mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Jer.viii" n="viii" next="Jer.ix" prev="Jer.vii" progress="30.29%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Jer.viii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.viii-p1" shownumber="no">The prophet having in God's name reproved the
people for their sins, and given them warning of the judgments of
God that were coming upon them, in this chapter prosecutes the same
intention for their humiliation and awakening. I. He shows them the
invalidity of the plea they so much relied on, that they had the
temple of God among them and constantly attended the service of it,
and endeavours to take them off from their confidence in their
external privileges and performances, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.1-Jer.7.11" parsed="|Jer|7|1|7|11" passage="Jer 7:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. He reminds them of the
desolations of Shiloh, and foretels that such should be the
desolations of Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.12-Jer.7.16" parsed="|Jer|7|12|7|16" passage="Jer 7:12-16">ver.
12-16</scripRef>. III. He represents to the prophet their
abominable idolatries, for which he was thus incensed against them,
<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.17-Jer.7.20" parsed="|Jer|7|17|7|20" passage="Jer 7:17-20">ver. 17-20</scripRef>. IV. He sets
before the people that fundamental maxim of religion that "to obey
is better than sacrifice" (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.15.22" parsed="|1Sam|15|22|0|0" passage="1Sa 15:22">1 Sam. xv.
22</scripRef>), and that God would not accept the sacrifices of
those that obstinately persisted in disobedience, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.21-Jer.7.28" parsed="|Jer|7|21|7|28" passage="Jer 7:21-28">ver. 21-28</scripRef>. V. He threatens to lay
the land utterly waste for their idolatry and impiety, and to
multiply their slain as they had multiplied their sin, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.29-Jer.7.34" parsed="|Jer|7|29|7|34" passage="Jer 7:29-34">ver. 29-34</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.viii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7" parsed="|Jer|7|0|0|0" passage="Jer 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.viii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.1-Jer.7.15" parsed="|Jer|7|1|7|15" passage="Jer 7:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.viii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Jer.viii-p1.10">A Call of Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.viii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.1">Lord</span>, saying,   2 Stand in the gate
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.2">Lord</span>'s house, and proclaim
there this word, and say, Hear the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.3">Lord</span>, all <i>ye of</i> Judah, that enter in at
these gates to worship the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.4">Lord</span>.
  3 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.5">Lord</span> of
hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I
will cause you to dwell in this place.   4 Trust ye not in
lying words, saying, The temple of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.6">Lord</span>, The temple of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.7">Lord</span>, The temple of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.8">Lord</span>, <i>are</i> these.   5 For if ye
throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute
judgment between a man and his neighbour;   6 <i>If</i> ye
oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed
not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to
your hurt:   7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place,
in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.  
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.   9
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
  10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is
called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these
abominations?   11 Is this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen
<i>it,</i> saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.9">Lord</span>.   12
But go ye now unto my place which <i>was</i> in Shiloh, where I set
my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness
of my people Israel.   13 And now, because ye have done all
these works, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p2.10">Lord</span>, and I
spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and
I called you, but ye answered not;   14 Therefore will I do
unto <i>this</i> house, which is called by my name, wherein ye
trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers,
as I have done to Shiloh.   15 And I will cast you out of my
sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, <i>even</i> the whole
seed of Ephraim.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p3" shownumber="no">These verses begin another sermon, which is
continued in this and the two following chapters, much to the same
effect with those before, to reason them to repentance.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The orders given to the prophet to
preach this sermon; for he had not only a general commission, but
particular directions and instructions for every message he
delivered. This was <i>a word</i> that <i>came to him from the
Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.1" parsed="|Jer|7|1|0|0" passage="Jer 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. We
are not told when this sermon was to be preached; but are told, 1.
Where it must be preached—<i>in the gate of the Lord's house,</i>
through which they entered into the outer court, or the <i>court of
the people.</i> It would affront the priests, and expose the
prophet to their rage, to have such a message as this delivered
within their precincts; but the prophet must not fear the face of
man, he cannot be faithful to his God if he do. 2. To whom it must
be preached—to the men of <i>Judah, that enter in at these gates
to worship the Lord;</i> probably it was at one of three feasts,
when all the males from all parts of the country were to appear
before the Lord in the courts of his house, and not to <i>appear
empty:</i> then he had many together to preach to, and that was the
most seasonable time to admonish them not to trust to their
privileges. Note, (1.) Even those that profess religion have need
to be preached to as well as those that are without. (2.) It is
desirable to have opportunity of preaching to many together. Wisdom
chooses to cry <i>in the chief place of concourse,</i> and, as
Jeremiah here, <i>in the opening of the gates,</i> the
temple-gates. (3.) When we are going to worship God we have need to
be admonished to <i>worship him in the spirit,</i> and <i>to have
no confidence in the flesh,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.3" parsed="|Phil|3|3|0|0" passage="Php 3:3">Phil.
iii. 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The contents and scope of the sermon
itself. It is delivered in the name of <i>the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel,</i> who commands the world, but covenants with his
people. As creatures we are bound to regard the <i>Lord of
hosts,</i> as Christians <i>the God of Israel;</i> what he said to
them he says to us, and it is much the same with that which John
Baptist said to those whom he baptized (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.8-Matt.3.9" parsed="|Matt|3|8|3|9" passage="Mt 3:8,9">Matt. iii. 8, 9</scripRef>), <i>Bring forth fruits meet
for repentance; and think not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father.</i> The prophet here tells them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p6" shownumber="no">1. What were the true words of God, which
they might trust to. In short, they might depend upon it that if
they would repent and reform their lives, and return to God in a
way of duty, he would restore and confirm their peace, would
redress their grievances, and return to them in a way of mercy
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.3" parsed="|Jer|7|3|0|0" passage="Jer 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Amend your
ways and your doings.</i> This implies that there had been much
amiss in their ways and doings, many faults and errors. But it is a
great instance of the favour of God to them that he gives them
liberty to amend, shows them where and how they must amend, and
promises to accept them upon their amendment: "<i>I will cause you
to dwell</i> quietly and peaceably <i>in this place,</i> and a stop
shall be put to that which threatens your expulsion." Reformation
is the only way, and a sure way to ruin. He explains himself
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.5-Jer.7.7" parsed="|Jer|7|5|7|7" passage="Jer 7:5-7"><i>v.</i> 5-7</scripRef>), and tells
them particularly,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p7" shownumber="no">(1.) What the amendment was which he
expected from them. They must <i>thoroughly amend;</i> in <i>making
good,</i> they must <i>make good their ways and doings;</i> they
must reform with resolution, and it must be a universal, constant,
preserving reformation—not partial, but entire—not hypocritical,
but sincere—not wavering, but constant. They must make the tree
good, and so make the fruit good, must amend their hearts and
thoughts, and so amend their ways and doings. In particular, [1.]
