" passage="Lu 13:24">Luke xiii. 24</scripRef>. In
particular, they must learn to give honour to God's name by making
all their solemn appeals to him. They must learn to say, <i>The
Lord liveth</i> (to own him, to adore him, and to abide by his
judgment), <i>as they taught my people to swear by Baal.</i> It was
bad enough that they did themselves swear by Baal, worse that they
taught God's own people, who had been better taught; and yet, if
they will at length reform, they shall be accepted. Observe, [1.]
We must not despair of the conversion of the worst; no, not of
those who have been instrumental to pervert and debauch others;
even they may be brought to repentance, and, if they be, shall find
mercy. [2.] Those whom we have been industrious to draw to that
which is evil, when God opens their eyes and ours, we should be as
industrious to follow in that which is good. It will be a holy
revenge upon ourselves to become pupils to those in the way of duty
to whom we have been tutors in the was of sin. [3.] The conversion
of the deceived may prove a happy occasion of the conversion even
of the deceivers. Thus those who fall together into the ditch are
sometimes plucked together out of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p23" shownumber="no">2. What should be the tokens and fruits of
this favour when they return to God and God to them. (1.) They
shall be restored to and re-established in their own land
(<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.15" parsed="|Jer|12|15|0|0" passage="Jer 12:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>I will
bring them again every man to his heritage.</i> The same hand that
plucked them up shall plant them again. (2.) They shall become
entitled to the spiritual privileges of God's Israel: "If they will
be towardly, and <i>learn the ways of my people,</i> will conform
to the rules and confine themselves to the restraints of my family,
<i>then shall they be built in the midst of my people.</i> They
shall not only be brought among them, to have a name and a place in
the house of the Lord, where there was a court for the Gentiles,
but they shall be built among them; they shall unite with them; the
former enmities shall be slain; they shall be both edified and
settled among them." See <scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.5-Isa.56.7" parsed="|Isa|56|5|56|7" passage="Isa 56:5-7">Isa. lvi.
5-7</scripRef>. Note, Those that diligently learn the ways of God's
people shall enjoy the privileges and comforts of his people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xiii-p24" shownumber="no">IV. What should become of those that were
still wedded to their own evil ways, yea, though many of those
about them turned to the Lord (<scripRef id="Jer.xiii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.17" parsed="|Jer|12|17|0|0" passage="Jer 12:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>If there will not
obey,</i> if any of them continue to stand it out, <i>I will
utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,</i> that family, that
particular person, <i>saith the Lord.</i> Those that will not be
ruled by the grace of God shall be ruined by the justice of God.
And, if disobedient nations shall be destroyed, much more
disobedient churches from whom better things are expected.</p>
</div></div2>