mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Jer.ii" n="ii" next="Jer.iii" prev="Jer.i" progress="26.98%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Jer.ii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The general
inscription or title of this book, with the time of the continuance
of Jeremiah's public ministry, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.1-Jer.1.3" parsed="|Jer|1|1|1|3" passage="Jer 1:1-3">ver.
1-3</scripRef>. II. The call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office,
his modest objection against it answered, and an ample commission
given him for the execution of it, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.4-Jer.1.10" parsed="|Jer|1|4|1|10" passage="Jer 1:4-10">ver. 4-10</scripRef>. III. The visions of an
almond-rod and a seething-pot, signifying the approaching ruin of
Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.11-Jer.1.16" parsed="|Jer|1|11|1|16" passage="Jer 1:11-16">ver. 11-16</scripRef>. IV. Encouragement given to the
prophet to go on undauntedly in his work, in an assurance of God's
presence with him, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.17-Jer.1.19" parsed="|Jer|1|17|1|19" passage="Jer 1:17-19">ver.
17-19</scripRef>. Thus is he set to work by one that will be sure
to bear him out.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1" parsed="|Jer|1|0|0|0" passage="Jer 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.1-Jer.1.3" parsed="|Jer|1|1|1|3" passage="Jer 1:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.ii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.ii-p1.8">The Inscription. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 629.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of
the priests that <i>were</i> in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
  2 To whom the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon
king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.   3 It
came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah
king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the
fifth month.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p3" shownumber="no">We have here as much as it was thought fit
we should know of the genealogy of this prophet and the chronology
of this prophecy. 1. We are told what family the prophet was of. He
was <i>the son of Hilkiah,</i> not that Hilkiah, it is supposed,
who was high priest in Josiah's time (for then he would have been
called so, and not, as here, one <i>of the priests that were in
Anathoth</i>), but another of the same name. Jeremiah signifies one
<i>raised up by the Lord.</i> It is said of Christ that he is a
prophet whom the Lord our God <i>raised up unto us,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.18.15" parsed="|Deut|18|15|0|0" passage="De 18:15">Deut. xviii. 15, 18</scripRef>. He was <i>of the
priests,</i> and, as a priest, was authorized and appointed to
teach the people; but to that authority and appointment God added
the extraordinary commission of a prophet. Ezekiel also was a
priest. Thus God would support the honour of the priesthood at a
time when, by their sins and God's judgments upon them, it was
sadly eclipsed. He was of the priests in Anathoth, a city of
priests, which lay about three miles from Jerusalem. Abiathar had
his country house there, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.2.26" parsed="|1Kgs|2|26|0|0" passage="1Ki 2:26">1 Kings ii.
26</scripRef>. 2. We have the general date of his prophecies, the
knowledge of which is requisite to the understanding of them. (1.)
He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign,
<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.2" parsed="|Jer|1|2|0|0" passage="Jer 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Josiah, in the
twelfth year of his reign, began a work of reformation, applied
himself with all sincerity to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the
<i>high places, and the groves, and the images,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.34.3" parsed="|2Chr|34|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 34:3">2 Chron. xxxiv. 3</scripRef>. And very
seasonably then was this young prophet raised up to assist and
encourage the young king in that good work. Then <i>the word of the
Lord</i> came to him, not only a charge and commission to him to
prophesy, but a revelation of the things themselves which he was to
deliver. As it is an encouragement to ministers to be countenanced
and protected by such pious magistrates as Josiah was, so it is a
great help to magistrates, in any good work of reformation, to be
advised and animated, and to have a great deal of their work done
for them, by such faithful zealous ministers as Jeremiah was. Now,
one would have expected when these two joined forces, such a
prince, and such a prophet (as in a like case, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.5.1-Ezra.5.2" parsed="|Ezra|5|1|5|2" passage="Ezr 5:1,2">Ezra v. 1, 2</scripRef>), and both young, such a
complete reformation would be brought about and settled as would
prevent the ruin of the church and state; but it proved quite
otherwise. In the eighteenth year of Josiah we find there were a
great many of the relics of idolatry that were not purged out; for
what can the best princes and prophets do to prevent the ruin of a
people that hate to be reformed? And therefore, though it was a
time of reformation, Jeremiah continued to foretel the destroying
judgments that were coming upon them; for there is no symptom more
threatening to any people than fruitless attempts of reformation.