They must be honest and just in all their dealings. Those that had
power in their hands must <i>thoroughly execute judgment between a
man and his neighbour,</i> without partiality, and according as the
merits of the cause appeared. They must not either in judgment or
in contract <i>oppress the stranger, the fatherless, or the
widow,</i> nor countenance or protect those that did oppress, nor
refuse to do them justice when they sought for it. They must <i>not
shed innocent blood,</i> and with it defile <i>this place</i> and
the land wherein they dwelt. [2.] They must keep closely to the
worship of the true God only: "<i>Neither walk after other
gods;</i> do not hanker after them, nor hearken to those that would
draw you into communion with idolaters; for it is, and will be,
<i>to your own hurt.</i> Be not only so just to your God, but so
wise for yourselves, as not to throw away your adorations upon
those who are not able to help you, and thereby provoke him who is
able to destroy you." Well, this is all that God insists upon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p8" shownumber="no">(2.) He tells them what the establishment
is which, upon this amendment, they may expect from him (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.7" parsed="|Jer|7|7|0|0" passage="Jer 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "Set about such a work
of reformation as this with all speed, go through with it, and
abide by it; <i>and I will cause you to dwell in this place,</i>
this temple; it shall continue your place of resort and refuge, the
place of your comfortable meeting with God and one another; and you
shall dwell <i>in the land that I gave to your fathers for ever and
ever,</i> and it shall never be turned out either from God's house
or from your own." It is promised that they shall still enjoy their
civil and sacred privileges, that they shall have a comfortable
enjoyment of them: <i>I will cause you to dwell here;</i> and those
dwell at ease to whom God gives a settlement. They shall enjoy it
by covenant, by virtue of the grant made of it to their fathers,
not by providence, but by promise. They shall continue in the
enjoyment of it without eviction or molestation; they shall not be
disturbed, much less dispossessed, <i>for ever and ever;</i>
nothing but sin could throw them out. An everlasting inheritance in
the heavenly Canaan is hereby secured to all that live in godliness
and honesty. And the vulgar Latin reads a further privilege here,
<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.3 Bible:Jer.7.7" parsed="|Jer|7|3|0|0;|Jer|7|7|0|0" passage="Jer 7:3,7"><i>v.</i> 3, 7</scripRef>.
<i>Habitabo vobiscum—I will dwell with you in this place;</i> and
we should find Canaan itself but an uncomfortable place to dwell in
if God did not dwell with us there.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p9" shownumber="no">2. What were the lying words of their own
hearts, which they must not trust to. He cautions them against this
self-deceit (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.4" parsed="|Jer|7|4|0|0" passage="Jer 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
"<i>Trust not in lying words.</i> You are told in what way, and upon
what terms, you may be easy safe, and happy; now do not flatter
yourselves with an opinion that you may be so on any other terms,
or in any other way." Yet he charges them with this self-deceit
arising from vanity (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.8" parsed="|Jer|7|8|0|0" passage="Jer 7:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): "<i>Behold,</i> it is plain that <i>you</i> do
<i>trust in lying words,</i> notwithstanding what is said to you;
you trust in <i>words that cannot profit;</i> you rely upon a plea
that will stand you in no stead." Those that slight the words of
truth, which would profit them, take shelter in words of falsehood,
which cannot profit them. Now these lying words were, "<i>The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord
are these.</i> These buildings, the courts, the holy place, and the
holy of holies, are the <i>temple of the Lord,</i> built by his
appointment, to his glory; here he resides, here he is worshipped,
here we meet three times a year to pay our homage to him as our
King in his palace." This they thought was security enough to them
to keep God and his favours from leaving them, God and his
judgments from breaking in upon them. When the prophets told them
how sinful they were, and how miserable they were likely to be,
still they appealed to the temple: "How can we be either so or so,
as long as we have that holy happy place among us?" The prophet
repeats it because they repeated it upon all occasions. It was the
cant of the times; it was in their mouths upon all occasions. If
they heard an awakening sermon, if any startling piece of news was
brought to them, they lulled themselves asleep again with this, "We
cannot but do well, for we have <i>the temple of the Lord among
us.</i>" Note, The privileges of a <i>form of godliness</i> are
often the pride and confidence of those that are strangers and
enemies to the power of it. It is common for those that are
furthest from God to boast themselves most of their being near to
the church. They are <i>haughty because of the holy mountain</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.11" parsed="|Zeph|3|11|0|0" passage="Zep 3:11">Zeph. iii. 11</scripRef>), as if
God's mercy were so tied to them that they might defy his justice.
Now to convince them what a frivolous plea this was, and what
little stead it would stand them in,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p10" shownumber="no">(1.) He shows them the gross absurdity of
it in itself. If they knew any thing either of the <i>temple of the
Lord</i> or of the <i>Lord of the temple,</i> they must think that
to plead that, either in excuse of their sin against God or in
arrest of God's judgment against them, was the most ridiculous
unreasonable thing that could be. [1.] God is a holy God; but this
plea made him the patron of sin, of the worst of sins, which even
the light of nature condemns, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.9-Jer.7.10" parsed="|Jer|7|9|7|10" passage="Jer 7:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. "What," says he, "<i>will
you steal, murder, and commit adultery,</i> be guilty of the vilest
immoralities, and which the common interest, as well as the common
sense, of mankind witness against? <i>Will you swear falsely,</i> a
crime which all nations (who with the belief of a God have had a
veneration for an oath) have always had a horror of? Will <i>you
burn incense to Baal,</i> a dunghill-deity, that sets up as a rival
with the great Jehovah, and, not content with that, <i>will you
walk after other gods</i> too, <i>whom you know not,</i> and by all
these crimes put a daring affront upon God, both as <i>the Lord of
hosts</i> and as the <i>God of Israel?</i> Will you exchange a God
of whose power and goodness you have had such a long experience for
gods of whose ability and willingness to help you you know nothing?
