mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 38.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xxxix" n="xxxix" next="Jer.xl" prev="Jer.xxxviii" progress="42.85%" title="Chapter XXXVIII">
<h2 id="Jer.xxxix-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xxxix-p0.2">CHAP. XXXVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xxxix-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter, just as in the former, we have
Jeremiah greatly debased under the frowns of the princes, and yet
greatly honoured by the favour of the king. They used him as a
criminal; he used him as a privy-counsellor. Here, I. Jeremiah for
his faithfulness is put into the dungeon by the princes, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.1-Jer.38.6" parsed="|Jer|38|1|38|6" passage="Jer 38:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. At the intercession
of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, by special order from the king, he is
taken up out of the dungeon and confined only to the court of the
prison, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.7-Jer.38.13" parsed="|Jer|38|7|38|13" passage="Jer 38:7-13">ver. 7-13</scripRef>. III.
He has a private conference with the king upon the present
conjuncture of affairs, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.14-Jer.38.22" parsed="|Jer|38|14|38|22" passage="Jer 38:14-22">ver.
14-22</scripRef>. IV. Care is taken to keep that conference
private, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.24-Jer.38.28" parsed="|Jer|38|24|38|28" passage="Jer 38:24-28">ver.
24-28</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38" parsed="|Jer|38|0|0|0" passage="Jer 38" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.1-Jer.38.13" parsed="|Jer|38|1|38|13" passage="Jer 38:1-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxix-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxix-p1.8">Jeremiah Put into the Dungeon; Ebed-melech's
Care of Jeremiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p1.9">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxix-p2" shownumber="no">1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and
Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and
Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had
spoken unto all the people, saying,   2 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p2.1">Lord</span>, He that remaineth in this city shall
die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that
goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life
for a prey, and shall live.   3 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p2.2">Lord</span>, This city shall surely be given into the
hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.   4
Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this
man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of
war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in
speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare
of this people, but the hurt.   5 Then Zedekiah the king said,
Behold, he <i>is</i> in your hand: for the king <i>is</i> not <i>he
that</i> can do <i>any</i> thing against you.   6 Then took
they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of
Hammelech, that <i>was</i> in the court of the prison: and they let
down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon <i>there was</i> no
water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.   7 Now when
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the
king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the
king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;   8 Ebed-melech
went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying,
  9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that
they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into
the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he
is: for <i>there is</i> no more bread in the city.   10 Then
the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from
hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of
the dungeon, before he die.   11 So Ebed-melech took the men
with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury,
and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them
down by cords into the dungeon to <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p2.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12" parsed="|Jer|12|0|0|0" passage="Jeremiah. 12">Jeremiah.   12</scripRef> And
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now <i>these</i>
old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the
cords. And Jeremiah did so.   13 So they drew up Jeremiah with
cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in
the court of the prison.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p3" shownumber="no">Here, 1. Jeremiah persists in his plain
preaching; what he had many a time said, he still says (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.3" parsed="|Jer|38|3|0|0" passage="Jer 38:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>This city shall be
given into the hand of the king of Babylon;</i> though it hold out
long, it will taken at last. Nor would he have so often repeated
this unwelcome message but that he could put them in a certain way,
though not to save the city, yet to save themselves; so that every
man might have his own life given him for a prey if he would be
advised, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.2" parsed="|Jer|38|2|0|0" passage="Jer 38:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Let
him not stay in the city, in hopes to defend that, for it will be
to no purpose, but let him <i>go forth to the Chaldeans,</i> and
throw himself upon their mercy, before things come to extremity,
and then he <i>shall live;</i> they will not put him to the sword,
but give him quarter (<i>satis est prostrasse leoni—it suffices
the lion to lay his antagonist prostrate</i>) and he shall escape
the <i>famine and pestilence,</i> which will be the death of
multitudes within the city. Note, Those do better for themselves
who patiently submit to the rebukes of Providence than those who
contend with them. And, if we cannot have our liberty, we must
reckon it a mercy to have our lives, and not foolishly throw them
away upon a point of honour; they may be reserved for better times.
2. The princes persist in their malice against Jeremiah. He was
faithful to his country and to his trust as a prophet, though he
had suffered many a time for his faithfulness; and, though at this
time he ate the king's bread, yet that did not stop his mouth. But
his persecutors were still bitter against him, and complained that
he abused the liberty he had of walking in the court of the prison;
for, though he could not go to the temple to preach, yet he vented
the same things in private conversation to those that came to visit
him, and therefore (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.4" parsed="|Jer|38|4|0|0" passage="Jer 38:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>) they represented him to the king as a dangerous man,
disaffected to his country and to the government he lived under:
<i>He seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt</i>—an
unjust insinuation, for no man had laid out himself more for the
good of Jerusalem than he had done. They represent his preaching as
having a bad tendency. The design of it was plainly to bring men to
repent and turn to God, which would have been as much as any thing
a strengthening to the hands both the soldiery and of the burghers,
and yet they represented it <i>as weakening their hands</i> and
discouraging them; and, if it did this, it was their own fault.
