mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 34.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xxxv" n="xxxv" next="Jer.xxxvi" prev="Jer.xxxiv" progress="41.75%" title="Chapter XXXIV">
<h2 id="Jer.xxxv-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xxxv-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xxxv-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have two messages which God
sent by Jeremiah. I. One to foretel the fate of Zedekiah king of
Judah, that he should fall into the hands of the king of Babylon,
that he should live a captive, but should at last die in peace in
his captivity, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.1-Jer.34.7" parsed="|Jer|34|1|34|7" passage="Jer 34:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>.
II. Another to read the doom both of prince and people for their
treacherous dealings with God, in bringing back into bondage their
servants whom they had released according to the law, and so
playing fast and loose with God. They had walked at all adventures
with God (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.8-Jer.34.11" parsed="|Jer|34|8|34|11" passage="Jer 34:8-11">ver. 8-11</scripRef>),
and therefore God would walk at all adventures with them, in
bringing the Chaldean army upon them again when they began to hope
that they had got clear of them, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.12-Jer.34.22" parsed="|Jer|34|12|34|22" passage="Jer 34:12-22">ver. 12-22</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34" parsed="|Jer|34|0|0|0" passage="Jer 34" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.1-Jer.34.7" parsed="|Jer|34|1|34|7" passage="Jer 34:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxv-p1.6">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxv-p1.7">Captivity of Zedekiah Foretold; The
Babylonish Captivity Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p1.8">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxv-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.1">Lord</span>, when Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his
dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against
all the cities thereof, saying,   2 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.2">Lord</span>, the God of Israel; Go and speak to
Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.3">Lord</span>; Behold, I will give this city into the
hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:  
3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be
taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the
eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to
mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.   4 Yet hear the word of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.4">Lord</span>, O Zedekiah king of Judah;
Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.5">Lord</span> of thee, Thou
shalt not die by the sword:   5 <i>But</i> thou shalt die in
peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which
were before thee, so shall they burn <i>odours</i> for thee; and
they will lament thee, <i>saying,</i> Ah lord! for I have
pronounced the word, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p2.6">Lord</span>.
  6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto
Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,   7 When the king of
Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities
of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for
these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p3" shownumber="no">This prophecy concerning Zedekiah was
delivered to Jeremiah, and by him to the parties concerned, before
he was shut up in the prison, for we find this prediction here made
the ground of his commitment, as appears by the recital of some
passages out of it, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.4" parsed="|Jer|32|4|0|0" passage="Jer 32:4"><i>ch.</i> xxxii.
4</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p4" shownumber="no">I. The time when this message was sent to
Zedekiah; it was <i>when the king of Babylon,</i> with all his
forces, some out of <i>all the kingdoms of the earth</i> that were
within his jurisdiction, <i>fought against Jerusalem and the cities
thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.1" parsed="|Jer|34|1|0|0" passage="Jer 34:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>),
designing to destroy them, having often plundered them. The cities
that now remained, and yet held out, are named (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.7" parsed="|Jer|34|7|0|0" passage="Jer 34:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), <i>Lachish and Azekah.</i> This
intimates that things were now brought to the last extremity, and
yet Zedekiah obstinately stood it out, his heart being hardened to
his destruction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p5" shownumber="no">II. The message itself that was sent to
him. 1. Here is a threatening of wrath. He is told that again which
he had been often told before, that the city shall be taken by the
Chaldeans <i>and burnt with fire</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.2" parsed="|Jer|34|2|0|0" passage="Jer 34:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), that he shall himself fall into
the enemy's hands, shall be made a prisoner, shall be brought
before that furious prince Nebuchadnezzar, and be carried away
captive into Babylon (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.3" parsed="|Jer|34|3|0|0" passage="Jer 34:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>); yet Ezekiel prophesied that he <i>should not see
Babylon;</i> nor did he, for his eyes were put out, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.12.13" parsed="|Ezek|12|13|0|0" passage="Eze 12:13">Ezek. xii. 13</scripRef>. This Zedekiah brought
upon himself from God by his other sins and from Nebuchadnezzar by
breaking his faith with him. 2. Here is a mixture of mercy. He