Josiah and Jeremiah would have healed them, but they would not be
healed. (2.) He continued to prophesy through the reigns of
Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, each of whom reigned eleven years. He
prophesied <i>to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.3" parsed="|Jer|1|3|0|0" passage="Jer 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), that great
event which he had so often prophesied of. He continued to prophesy
after that, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.40.1" parsed="|Jer|40|1|0|0" passage="Jer 40:1"><i>ch.</i> xl.
1</scripRef>. But the computation here is made to end with that
because it was the accomplishment of many of his predictions; and
from the thirteenth of Josiah to the captivity was just forty
years. Dr. Lightfoot observes that as Moses was so long with the
people, a teacher in the wilderness, till they entered into their
own land, Jeremiah was so long in their own land a teacher, before
they went into the wilderness of the heathen: and he thinks that
<i>therefore</i> a special mark is set upon the last forty years of
the iniquity of Judah, which Ezekiel bore forty days, a day for a
year, because during all that time they had Jeremiah prophesying
among them, which was a great aggravation of their impenitency.
God, in this prophet, suffered their manners, their ill manners,
forty years, and at length swore in his wrath that they should not
continue in his rest.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.ii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.4-Jer.1.10" parsed="|Jer|1|4|1|10" passage="Jer 1:4-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.ii-p3.9">
<h4 id="Jer.ii-p3.10">Jeremiah's Call to the Prophetic
Office. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p3.11">b. c.</span> 629.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.ii-p4" shownumber="no">4 Then the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   5 Before I
formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth
out of the womb I sanctified thee, <i>and</i> I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.   6 Then said I, Ah, Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.2">God</span>! behold, I cannot speak: for I
<i>am</i> a child.   7 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.3">Lord</span> said unto me, Say not, I <i>am</i> a child:
for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I
command thee thou shalt speak.   8 Be not afraid of their
faces: for I <i>am</i> with thee to deliver thee, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.4">Lord</span>.   9 Then the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.5">Lord</span> put forth his hand, and touched my mouth.
And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p4.6">Lord</span> said unto me, Behold, I
have put my words in thy mouth.   10 See, I have this day set
thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to
pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to
plant.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p5" shownumber="no">Here is, I. Jeremiah's early designation to
the work and office of a prophet, which God gives him notice of as
a reason for his early application to that business (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.4-Jer.1.5" parsed="|Jer|1|4|1|5" passage="Jer 1:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>): <i>The word of the
Lord came to him,</i> with a satisfying assurance to himself that
it was the word of the Lord and not a delusion; and God told him,
1. That he had <i>ordained him a prophet to the nations,</i> or
<i>against the nations,</i> the nation of the Jews in the first
place, who are now <i>reckoned among the nations</i> because they
had learned their works and mingled with them in their idolatries,
for otherwise they would not have been numbered with them,
<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.23.9" parsed="|Num|23|9|0|0" passage="Nu 23:9">Num. xxiii. 9</scripRef>. Yet he was
given to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the
neighbouring nations, to whom he was to <i>send yokes</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.2-Jer.27.3" parsed="|Jer|27|2|27|3" passage="Jer 27:2,3"><i>ch.</i> xxvii. 2, 3</scripRef>)
and whom he must make to <i>drink of the cup</i> of the Lord's
anger, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.17" parsed="|Jer|25|17|0|0" passage="Jer 25:17"><i>ch.</i> xxv. 17</scripRef>.
He is still in his writings a prophet to the nations (to our nation
among the rest), to tell them what the national judgments are which
may be expected for national sins. It would be well for the nations
would they take Jeremiah for their prophet and attend to the
warnings he gives them. 2. That before he was born, even in his
eternal counsel, he had designed him to be so. Let him know that he
who gave him his commission is the same that gave him his being,
that <i>formed him in the belly</i> and brought him <i>forth out of
the womb,</i> that therefore he was his rightful owner and might
employ him and make use of him as he pleased, and that this
commission was given him in pursuance of the purpose God had
purposed in himself concerning him, before he was born: "<i>I knew
thee, and I sanctified thee,</i>" that is, "I determined that thou
shouldst be a prophet and set thee apart for the office." Thus St.