And, when you have thus done the worst you can against God, will
you brazen your faces so far as to come and <i>stand before him in
this house which is called by his name</i> and in which his name is
called upon—stand before him as servants waiting his commands, as
supplicants expecting his favour? Will you act in open rebellion
against him, and yet herd among his subjects, among the best of
them? By this, it should seem, you think that either he does not
discover or does not dislike your wicked practices, to imagine
either of which is to put the highest indignity possible upon him.
It is as if you should say, <i>We are delivered to do all these
abominations.</i>" If they had not the front to say this,
<i>totidem verbis—in so many words,</i> yet their actions spoke it
aloud. They could not but own that God, even their own God, had
many a time delivered them, and been a present help to them, when
otherwise they must have perished. He, in delivering them, designed
to reduce them to himself, and by his goodness to lead them to
repentance; but they resolved to persist in their abominations
notwithstanding. As soon as they were delivered (as of old in the
days of the Judges) they <i>did evil again in the sight of the
Lord,</i> which was in effect to say, in direct contradiction to
the true intent and meaning of the providences which had affected
them, that God had delivered them in order to put them again into a
capacity of rebelling against him, by sacrificing the more
profusely to their idols. Note, Those who continue in sin because
grace has abounded, or that grace may abound, do in effect 

make Christ the minister of
sin. Some take it thus: "You present yourselves before God with
your sacrifices and sin-offerings, and then say, <i>We are
delivered,</i> we are discharged from our guilt, now it shall do us
no hurt; when all this is but to blind the world, and stop the
mouth of conscience, that you may, the more easily to yourselves
and the more plausibly before others, <i>do all these
abominations.</i>" [2.] His temple was a holy place; but this plea
made it a protection to the most unholy persons: "<i>Has this
house, which is called by my name</i> and is a standing sign of
God's kingdom of sin and Satan—<i>has this become a den of robbers
in your eyes?</i> Do you think it was built to be not only a
rendezvous of, but a refuge and shelter to, the vilest of
malefactors?" No; though the horns of the altar were a sanctuary to
him that slew a man unawares, yet they were not so to a wilful
murderer, nor to one that did aught presumptuously, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.21.14 Bible:1Kgs.2.29" parsed="|Exod|21|14|0|0;|1Kgs|2|29|0|0" passage="Ex 21:14,1Ki 2:29">Exod. xxi. 14; 1 Kings ii.
29</scripRef>. Those that think to excuse themselves in unchristian
practices with the Christian name, and sin the more boldly and
securely because there is a sin-offering provided, do, in effect,
make God's house of prayer a den of thieves, as the priests in
Christ's time, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.13" parsed="|Matt|21|13|0|0" passage="Mt 21:13">Matt. xxi.
13</scripRef>. But could they thus impose upon God? No: <i>Behold,
I have seen it, saith the Lord,</i> have seen the real iniquity
through the counterfeit and dissembled piety. Note, Though men may
deceive one another with the appearances of devotion, yet they
cannot deceive God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p11" shownumber="no">(2.) He shows them the insufficiency of
this plea adjudged long since in the case of Shiloh. [1.] It is
certain that Shiloh was ruined, though it had God's sanctuary in
it, when by its wickedness it profaned that sanctuary (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.12" parsed="|Jer|7|12|0|0" passage="Jer 7:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Go you now to my
place which was in Shiloh.</i> It is probable that the ruins of
that once flourishing city were yet remaining; they might, at
least, read the history of it, which ought to affect them as if
they saw the place. There God <i>set his name at the first,</i>
there the tabernacle was set up when Israel first took possession
of Canaan (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:John.18.1" parsed="|John|18|1|0|0" passage="Joh 18:1">John xviii. 1</scripRef>),
and thither the tribes went up; but those that attended the service
of the tabernacle there corrupted both themselves and others, and
from them arose the <i>wickedness of his people Israel;</i> that
fountain was poisoned, and sent forth malignant streams; and what
came of it? No; God <i>forsook</i> it (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.60" parsed="|Ps|78|60|0|0" passage="Ps 78:60">Ps. lxxviii. 60</scripRef>), sent his ark into
captivity, cut off the house of Eli that presided there; and it is
very probable that the city was quite destroyed, for we never read
any more of it but as a monument of divine vengeance upon holy
places when they harbour wicked people. Note, God's judgments upon
others, who have really revolted from God while they have kept up a
profession of nearness to him, should be a warning to us not to
<i>trust in lying words.</i> It is good to consult precedents, and
make use of them. <i>Remember Lot's wife;</i> remember Shiloh and
the seven churches of Asia; and know that the ark and candlestick
are moveable things, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.5 Bible:Matt.21.43" parsed="|Rev|2|5|0|0;|Matt|21|43|0|0" passage="Re 2:5,Mt 21:43">Rev. ii.