Note, It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful
ministers as their enemies, only because they show them what
enemies they are to themselves while they continue impenitent. 3.
Jeremiah hereupon, by the king's permission, is put into a dungeon,
with a view to his destruction there. Zedekiah, though he felt a
conviction that Jeremiah was a prophet, sent of God, had not
courage to own it, but yielded to the violence of his persecutors
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.5" parsed="|Jer|38|5|0|0" passage="Jer 38:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>He is in
your hand;</i> and a worse sentence he could not have passed upon
him. We found in Jehoiakim's reign that the princes were better
affected to the prophet than the king was (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.36.25" parsed="|Jer|36|25|0|0" passage="Jer 36:25"><i>ch.</i> xxxvi. 25</scripRef>); but now they were
more violent against him, a sign that they were ripening apace for
ruin. Had it been in a cause that concerned his own honour or
profit, he would have let them know that the king is he who can do
what he pleases, whether they will or no; but in the cause of God
and his prophet, which he was very cool in, he basely sneaks, and
truckles to them: <i>The king is not he that can do any thing
against you.</i> Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for
who, though they have a secret kindness for good people, dare not
own it in a time of need, nor will do what they might do to prevent
mischief designed them. The princes, having this general warrant
from the king, immediately put poor <i>Jeremiah into the dungeon of
Malchiah, that was in the court of the prison</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.6" parsed="|Jer|38|6|0|0" passage="Jer 38:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), a deep dungeon, for
they <i>let</i> him <i>down</i> into it <i>with cords,</i> and a
dirty one, for <i>there was no water</i> in it, <i>but mire;</i>
and he <i>sunk in the mire, up to the neck,</i> says Josephus.
Those that put him here doubtless designed that he should die here,
die for hunger, die for cold, and so die miserably, die obscurely,
fearing, if they should put him to death openly, the people might
be affected with what he would say and be incensed against them.
Many of God's faithful witnesses have thus been privately made
away, and starved to death, in prisons, whose blood will be brought
to account in the day of discovery. We are not here told what
Jeremiah did in this distress, but he tells us himself (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.55 Bible:Lam.3.57" parsed="|Lam|3|55|0|0;|Lam|3|57|0|0" passage="La 3:55,57">Lam. iii. 55, 57</scripRef>), <i>I called upon
thy name, O Lord! out of the low dungeon, and thou drewest near,
saying, Fear not.</i> 4. Application is made to the king by an
honest courtier, <i>Ebed-melech,</i> one of the gentlemen of the
bed-chamber, in behalf of the poor sufferer. Though the princes
carried on the matter as privately as they could, yet it came to
the ear of this good man, who probably sought opportunities to do
good. It may be he came to the knowledge of it by hearing
Jeremiah's moans out of the dungeon, for it was in the king's
house, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.7" parsed="|Jer|38|7|0|0" passage="Jer 38:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>.
<i>Ebed-melech</i> was an Ethiopian, a <i>stranger to the
commonwealth of Israel,</i> and yet had in him more humanity, and
more divinity too, than native Israelites had. Christ found more
faith among Gentiles than among Jews. Ebed-melech lived in a wicked
court and in a very corrupt degenerate age, and yet had a great
sense both of equity and piety. God has his remnant in all places,
among all sorts. There were <i>saints</i> even <i>in Cæsar's
household.</i> The king was now <i>sitting in the gate of
Benjamin,</i> to try causes and receive appeals and petitions, or
perhaps holding a council of war there. Thither Ebed-melech went
immediately to him, for the case would not admit delay; the prophet
might have perished if he had trifled or put it off till he had an
opportunity of speaking to the king in private. Not time must be
lost when life is in danger, especially so valuable a life. He
boldly asserts the Jeremiah had a great deal of wrong done him, and
is not afraid to tell the king so, though they were princes that
did it, though they were now present in court, and though they had
the king's warrant for what they did. Whither should oppressed
innocency flee for protection but to the throne, especially when
great men are its oppressors? Ebed-melech appears truly brave in
this matter. He does not mince the matter; though he had a place at
court, which he would be in danger of losing for his plain dealing,
yet he tells the king faithfully, let him take it as he will,
<i>These men have done ill in all that they have done to
Jeremiah.</i> They had dealt unjustly with him, for he had not
deserved any punishment at all; and they had dealt barbarously with
him, so as they used not to deal with the vilest malefactors. And
they needed not to have put him to this miserable death; for, if
they had let him alone where he was, he was <i>likely to die for
hunger in the place where he was,</i> in the court of the prison to
which he was confined, <i>for there was not more bread in the
city:</i> the stores out of which he was to have his allowance
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.37.21" parsed="|Jer|37|21|0|0" passage="Jer 37:21"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 21</scripRef>)
were in a manner spent. See how God can raise up friends for his
people in distress where they little thought of them, and animate
men for his service even beyond expectation. 5. Orders are
immediately given for his release, and Ebed-melech takes care to
see them executed. The king, who but now durst do nothing against
the princes, had his heart wonderfully changed on a sudden, and
will now have Jeremiah released in defiance of the princes, for
therefore he orders no less than thirty men, and those of the
lifeguard, to be employed in fetching him out of the dungeon, lest
the princes should raise a party to oppose it, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.10" parsed="|Jer|38|10|0|0" passage="Jer 38:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Let this encourage us to
appear boldly for God—we may succeed better that we could have
thought, for <i>the hearts of kings are in the hand of God.</i>
Ebed-melech gained his point, and soon brought Jeremiah the good
news; and it is observable how particularly the manner of his
drawing him out of the dungeon is related (for <i>God is not
unrighteous to forget</i> any <i>work or labour of love</i> which