Paul says of himself that God had <i>separated him from his
mother's womb</i> to be a Christian and an apostle, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Gal.1.15" parsed="|Gal|1|15|0|0" passage="Ga 1:15">Gal. i. 15</scripRef>. Observe, (1.) The great
Creator knows what use to make of every man before he makes him. He
has <i>made all for himself,</i> and of the same lumps of clay
designs <i>a vessel of honour or dishonour,</i> as he pleases,
<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.21" parsed="|Rom|9|21|0|0" passage="Ro 9:21">Rom. ix. 21</scripRef>. (2.) What God
has designed men for he will call them to; for his purposes cannot
be frustrated. Known unto God are all his own works beforehand, and
his knowledge is infallible and his purpose unchangeable. (3.)
There is a particular purpose and providence of God conversant
about his prophets and ministers; they are by special counsel
designed for their work, and what they are designed for they are
fitted for: I that <i>knew thee, sanctified thee.</i> God destines
them to it, and forms them for it, when he first forms the spirit
of man within him. <i>Propheta nascitur, non fit—Original
endowment, not education, makes a prophet.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p6" shownumber="no">II. His modestly declining this honourable
employment, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.6" parsed="|Jer|1|6|0|0" passage="Jer 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
Though God had predestinated him to it, yet it was news to him, and
a mighty surprise, to hear that he should be <i>a prophet to the
nations.</i> We know not what God intends us for, but he knows. One
would have thought he would catch at it as a piece of preferment,
for so it was; but he objects against it, as a work for which he is
unqualified: "<i>Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak</i> to great
men and multitudes, as prophets must; I cannot speak finely nor
fluently, cannot word things well, as a message from God should be
worded; I cannot speak with any authority, nor can expect to be
heeded, <i>for I am a child</i> and my youth will be despised."
Note, It becomes us, when we have any service to do for God, to be
afraid lest we mismanage it, and lest it suffer through our
weakness and unfitness for it; it becomes us likewise to have low
thoughts of ourselves and to be diffident of our own sufficiency.
Those that are young should consider that they are so, should be
afraid, as Elihu was, and not venture beyond their length.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p7" shownumber="no">III. The assurance God graciously gave him
that he would stand by him and carry him on in his work.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p8" shownumber="no">1. Let him not object that he is a child;
he shall be a prophet for all that (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.7" parsed="|Jer|1|7|0|0" passage="Jer 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "<i>Say no</i> any more, <i>I am
a child.</i> It is true thou art; but," (1.) "Thou hast God's
precept, and let not thy being young hinder thee from obeying it.
Go to all <i>to whom I shall send thee and speak whatsoever I
command thee.</i>" Note, Though a sense of our own weakness and
insufficiency should make us go humbly about our work, yet it
should not make us draw back from it when God calls us to it. God
was angry with Moses even for his modest excuses, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.4.14" parsed="|Exod|4|14|0|0" passage="Ex 4:14">Exod. iv. 14</scripRef>. (2.) "Thou hast God's
presence, and let not thy being young discourage thee from
depending upon it. Though thou art a child, thou shalt be
<i>enabled to go to all to whom I shall send thee,</i> though they
are ever so great and ever so many. And <i>whatsoever I command
thee</i> thou shalt have judgment, memory, and language, wherewith
to speak it as it should be spoken." Samuel delivered a message
from God to Eli, when he was a little child. Note, God can, when he
pleases, make children prophets, and <i>ordain strength out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p9" shownumber="no">2. Let him not object that he shall meet
with many enemies and much opposition; God will be his protector
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.8" parsed="|Jer|1|8|0|0" passage="Jer 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Be not
afraid of their races;</i> though they look big, and so think to
outface thee and put thee out of countenance, yet <i>be not afraid
to speak to them;</i> no, not to speak that to them which is most
unpleasing. Thou speakest in the name of the King of kings, and by
authority from him, and with that thou mayest <i>face them
down.</i> Though they look angry, be not afraid of their
displeasure nor disturbed with apprehensions of the consequences of
it." Those that have messages to deliver from God must not be
<i>afraid of the face of man,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.9" parsed="|Ezek|3|9|0|0" passage="Eze 3:9">Ezek.