shall die a captive, but he <i>shall not die by the sword</i> he
shall die a natural death (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.4" parsed="|Jer|34|4|0|0" passage="Jer 34:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>); he shall end his days with some comfort, <i>shall
die in peace,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.5" parsed="|Jer|34|5|0|0" passage="Jer 34:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. He never had been one of the worst of the kings, but
we are willing to hope that what evil he had <i>done in the sight
of the Lord</i> he repented of in his captivity, as Manasseh had
done, and it was forgiven to him; and, God being reconciled to him,
he might truly be said to <i>die in peace,</i> Note, A man may die
in a prison and yet <i>die in peace.</i> Nay, he shall end his days
with some reputation, more than one would expect, all things
considered. He shall be buried <i>with the burnings of his
fathers,</i> that is, with the respect usually shown to their
kings, especially those that had done good in Israel. It seems, in
his captivity he had conducted himself so well towards his own
people that they were willing to do him this honour, and towards
Nebuchadnezzar that he suffered it to be done. If Zedekiah had
continued in his prosperity, perhaps he would have grown worse and
would have <i>departed</i> at last <i>without being desired;</i>
but his afflictions wrought such a change in him that his death was
looked upon as a great loss. It is better to live and die penitent
in a prison than to live and die impenitent in a palace. <i>They
will lament thee, saying, Ah lord!</i> an honour which his brother
Jehoiakim had not, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.22.18" parsed="|Jer|22|18|0|0" passage="Jer 22:18"><i>ch.</i> xxii.
18</scripRef>. The Jews say that they lamented thus over him,
<i>Alas! Zedekiah is dead, who drank the dregs of all the ages that
went before him,</i> that is, who suffered for the sins of his
ancestors, the measure of iniquity being filled up in his days.
They shall thus lament him, <i>saith the Lord, for I have
pronounced the word;</i> and what God hath spoken shall without
fail be made good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p6" shownumber="no">III. Jeremiah's faithfulness in delivering
this message. Though he knew it would be ungrateful to the king,
and might prove, as indeed it did, dangerous to himself (for he was
imprisoned for it), yet he <i>spoke all these words to
Zedekiah,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.6" parsed="|Jer|34|6|0|0" passage="Jer 34:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
It is a mercy to great men to have those about them that will deal
faithfully with them, and tell them the evil consequences of their
evil courses, that they may reform and live.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xxxv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.8-Jer.34.22" parsed="|Jer|34|8|34|22" passage="Jer 34:8-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxv-p6.3">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxv-p6.4">Transient Reformation; The Servants
Re-enslaved. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p6.5">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxv-p7" shownumber="no">8 <i>This is</i> the word that came unto
Jeremiah from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.1">Lord</span>, after that
the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which
<i>were</i> at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;   9
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his
maidservant, <i>being</i> a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that
none should serve himself of them, <i>to wit,</i> of a Jew his
brother.   10 Now when all the princes, and all the people,
which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should
let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that
none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed,
and let <i>them</i> go.   11 But afterward they turned, and
caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free,
to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for
handmaids.   12 Therefore the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.2">Lord</span> came to Jeremiah from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.3">Lord</span>, saying,   13 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.4">Lord</span>, the God of Israel; I made a covenant
with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,   14 At
the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew,
which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six
years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers
hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.   15 And ye
were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming
liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant
before me in the house which is called by my name:   16 But ye
turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and
every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their
pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto
you for servants and for handmaids.   17 Therefore thus saith
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.5">Lord</span>; Ye have not hearkened unto
me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man
to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.6">Lord</span>, to the sword, to the
pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed
into all the kingdoms of the earth.   18 And I will give the
men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed
the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they
cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,  
19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs,
and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed
between the parts of the calf;   20 I will even give them into
the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek
their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls
of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.   21 And
Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of
their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and
into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from
you.   22 Behold, I will command, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxv-p7.7">Lord</span>, and cause them to return to this city; and
they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire:
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an
inhabitant.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p8" shownumber="no">We have here another prophecy upon a
particular occasion, the history of which we must take notice of,
as necessary to give light to the prophecy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p9" shownumber="no">I. When Jerusalem was closely besieged by
the Chaldean army the princes and people agreed upon a reformation
in one instance, and that was concerning their servants.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p10" shownumber="no">1. The law of God was very express, that
those of their own nation should not be held in servitude above
seven years, but, after they had served one apprenticeship, they
should be discharged and have their liberty; yea, though they had
sold themselves into servitude for the payment of their debts, or
though they were <i>sold by the judges</i> for the punishment of
their crimes. This difference was put between their brethren and
strangers, that those of other nations taken in war, or bought with
money, might be held in perpetual slavery, they and theirs; but
their brethren must serve but for seven years at the longest. This
God calls the covenant that he had made with them when he
<i>brought them out of the land of Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.13-Jer.34.14" parsed="|Jer|34|13|34|14" passage="Jer 34:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>. This was the first of
the judicial laws which God gave them (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.21.2" parsed="|Exod|21|2|0|0" passage="Ex 21:2">Exod. xxi. 2</scripRef>), and there was good reason for
this law. (1.) God had put honour upon that nation, and he would
have them thus to preserve the honour of it themselves and to put a
difference between it and other nations. (2.) God had brought them
out of slavery in Egypt, and he would have them thus to express
their grateful sense of that favour, by letting those go to whom
their houses were <i>houses of bondage,</i> as Egypt had been to
their forefathers. That deliverance is therefore mentioned here
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.13" parsed="|Jer|34|13|0|0" passage="Jer 34:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) as the
ground of that law. Note, God's compassions towards us should
engage our compassions towards our brethren; we must release as we
are released, forgive as we are forgiven, and relieve as we are
relieved. And this is called <i>a covenant;</i> for our performance
of the duty required is the condition of the continuance of the
favours God has bestowed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p11" shownumber="no">2. This law they and their fathers had
broken. Their worldly profit swayed more with them than God's
command or covenant. When their servants had lived seven years with
them they understood their business, and how to apply themselves to
it, better than they did when they first came to them, and
therefore they would then by no means part with them, though God
himself by his law had made them free: <i>Your fathers hearkened
not to me</i> in this matter (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.14" parsed="|Jer|34|14|0|0" passage="Jer 34:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), so that from the days of
their fathers they had been in this trespass; and they thought they
might do it because their fathers did it, and their servants had by
disuse lost the benefit of the provision God made for them; whereas
against an express law, especially against an express law of God,
no custom, usage, nor prescription, is to be admitted in plea. For
this sin of theirs, and their fathers, God now brought them into
servitude, and justly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p12" shownumber="no">3. When they were besieged, and closely
shut in, by the army of the Chaldeans, they, being told of their
fault in this matter, immediately reformed, and let go all their
servants that were entitled to their freedom by the law of God, as
Pharaoh, who, when the plague was upon him, consented to <i>let the
people go,</i> and bound themselves in a covenant to do so. (1.)
The prophets faithfully admonished them concerning their sin. From
them they heard that they should let their Hebrew servants <i>go
free,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.10" parsed="|Jer|34|10|0|0" passage="Jer 34:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
They might have read it themselves in the book of the law, but did
not, or did not heed it, therefore the prophets told them what the
law was. See what need there is of the preaching of the word;
people must hear the word preached because they will not make the
use they ought to make of the word written. (2.) All orders and
degrees of men concurred in this reformation. The <i>king,</i> and
the <i>princes,</i> and <i>all the people,</i> agreed to <i>let go
their servants,</i> whatever loss or damage they might sustain by
so doing. When the king and princes led in this good work the
people could not for shame but follow. The example and influence of
great men would go very far towards extirpating the most inveterate
corruptions. (3.) They bound themselves by a solemn oath and
covenant that they would do this, whereby they engaged themselves
to God and one another. Note, What God has bound us to by his
precept, it is good for us to bind ourselves to by our promise.