5; Matt. xxi. 43</scripRef>. [2.] It is as certain that Shiloh's
fate will be Jerusalem's doom if a speedy and sincere repentance
prevent it not. <i>First,</i> Jerusalem was now as sinful as ever
Shiloh was; that is proved by the unerring testimony of God himself
against them (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.13" parsed="|Jer|7|13|0|0" passage="Jer 7:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): "<i>You have done all these works,</i> you cannot
deny it:" and they continued obstinate in their sin; that is proved
by the testimony of God's return and repent, <i>rising up early and
speaking,</i> as one in care, as one in earnest, as one who would
lose no time in dealing with them, nay, who would take the fittest
opportunity for speaking to them early <i>in the morning,</i> when,
if ever, they were sober, and had their thoughts free and clear;
but it was all in vain. God spoke, but they <i>heard not,</i> they
heeded not, they never minded; he <i>called them,</i> but they
<i>answered not;</i> they would not come at his call. Note, What
God has spoken to us greatly aggravates what we have done against
him. <i>Secondly,</i> Jerusalem shall shortly be as miserable as
ever Shiloh was: <i>Therefore I will do unto this house as I did to
Shiloh,</i> ruin it, and lay it waste, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.14" parsed="|Jer|7|14|0|0" passage="Jer 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Those that tread in the steps
of the wickedness of those that went before them must expect to
fall by the like judgments, for all these things <i>happened to
them for ensamples.</i> The temple at Jerusalem, though ever so
strongly built, if wickedness was found in it, would be as unable
to keep its ground and as easily conquered as even the tabernacle
in Shiloh was, when God's day of vengeance had come. "This house"
(says God) "is <i>called by my name,</i> and therefore you may
think that I should protect it; it is the house <i>in which you
trust,</i> and you think that it will protect you; this land is
<i>the place,</i> this city <i>the place, which I gave to you and
your fathers,</i> and therefore you are secure of the continuance
of it, and think that nothing can turn you out of it; but the men
of Shiloh thus flattered themselves and did but deceive
themselves." He quotes another precedent (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.15" parsed="|Jer|7|15|0|0" passage="Jer 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), the ruin of the kingdom of the
ten tribes, who were the seed of Abraham, and had the covenant of
circumcision, and possessed the land which God gave to them and
their fathers, and yet the idolatries threw them out and extirpated
them: "And can you think but that the same evil courses will be as
fatal to you?" Doubtless they will be so; for God is uniform and of
a piece with himself in his judicial proceedings. It is a rule of
justice, <i>ut parium par sit ratio—that in similar cases the same
judgment should proceed.</i> "You have corrupted <i>yourselves as
your brethren</i> the <i>seed of Ephraim</i> did, and have become
their brethren in iniquity, and therefore I will <i>cast you out of
my sight, as I have cast them.</i>" The interpretation here given
of the judgment makes it a terrible one indeed; the casting of them
out of their land signified God's casting them out of his sight, as
if he would never look upon them, never look after them, more.
Whenever we are cast, it is well enough, if we be kept in the love
of God; but, if we are thrown out of his favour, our case is
miserable though we dwell in our own land. This threatening, that
God would make this house like Shiloh, we shall meet with again,
and find Jeremiah indicted for it, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.26.6" parsed="|Jer|26|6|0|0" passage="Jer 26:6"><i>ch.</i> xxvi. 6</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.viii-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.16-Jer.7.20" parsed="|Jer|7|16|7|20" passage="Jer 7:16-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.viii-p11.10">
<h4 id="Jer.viii-p11.11">Punishment Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p11.12">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.viii-p12" shownumber="no">16 Therefore pray not thou for this people,
neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession
to me: for I will not hear thee.   17 Seest thou not what they
do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?  
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and
the women knead <i>their</i> dough, to make cakes to the queen of
heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they
may provoke me to anger.   19 Do they provoke me to anger?
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p12.1">Lord</span>: <i>do they</i> not
<i>provoke</i> themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
  20 Therefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p12.2">God</span>; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be
poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the
trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall
burn, and shall not be quenched.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p13" shownumber="no">God had shown them, in the foregoing
verses, that the temple and the service of it, of which they
boasted and in which they trusted, should not avail to prevent the
judgment threatened. But there was another thing which might stand
them in some stead, and which yet they had no value for, and that
was the prophet's intercession for them; his prayers would do them
more good than their own pleas: now here that support is taken from
them; and their case is said indeed who have lost their interest in
the prayers of God's ministers and people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p14" shownumber="no">I. God here forbids the prophet to pray for
them (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.16" parsed="|Jer|7|16|0|0" passage="Jer 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): "The
decree has gone forth, their ruin is resolved on, therefore <i>pray
not thou for this people,</i> that is, pray not for the preventing
of this judgment threatened; they have <i>sinned unto death,</i>
and therefore pray not for their life, but for the life of their
souls," <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.16" parsed="|1John|5|16|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:16">1 John v. 16</scripRef>. See
here, 1. That God's prophets are praying men; Jeremiah foretold the
destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, and yet prayed for their
preservation, not knowing that the decree was absolute; and it is
the will of God that we <i>pray for the peace of Jerusalem.</i>
Even when we threaten sinners with damnation we must pray for their
salvation, that they may <i>turn and live.</i> Jeremiah was hated,
and persecuted, and reproached, by the children of his people, and
yet he prayed for them; for it becomes us to render good for evil.
2. That God's praying prophets have a great interest in heaven, how
little soever they have on earth. When God has determined to
destroy this people, he bespeaks the prophet not to pray for them,
because he would not have his prayers to lie (as prophets' prayers
seldom did) unanswered. God said to Moses, <i>Let me alone,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.10" parsed="|Exod|22|10|0|0" passage="Ex 22:10">Exod. xxii. 10</scripRef>. 3. It is an
ill omen to a people when God restrains the spirits of his
ministers and people from praying for them, and gives them to see
their case so desperate that they have no heart to speak a good
word for them. 4. Those that will not regard good ministers'
preaching cannot expect any benefit by their praying. If you will
not hear us when we speak from God to you, God will not hear us
when we speak to him for you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p15" shownumber="no">II. He gives him a reason for this
prohibition. Praying breath is too precious a thing to be lost and
thrown away upon a people hardened in sin and marked for ruin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p16" shownumber="no">1. They are resolved to persist in their
rebellion against God, and will not be turned back by the prophet's
preaching. For this he appeals to the prophet himself, and his own
inspection and observation (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.17" parsed="|Jer|7|17|0|0" passage="Jer 7:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>Seest thou not what they do</i> openly and
publicly, without either shame or fear, <i>in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem?</i> This intimates both that the
sin was evident and could not be denied and that the sinners were
impudent and would not be reclaimed; they committed their
wickedness even in the prophet's presence and under his eye; he saw
what they did, and yet they did it, which was an affront to his
office, and to him whose officer he was, and bade defiance to both.
Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p17" shownumber="no">(1.) What the sin is with which they are
here charged—it is idolatry, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.18" parsed="|Jer|7|18|0|0" passage="Jer 7:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Their idolatrous respects are
paid to the <i>queen of heaven,</i> the moon, either in an image or
in the original, or both. They worshipped it probably under the
name of <i>Ashtaroth,</i> or some other of their goddesses, being
in love with the brightness in which they saw the moon walk, and
thinking themselves indebted to her for her benign influences or
fearing her malignant ones, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.26" parsed="|Job|31|26|0|0" passage="Job 31:26">Job xxxi.
26</scripRef>. The worshipping of the moon was much in use among
the heathen nations, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.44.17 Bible:Jer.44.19" parsed="|Jer|44|17|0|0;|Jer|44|19|0|0" passage="Jer 44:17,19"><i>ch.</i>
xliv. 17, 19</scripRef>. Some read it the <i>frame</i> or
<i>workmanship of heaven.</i> The whole celestial globe with all
its ornaments and powers was the object of their adoration. They
<i>worshipped the host of heaven,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.42" parsed="|Acts|7|42|0|0" passage="Ac 7:42">Acts vii. 42</scripRef>. The homage they should have paid
to their Prince they paid to the statues that beautified the
frontispiece of his palace; they worshipped the creatures instead
of him that made them, the servants instead of him that commands
them, and the gifts instead of him that gave them. <i>With the
queen of heaven</i> they worshipped <i>other gods,</i> images of
things not only in <i>heaven above, but in earth beneath, and in
the waters under the earth;</i> for those that forsake the true God
wander endlessly after false ones. To these deities of their own
making they offer <i>cakes</i> for meat-offerings, and <i>pour out
drink-offerings,</i> as if they had their meat and drink from them
and were obliged to make to them their acknowledgments: and see how
busy they are, and how every hand is employed in the service of
these idols, according as they used to be employed in their
domestic services. <i>The children</i> were sent to <i>gather wood;
the fathers kindled the fire</i> to heat the oven, being of the
poorer sort that could not afford to keep servants to do it, yet
they would rather do it themselves than it should be undone; <i>the
women kneaded the dough</i> with their own hands, for perhaps,
though they had servants to do it, they took a pride in showing
their zeal for their idols by doing it themselves. Let us be
instructed, even by this bad example, in the service of our God.
[1.] Let us <i>honour him with our substance,</i> as those that
have our subsistence from him, and eat and drink to the glory of
him from whom we have our meat and drink. [2.] Let us not decline
the hardest services, nor disdain to stoop to the meanest, by which
God may be honoured; for none shall <i>kindle a fire on God's altar
for nought.</i> Let us think it an honour to be employed in any
work for God. [3.] Let us bring up our children in the acts of
devotion; let them, as they are capable, be employed in doing
something towards the keeping up of religious exercises.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p18" shownumber="no">(2.) What is the direct tendency of this
sin: "It is <i>that they may provoke me to anger;</i> they cannot
design any thing else in it. But (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.19" parsed="|Jer|7|19|0|0" passage="Jer 7:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>) <i>do they provoke me to
anger?</i> Is it because I am hard to be pleased, or easily
provoked? Or am I to bear the blame of the resentment? No; it is
their own doing; they may thank themselves, and they alone shall
bear it." <i>Is it against God that they provoke him to wrath?</i>
Is he the worse for it? Does it do him any real damage? No; is
<i>it not against themselves,</i> to the <i>confusion of their own
faces?</i> It is malice against God, but it is impotent malice; it
cannot hurt him: nay, it is foolish malice; it will hurt
themselves. They show their spite against God, but they do the
spite to themselves. Canst thou think any other than that a people,
thus desperately set upon their own ruin, should be abandoned?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p19" shownumber="no">2. God is resolved to proceed in his
judgments against them, and will not be turned back by the
prophet's prayers (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.20" parsed="|Jer|7|20|0|0" passage="Jer 7:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>): <i>Thus saith the Lord God,</i> and what he saith
he will not unsay, nor can all the world gainsay it; hear it
therefore, and tremble. "<i>Behold, my anger and my fury shall be
poured out upon this place,</i> as the flood of waters was upon the
old world or the shower of fire and brimstone upon Sodom; since
they will anger me, let them see what will come of it." They shall
soon find, (1.) That there is no escaping this deluge of fire,
either by flying from it or fencing against it; it shall be poured
out on <i>this place,</i> though it be a holy place, the Lord's
house. It shall reach both <i>man and beast,</i> like the plagues
of Egypt, and, like some of them, shall destroy the <i>trees of the
field and the fruit of the ground,</i> which they had designed and
<i>prepared for Baal,</i> and of which they had made <i>cakes to
the queen of heaven.</i> (2.) There is no extinguishing it: <i>It
shall burn and shall not be quenched;</i> prayers and tears shall
then avail nothing. When <i>his wrath is kindled but a little,</i>
much more when it is kindled to such a degree, there shall be no
quenching it. God's wrath is that fire unquenchable which eternity
itself will not see the period of. <i>Depart, you cursed, into
everlasting fire.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.viii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.21-Jer.7.28" parsed="|Jer|7|21|7|28" passage="Jer 7:21-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.viii-p19.3">
<h4 id="Jer.viii-p19.4">Obedience Better than
Sacrifice. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p19.5">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.viii-p20" shownumber="no">21 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p20.1">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt
offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.   22 For I
spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I
brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings
or sacrifices:   23 But this thing commanded I them, saying,
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people:
and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may
be well unto you.   24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined
their ear, but walked in the counsels <i>and</i> in the imagination
of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.   25
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the
prophets, daily rising up early and sending <i>them:</i>   26
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but
hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.   27
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will
not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will
not answer thee.   28 But thou shalt say unto them, This
<i>is</i> a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p20.2">Lord</span> their God, nor receiveth correction: truth
is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p21" shownumber="no">God, having shown the people that the
temple would not protect them while they polluted it with their
wickedness, here shows them that their sacrifices would not atone
for them, nor be accepted, while they went on in disobedience. See
with what contempt he here speaks of their ceremonial service
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.21" parsed="|Jer|7|21|0|0" passage="Jer 7:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>). "<i>Put
your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices;</i> go on in them as long
as you please; add one sort of sacrifice to another; turn your
<i>burnt-offerings</i> (which were to be wholly burnt to the honour
of God) into <i>peace-offerings</i>" (which the offerer himself had
a considerable share of), "that you may <i>eat flesh,</i> for that
is all the good you are likely to have from your sacrifices, a good
meal's meat or two; but expect not any other benefit by them while
you live at this loose rate. <i>Keep your sacrifices to
yourselves</i>" (so some understand it); "let them be served up at
your own table, for they are no way acceptable at God's altars."