iii. 9</scripRef>. "And thou hast cause both to be bold and easy;
for <i>I am with thee,</i> not only to assist thee in thy work, but
to deliver thee out of the hands of the persecutors; and, <i>if God
be for thee, who can be against thee?</i>" If God do not deliver
his ministers from trouble, it is to the same effect if he support
them under their trouble. Mr. Gataker well observes here, That
earthly princes are not wont to go along with their ambassadors;
but God goes along with those whom he sends, and is, by his
powerful protection, at all times and in all places present with
them; and with this they ought to animate themselves, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.18.10" parsed="|Acts|18|10|0|0" passage="Ac 18:10">Acts xviii. 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p10" shownumber="no">3. Let him not object that he cannot speak
as becomes him—God will enable him to speak.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p11" shownumber="no">(1.) To speak intelligently, and as one
that had acquaintance with God, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.9" parsed="|Jer|1|9|0|0" passage="Jer 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. He having now a vision of the
divine glory, the Lord <i>put forth his hand,</i> and by a sensible
sign conferred upon him so much of the gift of the tongue as was
necessary for him: <i>He touched his mouth,</i> and with that touch
<i>opened his lips,</i> that his mouth should show forth God's
praise, with that touch sweetly conveyed <i>his words into his
mouth,</i> to be ready to him upon all occasions, so that he could
never want words who was thus furnished by him that <i>made man's
mouth.</i> God not only put knowledge into his head, but <i>words
into his mouth;</i> for there are <i>words which the Holy Ghost
teaches,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.2.13" parsed="|1Cor|2|13|0|0" passage="1Co 2:13">1 Cor. ii. 13</scripRef>.
It is fit God's message should be delivered in his own words, that
it may be delivered accurately. <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.4" parsed="|Ezek|3|4|0|0" passage="Eze 3:4">Ezek.
iii. 4</scripRef>, <i>Speak with my words.</i> And those that
faithfully do so shall not want instructions as the case requires;
God will give them a mouth and wisdom <i>in that same hour,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.19" parsed="|Matt|10|19|0|0" passage="Mt 10:19">Matt. x. 19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p12" shownumber="no">(2.) To speak powerfully, and as one that
had authority from God, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.10" parsed="|Jer|1|10|0|0" passage="Jer 1:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. It is a strange commission that is here given him:
<i>See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms.</i> This sounds very great, and yet Jeremiah is a poor
despicable priest still; he is not set over the kingdoms as a
prince to rule them by the sword, but as a prophet by the power of
the word of God. Those that would hence prove the pope's supremacy
over kings, and his authority to depose them and dispose of their
kingdoms at his pleasure, must prove that he has the same
extraordinary spirit of prophecy that Jeremiah had, else how can be
have the power that Jeremiah had by virtue of that spirit? And yet
the power that Jeremiah had (who, notwithstanding his power, lived
in meanness and contempt, and under oppression) would not content
these proud men. Jeremiah was <i>set over the nations,</i> the
Jewish nation in the first place, and other nations, some great
ones besides, against whom he prophesied; he was set over them, not
to demand tribute from them nor to enrich himself with their
spoils, but to <i>root out, and pull down, and destroy,</i> and yet
withal <i>to build and plant.</i> [1.] He must attempt to reform
the nations, to <i>root out, and pull down, and destroy</i>
idolatry and other wickednesses among them, to extirpate those
vicious habits and customs which had long taken root, to <i>throw
down</i> the kingdom of sin, that religion and virtue might be
<i>planted</i> and <i>built</i> among them. And, to the introducing
and establishing of that which is good, it is necessary that that
which is evil be removed. [2.] He must tell them that it would be
well or ill with them according as they were, or were not,
reformed. He must set before them <i>life and death, good and
evil,</i> according to God's declaration of the method he takes
with kingdoms and nations, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.9-Jer.18.10" parsed="|Jer|18|9|18|10" passage="Jer 18:9-10"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 9-10</scripRef>. He must assure
those who persisted in their wickedness that they should be
<i>rooted out and destroyed,</i> and those who repented that they
should be <i>built and planted.</i> He was authorized to read the
doom of nations, and God would <i>ratify it</i> and <i>fulfil
it</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.26" parsed="|Isa|44|26|0|0" passage="Isa 44:26">Isa. xliv. 26</scripRef>),
would do it according to his word, and therefore is said to do it
<i>by</i> his word. It is thus expressed partly to show how sure
the word of prophecy is—it will as certainly be accomplished as if
it were done already, and partly to put an honour upon the
prophetic office and make it look truly great, that others may not
despise the prophets nor they disparage themselves. And yet more
honourable does the gospel ministry look, in that declarative power
Christ gave his apostles to <i>remit and retain sin</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:John.20.23" parsed="|John|20|23|0|0" passage="Joh 20:23">John xx. 23</scripRef>), <i>to bind and
loose,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.18" parsed="|Matt|18|18|0|0" passage="Mt 18:18">Matt. xviii.