This covenant was very solemn: it was made in a sacred place,
<i>made before me, in the house which is called by my name</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.15" parsed="|Jer|34|15|0|0" passage="Jer 34:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), in the
special presence of God, the tokens of which, in the temple, ought
to strike an awe upon them and make them very sincere in their
appeals to him. It was ratified by a significant sign; they <i>cut
a calf in two, and passed between the parts thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.18-Jer.34.19" parsed="|Jer|34|18|34|19" passage="Jer 34:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>) with this
dreadful imprecation, "Let us be in like manner cut asunder if we
do not perform what we now promise." This calf was probably offered
up in sacrifice to God, who was thereby made a party to the
covenant. When God covenanted with Abraham, for the ratification of
it, a <i>smoking furnace</i> and a <i>burning lamp passed between
the pieces</i> of the sacrifice, in allusion to this federal rite,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.15.17" parsed="|Gen|15|17|0|0" passage="Ge 15:17">Gen. xv. 17</scripRef>. Note, In order
that we may effectually oblige ourselves to our duty, it is good to
alarm ourselves with the apprehensions of the terror of the wrath
and curse to which we expose ourselves if we live in the contempt
of it, that wrath which will <i>cut sinners asunder</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.51" parsed="|Matt|24|51|0|0" passage="Mt 24:51">Matt. xxiv. 51</scripRef>), and sensible signs
may be of use to make the impressions of it deep and durable, as
here. (4.) They conformed themselves herein to the command of God
and their covenant with him; they did <i>let their servants go,</i>
though at this time, when the city was besieged, they could very
ill spare them. Thus they did <i>right in God's sight,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.15" parsed="|Jer|34|15|0|0" passage="Jer 34:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Though it
was their trouble that drove them to it, yet he was well pleased
with it; and if they had persevered in this act of <i>mercy to the
poor,</i> to their poor servants, it might have been a lengthening
of their tranquillity, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.27" parsed="|Dan|4|27|0|0" passage="Da 4:27">Dan. iv.
27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p13" shownumber="no">II. When there was some hope that the siege
was raised and the danger over they repented of their repentance,
undid the good they had done, and forced the servants they had
released into their respective services again. 1. The <i>king of
Babylon's army</i> had now <i>gone up from them,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.21" parsed="|Jer|34|21|0|0" passage="Jer 34:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. Pharaoh was bringing
an army of Egyptians to oppose the progress of the king of
Babylon's victories, upon the tidings of which the Chaldeans raised
the siege for a time, as we find, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.37.5" parsed="|Jer|37|5|0|0" passage="Jer 37:5"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 5</scripRef>. <i>They departed from
Jerusalem.</i> See how ready God was to put a stop to his
judgments, upon the first instance of reformation, so slow is he to
anger and so swift to show mercy. As soon as ever they let their
servants go free God let them go free. 2. When they began to think
themselves safe from the besiegers they made their servants come
back into subjection to them, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.11" parsed="|Jer|34|11|0|0" passage="Jer 34:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>, and again <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.16" parsed="|Jer|34|16|0|0" passage="Jer 34:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. This was a great abuse to
their servants, to whom servitude would be more irksome, after they
had had some taste of the pleasures of liberty. It was a great
shame to themselves that they could not keep in a good mind when
they were in it. But it was especially an affront to God; in doing
this they <i>polluted his name,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.16" parsed="|Jer|34|16|0|0" passage="Jer 34:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. It was a contempt of the
command he had given them, as if that were of no force at all, but
they might either keep it or break it as they thought fit. It was a
contempt of the covenant they had made with him, and of that wrath
which they had imprecated upon themselves in case they should break
that covenant. It was jesting with God almighty, as if he could be
imposed upon by fallacious promises, which, when they had gained
their point, they would look upon themselves no longer obliged by.