For the opening of this,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p22" shownumber="no">I. He shows them that obedience was the
only thing he required of them, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.22-Jer.7.23" parsed="|Jer|7|22|7|23" passage="Jer 7:22,23"><i>v.</i> 22, 23</scripRef>. He appeals to the
original contract, by which they were first formed into a people,
when they were brought out of Egypt. God made them a <i>kingdom of
priests</i> to himself, not that he might be regaled with their
sacrifices, as the devils, whom the heathen worshipped, which are
represented as eating with pleasure the fat of their sacrifices and
drinking the wine of their drink-offerings, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.38" parsed="|Deut|32|38|0|0" passage="De 32:38">Deut. xxxii. 38</scripRef>. No: <i>Will God eat the
flesh of bulls?</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.13" parsed="|Ps|50|13|0|0" passage="Ps 50:13">Ps. l.
13</scripRef>. <i>I spoke not to your fathers concerning
burnt-offerings or sacrifices,</i> not of them <i>at first.</i> The
precepts of the moral law were given before the ceremonial
institutions; and those came afterwards, as trials of their
obedience and assistances to their repentance and faith. The
Levitical law begins thus: <i>If any man of you will bring an
offering,</i> he must do so and so (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.1.2 Bible:Lev.2.1" parsed="|Lev|1|2|0|0;|Lev|2|1|0|0" passage="Le 1:2,2:1">Lev. i. 2, ii. 1</scripRef>), as if it were intended
rather to regulate sacrifice than to require it. But that which God
commanded, which he bound them to by his supreme authority and
which he insisted upon as the condition of the covenant, was,
<i>Obey my voice;</i> see <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.26" parsed="|Exod|15|26|0|0" passage="Ex 15:26">Exod. xv.
26</scripRef>, where this was the statute and the ordinance by
which God proved them: <i>Hearken diligently to the voice of the
Lord thy God.</i> The condition of their being God's peculiar
people was this (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.5" parsed="|Exod|19|5|0|0" passage="Ex 19:5">Exod. xix.
5</scripRef>), <i>If you will obey my voice indeed.</i> "Make
conscience of the duties of natural religion, observe positive
institutions from a principle of obedience, and then <i>I will be
your God and you shall be my people,</i>" which is the greatest
honour, happiness, and satisfaction, that any of the children of
men are capable of. "Let your conversation be regular, and in every
thing study to comply with the will and word of God; <i>walk</i>
within the bounds that I have set you, and <i>in all the ways that
I have commanded you,</i> and then you may assure yourselves that
<i>it shall be well with you.</i>" The demand here is very
reasonable, that we should be directed by Infinite Wisdom to that
which is fit, that he that made us should command us, and that he
should give us law who gives us our being and all the supports of
it; and the promise is very encouraging: Let God's will be your
rule and his favour shall be your felicity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p23" shownumber="no">II. He shows them that disobedience was the
only thing for which he had a quarrel with them. <i>He would not
reprove them for their sacrifices,</i> for the omission of them;
they had been <i>continually before him</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.8" parsed="|Ps|50|8|0|0" passage="Ps 50:8">Ps. l. 8</scripRef>); with them they hoped to bribe God,
and purchase a license to go on in sin. That therefore which God
had all along laid to their charge was breaking his commandments in
the course of their conversation, while they observed them, in some
instances, in the course of their devotion, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.24-Jer.7.25" parsed="|Jer|7|24|7|25" passage="Jer 7:24,25"><i>v.</i> 24, 25</scripRef>, &amp;c. 1. They set up
their own will in competition with the will of God: <i>They
hearkened not</i> to God and to his law; they never heeded that; it
was to them as if it had never been given or were of no force; they
<i>inclined not their ear</i> to attend to it, much less their
hearts to comply with it. But they would have their own way, would
do as they chose, and not as they were bidden. <i>Their own
counsels</i> were their guide, and not the dictates of divine
wisdom; that shall be lawful and good with them which they think
so, though the word of God says quite contrary. <i>The imagination
of their evil heart,</i> the appetites and passions of it, shall be
a law to them, and they will walk in the way of it, and in the
sight of their eyes. 2. If they began well, yet they did not
proceed, but soon flew off. They <i>went backward,</i> when they
talked of making a captain, and returning to Egypt again, and would
not go forward under God's conduct. They promised fair: <i>All that
the Lord shall say unto us we will do;</i> and, if they would but
have kept in that good mind, all would have been well; but, instead
of going on in the way of duty, they drew back into the way of sin,
and were worse than ever. 3. When God sent to them by word of mouth
to put them in mind of the written word, which was the business of
the prophets, it was all one; still they were disobedient. God had
servants of his among them in every age, <i>since they came out of
Egypt unto this day,</i> some or other to tell them of their faults
and put them in mind of their duty, whom he <i>rose up early to
send</i> (as before, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.13" parsed="|Jer|7|13|0|0" passage="Jer 7:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), as men rise up early to call servants to their
work; but they were as deaf to the prophets as they were to the law
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.26" parsed="|Jer|7|26|0|0" passage="Jer 7:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>): <i>Yet they
hearkened not, nor inclined their ear.</i> This had been their way
and manner all along; they were of the same stubborn refractory
disposition with those that went before them; it had all along been
the genius of the nation, and an evil genius it was, that
continually haunted them till it ruined them at last. 4. Their
practice and character were still the same. They are worse, and not
better, <i>than their fathers.</i> (1.) Jeremiah can himself
witness against them that they were disobedient, or he shall soon
find it so (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.27" parsed="|Jer|7|27|0|0" passage="Jer 7:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>):
"<i>Thou shalt speak all these words to them,</i> shalt
particularly charge them with disobedience and obstinacy. But even
that will not work upon them: <i>They will not hearken to thee,</i>
nor heed thee. Thou shalt go, and <i>call to them</i> with all the
plainness and earnestness imaginable, but <i>they will not answer
thee;</i> they will either give thee no answer at all or not an