18</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.ii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.11-Jer.1.19" parsed="|Jer|1|11|1|19" passage="Jer 1:11-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.ii-p12.7">
<h4 id="Jer.ii-p12.8">Charge Given to Jeremiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p12.9">b. c.</span> 629.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.ii-p13" shownumber="no">11 Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest
thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.   12 Then
said the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.2">Lord</span> unto me, Thou hast
well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.   13 And
the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.3">Lord</span> came unto me
the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a
seething pot; and the face thereof <i>is</i> toward the north.
  14 Then the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.4">Lord</span> said unto
me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the
inhabitants of the land.   15 For, lo, I will call all the
families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.5">Lord</span>; and they shall come, and they shall set
every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and
against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the
cities of Judah.   16 And I will utter my judgments against
them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have
burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their
own hands.   17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise,
and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at
their faces, lest I confound thee before them.   18 For,
behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron
pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings
of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof,
and against the people of the land.   19 And they shall fight
against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I
<i>am</i> with thee, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.ii-p13.6">Lord</span>,
to deliver thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p14" shownumber="no">Here, I. God gives Jeremiah, in vision, a
view of the principal errand he was to go upon, which was to
foretel the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans,
for their sins, especially their idolatry. This was at first
represented to him in away proper to make an impression upon him,
that he might have it upon his heart in all his dealings with this
people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p15" shownumber="no">1. He intimates to him that the people were
ripening apace for ruin and that ruin was hastening apace towards
them. God, having answered his objection, that he was <i>a
child,</i> goes on to initiate him in the prophetical learning and
language; and, having promised to enable him to speak intelligibly
to the people, he here teaches him to understand what God says to
him; for prophets must have eyes in their heads as well as tongues,
must be seers as well as speakers. He therefore asks him,
"<i>Jeremiah, what seest thou?</i> Look about thee, and observe
now." And he was soon aware of what was presented to him: "<i>I see
a rod,</i> denoting affliction and chastisement, a correcting rod
hanging over us; and it is a <i>rod of an almond-tree,</i> which is
one of the forwardest trees in the spring, is in the bud and
blossom quickly, when other trees are scarcely broken out;" it
flourishes, says Pliny, in the month of January, and by March has
ripe fruits; hence it is called in the Hebrew, <i>Shakedh,</i> the
<i>hasty tree.</i> Whether this rod that Jeremiah saw had already
budded, as some think, or whether it was stripped and dry, as
others think, and yet Jeremiah knew it to be of an almond-tree, as
Aaron's rod was, is uncertain; but God explained it in the next
words (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.12" parsed="|Jer|1|12|0|0" passage="Jer 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>):
<i>Thou hast well seen.</i> God commended him that he was so
observant, and so quick of apprehension, as to be aware, though it
was the first vision he ever saw, that it was <i>a rod of an
almond-tree,</i> that his mind was so composed as to be able to
distinguish. Prophets have need of good eyes; and those that see
well shall be commended, and not those only that speak well. "Thou
hast seen a <i>hasty tree,</i> which signifies that <i>I will
hasten my word to perform it.</i>" Jeremiah shall prophesy that
which he himself shall live to see accomplished. We have the
explication of this, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.10-Ezek.7.11" parsed="|Ezek|7|10|7|11" passage="Eze 7:10,11">Ezek. vii. 10,
11</scripRef>, "<i>The rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded,
violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness.</i> The measure of
Jerusalem's iniquity fills very fast; and, as if their destruction
slumbered too long, they waken it, they hasten it, and I will
hasten to perform what I have spoken against them."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p16" shownumber="no">2. He intimates to him whence the intended
ruin should arise. Jeremiah is a second time asked: <i>What seest
thou?</i> and he sees <i>a seething-pot</i> upon the fire