it was <i>lying to God with their mouths</i> and <i>flattering him
with their tongues.</i> It was likewise a contempt of the judgments
of God and setting them at defiance; as if, when once the course of
them was stopped a little and interrupted, they would never proceed
again and the judgment would never be revived; whereas reprieves
are so far from being pardons that if they be abused thus, and
sinners take encouragement from them to return to sin, they are but
preparatives for heavier strokes of divine vengeance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxv-p14" shownumber="no">III. For this treacherous dealing with God
they are here severely threatened. <i>Be not deceived; God is not
mocked.</i> Those that think to put a cheat upon God by a
dissembled repentance, a fallacious covenant, and a partial
temporary reformation, will prove in the end to have put the
greatest cheat upon their own souls; for <i>the Lord, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God.</i> It is here threatened, with an
observable air of displeasure against them, 1. That, since they had
not given liberty to their servants to go where they pleased, God
would give all his judgments liberty to take their course against
them without control (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.17" parsed="|Jer|34|17|0|0" passage="Jer 34:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>You have not proclaimed liberty to your
servants.</i> Though they had done it (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.10" parsed="|Jer|34|10|0|0" passage="Jer 34:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), yet they might truly be said
not to have done it, because they did not stand to it, but undid it
again; and <i>factum non dicitur quod non perseverat—that is not
said to be done which does not last.</i> The righteousness that is
forsaken and turned away from shall be forgotten, and <i>not
mentioned</i> any more than if it had never been, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.24" parsed="|Ezek|18|24|0|0" passage="Eze 18:24">Ezek. xviii. 24</scripRef>. "<i>Therefore I
will proclaim a liberty for you;</i> I will discharge you from my
service, and put you out of my protection, which those forfeit that
withdraw from their allegiance. You shall have liberty to choose
which of these judgments you will be cut off by, <i>sword, famine,
or pestilence;</i>" such a liberty as was offered to David, which
put him into a <i>great strait,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.14" parsed="|2Sam|24|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 24:14">2
Sam. xxiv. 14</scripRef>. Note, Those that will not be in
subjection to the law of God put themselves into subjection to the
wrath and curse of God. But this shows what liberty to <i>sin</i>
really—it is but a liberty to the sorest judgments. 2. That, since
they had brought their servants back into confinement in their
houses, God would <i>make them to be removed into all the kingdoms
of the earth,</i> where they should live in servitude, and, being
strangers, could not expect the privileges of free-born subjects.
3. That, since they had broken the covenant which they ratified by
a solemn imprecation, God would bring on them the evil which they
imprecated upon themselves in case they should break it. Out of
their own mouth will he judge them, and so shall their doom be; the
penalty of their bond shall be recovered, because they have not
performed the condition; for so some read <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.18" parsed="|Jer|34|18|0|0" passage="Jer 34:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>, "<i>I will make the men which
have transgressed my covenant as the calf which they cut in
twain;</i> I will divide them asunder as they divided it asunder."
4. That, since they would not let go their servants out of the
hands, God would deliver them into the hands of those that hated
them, even <i>the princes</i> and nobles both <i>of Judah and
Jerusalem</i> (of the country and of the city), <i>the eunuchs</i>
(chamberlains, or great officers of the court), <i>the priests, and
all the people,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.19" parsed="|Jer|34|19|0|0" passage="Jer 34:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. They had all dealt treacherously with God, and
therefore shall all be involved in the common ruin without
exception. They shall all be <i>given unto the hand of their
enemies, that seek,</i> not their wealth only, or their service,
but <i>their life,</i> and they shall have what they seek; but
neither shall that content them: when they have their lives they
shall leave <i>their dead bodies</i> unburied, a loathsome
spectacle to all mankind and an easy prey to <i>the fowls and
beasts,</i> a lasting mark of ignominy being hereby fastened on
them, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.20" parsed="|Jer|34|20|0|0" passage="Jer 34:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. 5.
That, since they had emboldened themselves in returning to their
sin, contrary to their covenant, by the retreat of the Chaldean
army from them, God would therefore bring it upon them again: "They
have now <i>gone up from you,</i> and your fright is over for the
present, but I <i>will command them</i> to face about as they were;
they shall <i>return to this city, and take it and burn it,</i>"
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxv-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.22" parsed="|Jer|34|22|0|0" passage="Jer 34:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Note, (1.)
As confidence in God is a hopeful presage of approaching
deliverance, so security in sin is a sad omen of approaching
destruction. (2.) When judgments are removed from a people before
they have done their work, leave them, but leave them unhumbled and
unreformed, it is <i>cum animo revertendi</i>—<i>with a design to
return;</i> they do but retreat to come on again with so much the
greater force; for when God judges he will overcome. (3.) It is
just with God to disappoint those expectations of mercy which his
providence had given cause for when we disappoint those
expectations of duty which our professions, pretensions, and fair
promises, had given cause for. If we repent of the good we had
purposed, God will repent of the good he had purposed. <i>With the
froward thou will show thyself froward.</i></p>
</div></div2>