obedient answer; they will not come at thy call." (2.) He must
therefore own that they deserved the character of a disobedient
people, that were ripe for destruction, and must go to them and
tell them so to their faces (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.28" parsed="|Jer|7|28|0|0" passage="Jer 7:28"><i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>): "<i>Say unto them, This is a nation that obeys not
the voice of the Lord their God.</i> They are notorious for their
obstinacy; they sacrifice to the Lord as their God, but they will
not be ruled by him as their God; they will not receive either the
instruction of his word or the correction of his rod; they will not
be reclaimed or reformed by either. <i>Truth has perished</i> among
them; they cannot receive it; they will not submit to it nor be
governed by it. They will not speak truth; there is no believing a
word they say, for it is <i>cut off from their mouth,</i> and lying
comes in the room of it. They are false both to God and man."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.viii-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.29-Jer.7.34" parsed="|Jer|7|29|7|34" passage="Jer 7:29-34" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.viii-p23.8">
<h4 id="Jer.viii-p23.9">The Desolation of Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p23.10">b. c.</span> 606.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.viii-p24" shownumber="no">29 Cut off thine hair, <i>O Jerusalem,</i> and
cast <i>it</i> away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p24.1">Lord</span> hath rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.   30 For the children of Judah
have done evil in my sight, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p24.2">Lord</span>: they have set their abominations in the
house which is called by my name, to pollute it.   31 And they
have built the high places of Tophet, which <i>is</i> in the valley
of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the
fire; which I commanded <i>them</i> not, neither came it into my
heart.   32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.viii-p24.3">Lord</span>, that it shall no more be called
Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of
slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
  33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the
fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none
shall fray <i>them</i> away.   34 Then will I cause to cease
from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the
voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be
desolate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p25" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A loud call to weeping and
mourning. Jerusalem, that had been a joyous city, the joy of the
whole earth, must now <i>take up a lamentation on high places</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.29" parsed="|Jer|7|29|0|0" passage="Jer 7:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), the high
places where they had served their idols; there must they now
bemoan their misery. In token both of sorrow and slavery, Jerusalem
must now <i>cut off her hair and cast it away;</i> the word is
peculiar to the hair of the Nazarites, which was the badge and
token of their dedication to God, and it is called <i>their
crown.</i> Jerusalem had been a city which was a Nazarite to God,
but now must <i>cut off her hair,</i> must be profaned, degraded,
and separated from God, as she had been separated to him. It is
time for those that have lost their holiness to lay aside their
joy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p26" shownumber="no">II. Just cause given for this great
lamentation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p27" shownumber="no">1. The sin of Jerusalem appears here very
heinous, nowhere worse, or more exceedingly sinful (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.30" parsed="|Jer|7|30|0|0" passage="Jer 7:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>): "<i>The children of
Judah</i>" (God's profession people, that <i>came forth out of the
waters of Judah,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.1" parsed="|Isa|48|1|0|0" passage="Isa 48:1">Isa. xlviii.
1</scripRef>) "<i>have done evil in my sight,</i> under my eye, in
my presence; they have affronted me to my face, which very much
aggravates the affront:" or, "They have done that which they know
to be <i>evil in my sight,</i> and in the highest degree offensive
to me." Idolatry was the sin which was above all other sins evil in
God's sight. Now here are two things charged upon them in their
idolatry, which were very provoking: (1.) That they were very
impudent in it towards God and set him at defiance: <i>They have
set their abominations</i> (their abominable idols and the altars
erected to them) <i>in the house that is called by my name,</i> in
the very courts of the temple, <i>to pollute it</i> (Manasseh did
so, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.7 Bible:2Kgs.23.12" parsed="|2Kgs|21|7|0|0;|2Kgs|23|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:7,23:12">2 Kings xxi. 7, xxiii.
12</scripRef>), as if they thought God would connive at it, or
cared not though he was ever so much displeased with it, or as if
they would reconcile heaven and hell, God and Baal. The heart is
the place which God has chosen to <i>put his name there;</i> if sin
have the innermost and uppermost place there, we pollute the temple
of the Lord, and therefore he resents nothing more than <i>setting
up idols in the heart,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.4" parsed="|Ezek|14|4|0|0" passage="Eze 14:4">Ezek. xiv.
4</scripRef>. (2.) That they were very barbarous in it towards
their own children, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.31" parsed="|Jer|7|31|0|0" passage="Jer 7:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. They have particularly <i>built the high places of
Tophet,</i> where the image of Moloch was set up, <i>in the valley
of the son of Hinnom,</i> adjoining to Jerusalem; and there <i>they
burnt their sons and their daughters in the fire,</i> burnt them
alive, killed them, and killed them in the most cruel manner
imaginable, to honour or appease those idols that were devils and
not gods. This was surely the greatest instance that ever was of
the power of Satan in the children of disobedience, and of the
degeneracy and corruption of the human nature. One would willingly
hope that there were not many instances of such a barbarous
idolatry; but it is amazing that there should be any, that men
could be so perfectly void of natural affection as to do a thing so
inhuman as to burn little innocent children, and their own too,
that they should be so perfectly void of natural religion as to
think it lawful to do this, nay, to think it acceptable. Surely it
was in a way of righteous judgment, because they had changed the
glory of God into the similitude of a beast, that God gave them up
to such vile affections that changed them into worse than beasts.