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.13" parsed="|Jer|1|13|0|0" passage="Jer 1:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>),
representing Jerusalem and Judah in great commotion, like boiling
water, by reason of the descent which the Chaldean army made upon
them; made <i>like a fiery oven</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.21.9" parsed="|Ps|21|9|0|0" passage="Ps 21:9">Ps. xxi. 9</scripRef>), all in a heat, wasting away as
boiling water does and sensibly evaporating and growing less and
less, ready to boil over, to be thrown out of their own city and
land, as out of the pan into the fire, from bad to worse. Some
think that those scoffers referred to this who said (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.3" parsed="|Ezek|11|3|0|0" passage="Eze 11:3">Ezek. xi. 3</scripRef>), <i>This city is the
cauldron, and we are the flesh.</i> Now the mouth or face of the
furnace or hearth, over which this pot boiled, was <i>towards the
north,</i> for thence the fire and the fuel were to come that must
<i>make the pot boil thus.</i> So the vision is explained
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.14" parsed="|Jer|1|14|0|0" passage="Jer 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>Out of
the north an evil shall break forth,</i> or <i>shall be opened.</i>
It had been long designed by the justice of God, and long deserved
by the sin of the people, and yet hitherto the divine patience had
restrained it, and held it in, as it were; the enemies had intended
it, and God had checked them; but now all restraints shall be taken
off, and the <i>evil shall break forth;</i> the direful scene shall
open, and the enemy shall come in like a flood. It shall be a
universal calamity; it shall come <i>upon all the inhabitants of
the land,</i> from the highest to the lowest, for they have all
corrupted their way. Look for this storm to arise <i>out of the
north, whence fair weather usually comes,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.22" parsed="|Job|37|22|0|0" passage="Job 37:22">Job xxxvii. 22</scripRef>. When there was friendship
between Hezekiah and the king of Babylon they promised themselves
many advantages <i>out of the north;</i> but it proved quite
otherwise: <i>out of the north</i> their trouble arose. Thence
sometimes the fiercest tempests come whence we expected fair
weather. This is further explained <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.15" parsed="|Jer|1|15|0|0" passage="Jer 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>, where we may observe, (1.) The
raising of the army that shall invade Judah and lay it waste: <i>I
will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the
Lord.</i> All the northern crowns shall unite under Nebuchadnezzar,
and join with him in this expedition. They lie dispersed, but God,
who has all men's hearts in his hand, will bring them together;
they lie at a distance from Judah, but God, who directs all men's
steps, will call them, and they shall come, though they be ever so
far off. God's summons shall be obeyed; those whom he calls shall
come. When he has work to do of any kind he will find instruments
to do it, though he send to the utmost parts of the earth for them.
And, that the armies brought into the field may be sufficiently
numerous and strong, he will call not only the <i>kingdoms of the
north, but all the families</i> of those kingdoms, into the
service; not one able-bodied man shall be left behind. (2.) The
advance of this army. The commanders of the troops of the several
nations shall take their post in carrying on the siege of Jerusalem
and the other cities of Judah. They shall set <i>every one his
throne,</i> or seat. When a city is besieged we say, The enemy sits
down before it. They shall encamp some at the <i>entering of the
gates, others against the walls round about,</i> to cut off both
the going out of the mouths and the coming in of the meat, and so
to starve them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p17" shownumber="no">3. He tells him plainly what was the
procuring cause of all these judgments; it was the <i>sin of
Jerusalem</i> and of the <i>cities of Judah</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.16" parsed="|Jer|1|16|0|0" passage="Jer 1:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>I will pass sentence upon
them</i> (so it may be read) or <i>give judgment against them</i>
(this sentence, this judgment) <i>because of all their
wickedness;</i> it is this that plucks up the flood-gates and lets
in this inundation of calamities. They <i>have forsaken God</i> and
revolted from their allegiance to him, and have <i>burnt incense to
other gods,</i> new gods, strange gods, and all false gods,
pretenders, usurpers, the creatures of their own fancy, and <i>they
have worshipped the works of their own hands.</i> Jeremiah was
young, had looked but little abroad into the world, and perhaps did
not know, nor could have believed, what abominable idolatries the
children of his people were guilty of; but God tells him, that he
might know what to level his reproofs against and what to ground
his threatenings upon, and that he might himself be satisfied in
the equity of the sentence which in God's name he was to pass upon
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p18" shownumber="no">II. God excites and encourages Jeremiah to
apply himself with all diligence and seriousness to his business. A
great trust is committed to him. He is sent in God's name as a
herald at arms, to proclaim war against his rebellious subjects;
for God is pleased to give warning of his judgments beforehand,
that sinners may be awakened to meet him by repentance, and so
<i>turn away his wrath,</i> and that, if they do not, they may be
left inexcusable. With this trust Jeremiah has a charge given him
(<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.17" parsed="|Jer|1|17|0|0" passage="Jer 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>Thou,
therefore, gird up thy loins;</i> free thyself from all those
things that would unfit thee for or hinder thee in this service;
buckle to it with readiness and resolution, and be not entangled
with doubts about it." He must be quick: <i>Arise,</i> and lose no
time. He must be busy: <i>Arise, and speak unto them</i> in season,
out of season. He must be bold: <i>Be not dismayed at their
faces,</i> as before, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.8" parsed="|Jer|1|8|0|0" passage="Jer 1:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. In a word, he must be faithful; it is required of
ambassadors that they be so.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p19" shownumber="no">1. In two things he must be faithful:—
(1.) He must speak all that he is charged with: <i>Speak all that I
command thee.</i> He must forget nothing as minute, or foreign, or
not worth mentioning; every word of God is weighty. He must conceal
nothing for fear of offending; he must alter nothing under pretence
of making it more fashionable or more palatable, but, without
addition or diminution, <i>declare the whole counsel of God.</i>
(2.) He must speak to all that he is charged against; he must not
whisper it in a corner to a few particular friends that will take
it well, but he must appear <i>against the kings of Judah,</i> if
they be wicked kings, and bear his testimony against the sins even
<i>of the princes thereof;</i> for the greatest of men are not
exempt from the judgments either of God's hand or of his mouth.
Nay, he must not spare <i>the priests thereof;</i> though he
himself was a priest, and was concerned to maintain the dignity of
his order, yet he must not therefore flatter them in their sins. He
must appear against the <i>people of the land,</i> though they were
his own people, as far as they were against the Lord.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.ii-p20" shownumber="no">2. Two reasons are here given why he should
do thus:—(1.) Because he had reason to fear the wrath of God if
he should be false: "<i>Be not dismayed at their faces,</i> so as
to desert thy office, or shrink from the duty of it, <i>lest I
confound and dismay thee before them,</i> lest I give thee up to
thy faintheartedness." Those that consult their own credit, ease,
and safety, more than their work and duty, are justly left of God
to themselves, and to bring upon themselves the shame of their own
cowardliness. Nay, <i>lest I reckon with thee for thy
faintheartedness, and break thee to pieces;</i> so some read it.
Therefore this prophet says (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.17" parsed="|Jer|17|17|0|0" passage="Jer 17:17"><i>ch.</i> xvii. 17</scripRef>), Lord, <i>be not thou a
terror to me.</i> Note, The fear of God is the best antidote
against the fear of man. Let us always be afraid of offending God,
who after he has killed has power to cast into hell, and then we
shall be in little danger of fearing the faces of men that can but
kill the body, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.4-Luke.12.5" parsed="|Luke|12|4|12|5" passage="Lu 12:4,5">Luke xii. 4,
5</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.4.14" parsed="|Neh|4|14|0|0" passage="Ne 4:14">Neh. iv.
14</scripRef>. It is better to have all the men in the world our
enemies than God our enemy. (2.) Because he had no reason to fear
the wrath of men if he were faithful; for the God whom he served
would protect him, and bear him out, so that they should neither
sink his spirits nor drive him off from his work, should neither
stop his mouth nor take away his life, till he had finished his
testimony, <scripRef id="Jer.ii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.18" parsed="|Jer|1|18|0|0" passage="Jer 1:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>.
This young stripling of a prophet is made by the power of God as an
impregnable city, fortified with iron pillars and surrounded with
walls of brass; he sallies out upon the enemy in reproofs and
threatenings, and <i>keeps them in awe.</i> They set upon him on
every side; the kings and princes batter him with their power, the
priests thunder against him with their church-censures, and <i>the
people of the land</i> shoot their arrows at him, even slanderous
and bitter words; but he shall keep his ground and make his part
good with them; he shall still be a curb upon them (<scripRef id="Jer.ii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.19" parsed="|Jer|1|19|0|0" passage="Jer 1:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>They shall fight
against thee, but they shall not prevail to destroy thee, for I am
with thee to deliver thee</i> out of their hands; nor shall they
prevail to defeat the word that God sends them by Jeremiah, nor to
deliver themselves; it shall take hold of them, for God is against
them to destroy them. Note, Those who are sure that they have God
with them (as he is if they be with him) need not, ought not, to be
afraid, whoever is against them.</p>
</div></div2>