God says of this that it was <i>what he commanded them not, neither
came it into his heart,</i> which is not meant of his not commanding
them thus to worship Moloch (this he had expressly <i>forbidden</i>
them), but he had never commanded that his worshippers should be at
such an expense, nor put such a force upon their natural affection,
in honouring him; it never came into his heart to have children
offered to him, yet they had forsaken his service for the service
of such gods as, by commanding this, showed themselves to be indeed
enemies to mankind.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.viii-p28" shownumber="no">2. The destruction of Jerusalem appears
here very terrible. That speaks misery enough in general (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.29" parsed="|Jer|7|29|0|0" passage="Jer 7:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), <i>The Lord hath
rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.</i> Sin makes
those the generation of God's wrath that had been the generation of
his love. And God will reject and quite forsake those who have thus
made themselves <i>vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.</i> He
will disown them for his. "Verily, I say unto you, I know you not."
And he will give them up to the terrors of their own guilt, and
leave them in those hands. (1.) Death shall triumph over them,
<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.32-Jer.7.33" parsed="|Jer|7|32|7|33" passage="Jer 7:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>. Sin
reigns unto death; for that is the wages of it, the end of those
things. <i>Tophet,</i> the valley adjoining to Jerusalem, <i>shall
be called the valley of slaughter,</i> for there multitudes shall
be slain, when, in their sallies out of the city and their attempts
to escape, they fall into the hands of the besiegers. Or it shall
be called <i>the valley of slaughtered ones,</i> because thither
the corpses of those that are slain shall be brought to be buried,
all other burying places being full; and there they shall bury
<i>until there be no more place</i> to make a grave. This intimates
the multitude of those that shall die by the sword, pestilence, and
famine. Death shall ride on prosperously, with dreadful pomp and
power, <i>conquering and to conquer. The slain of the Lord shall be
many.</i> This valley of Tophet was a place where the citizens of
Jerusalem walked to take the air; but it shall now be spoiled for
that use, for it shall be so full of graves that there shall be no
walking there, because of the danger of contracting a ceremonial
pollution by the touch of a grave. There it was that they
sacrificed some of their children, and dedicated others to Moloch,
and there they should fall as victims to divine justice. Tophet had
formerly been the burying place, or burning place, of the dead
bodies of the besiegers, when the Assyrian army was routed by an
angel; and for this it was <i>ordained of old,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|33|0|0" passage="Isa 30:33">Isa. xxx. 33</scripRef>. But they having
forgotten this mercy, and made it the place of their sin, God will
now turn it into a burying place for the besieged. In allusion to
this valley, hell is in the New Testament called <i>Gehenna—the
valley of Hinnom,</i> for there were buried both the invading
Assyrians and the revolting Jews; so hell is a receptacle after
death both for infidels and hypocrites, the open enemies of God's
church and its treacherous friends; it is <i>the congregation of
the dead;</i> it is prepared for the <i>generation of God's
wrath.</i> But so great shall that slaughter be that even the
spacious valley of Tophet shall not be able to contain the slain;
and at length there shall not be enough left alive to bury the
dead, so that <i>the carcases of the people shall be meat</i> for
the birds and beasts of prey, that shall feed upon them like
carrion, and none shall have the concern or courage to frighten
them away, as Rizpah did from the dead bodies of Saul's sons,
<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.28.26" parsed="|2Sam|28|26|0|0" passage="2Sa 28:26">2 Sam. xxviii. 26</scripRef>, <i>Thy
carcase shall be meat to the fowls and beasts, and no man shall
drive them away.</i> Thus do the law and the prophets agree, and
the execution with both. The decent burying of the dead is a piece
of humanity, in remembrance of what the dead body has been—the
tabernacle of a reasonable soul. Nay, it is a piece of divinity, in
expectation of what the dead body shall be at the resurrection. The
want of it has sometimes been an instance of the rage of men
against God's witnesses, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.9" parsed="|Rev|11|9|0|0" passage="Re 11:9">Rev. xi.
9</scripRef>. Here it is threatened as an instance of the wrath of
God against his enemies, and is an intimation that <i>evil pursues
sinners</i> even after death. (2.) Joy shall depart from them
(<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.34" parsed="|Jer|7|34|0|0" passage="Jer 7:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>): <i>Then
will I cause to cease the voice of mirth.</i> God had <i>called</i>
by his prophets, and by less judgments, <i>to weeping and
mourning;</i> but they walked contrary to him, and would hear of
nothing but joy and gladness, <scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.12-Isa.22.13" parsed="|Isa|22|12|22|13" passage="Isa 22:12,13">Isa.
xxii. 12, 13</scripRef>. And what came of it? Now God <i>called to
lamentation</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.viii-p28.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.29" parsed="|Jer|7|29|0|0" passage="Jer 7:29"><i>v.</i>
29</scripRef>), and he made his call effectual, leaving them
neither cause nor heart for joy and gladness. Those that will not
weep shall weep; those that will not by the grace of God be cured
of their vain mirth shall by the justice of God be deprived of all
mirth; for <i>when God judges he will overcome.</i> It is
threatened here that there shall be nothing to rejoice in. There
shall be none of the joy of weddings; no mirth, for there shall be
no marriages. The comforts of life shall be abandoned, and all care
to keep up mankind upon earth cast off; there shall be none of
<i>the voice of the bridegroom and</i> the <i>bride,</i> no music,
no nuptial songs. Nor shall there be any more of the joy of the
harvest, <i>for the land shall be desolate,</i> uncultivated and
unimproved. Both <i>the cities of Judah and the streets of
Jerusalem</i> shall look thus melancholy; and when they thus look
about them, and see no cause to rejoice, no marvel if they retire
into themselves and find no heart to rejoice. Note, God can soon
mar the mirth of the most jovial, and make it to cease, which is a
reason why we should always rejoice with trembling, be merry and
wise.</p>
</div></div2>