is shown to his people or ministers, no, nor any circumstance of
it, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.10" parsed="|Heb|6|10|0|0" passage="Heb 6:10">Heb. vi. 10</scripRef>); special
notice is taken of his great tenderness in providing old soft rags
for Jeremiah to put under his arm-holes, to keep the cords
wherewith he was to be drawn up from hurting him, his arm-holes
being probably galled by the cords wherewith he was let down. Nor
did he throw the rags down to him, lest they should be lost in the
mire, but carefully let them down, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.11-Jer.38.12" parsed="|Jer|38|11|38|12" passage="Jer 38:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. Note, Those that are in
distress should not only be relieved, but relieved with compassion
and marks of respect, all which shall be placed to account and
abound to a good account in the day of recompence. See what a good
use even old rotten rags may be put to, which therefore should not
be made waste of, any more than broken meat: even in the king's
house, and <i>under the treasury</i> too, these were carefully
preserved for the use of the poor or sick. Jeremiah is brought up
out of the dungeon, and is now where he was, <i>in the court of the
prison,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.13" parsed="|Jer|38|13|0|0" passage="Jer 38:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.
Perhaps Ebed-melech could have made interest with the king to get
him his discharge thence also, now that he had the king's ear; but
he though him safer and better provided for there than he would be
any where else. God can, when he pleases, make a prison to become a
refuge and hiding-place to his people in distress and danger.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xxxix-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.14-Jer.38.28" parsed="|Jer|38|14|38|28" passage="Jer 38:14-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxix-p3.15">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxix-p3.16">Zedekiah's Conference with
Jeremiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p3.17">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxix-p4" shownumber="no">14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took
Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that <i>is</i>
in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p4.1">Lord</span>: and the
king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from
me.   15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare
<i>it</i> unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I
give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?   16 So
Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, <i>As</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p4.2">Lord</span> liveth, that made us this
soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into
the hand of these men that seek thy life.   17 Then said
Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p4.3">Lord</span>, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If
thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes,
then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with
fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:   18 But if thou
wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this
city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn
it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.  
19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the
Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into
their hand, and they mock me.   20 But Jeremiah said, They
shall not deliver <i>thee.</i> Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p4.4">Lord</span>, which I speak unto thee:
so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.   21
But if thou refuse to go forth, this <i>is</i> the word that the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxix-p4.5">Lord</span> hath shewed me:   22 And,
behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house
<i>shall be</i> brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and
those <i>women</i> shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and
have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire,
<i>and</i> they are turned away back.   23 So they shall bring
out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt
not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the
king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with
fire.   24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know
of these words, and thou shalt not die.   25 But if the
princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee,
and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the
king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also
what the king said unto thee:   26 Then thou shalt say unto
them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would
not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.   27
Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told
them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So
they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.
  28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the
day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was <i>there</i> when
Jerusalem was taken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p5" shownumber="no">In the foregoing chapter we had the king in
close conference with Jeremiah, and here again, though (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.5" parsed="|Jer|38|5|0|0" passage="Jer 38:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) he had given him up into
the hands of his enemies; such a struggle there was in the breast
of this unhappy prince between his convictions and his corruptions.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p6" shownumber="no">I. The honour that Zedekiah did to the
prophet. When he was newly fetched out of the dungeon he sent for
him to advise with him privately. He met him in <i>the third
entry,</i> or (as the margin reads it) <i>the principal entry,</i>
that <i>is in,</i> or leads towards, or adjoins to, <i>the house of
the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.14" parsed="|Jer|38|14|0|0" passage="Jer 38:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. In appointing this place of interview with the
prophet perhaps he intended to show a respect and reverence for
<i>the house of God,</i> which was proper enough now that he was
desiring to hear <i>the word of God.</i> Zedekiah would ask
<i>Jeremiah a thing;</i> it should rather be rendered, <i>a
word.</i> "I am here asking thee for <i>a word of prediction,</i>
of counsel, of comfort, <i>a word from the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.37.17" parsed="|Jer|37|17|0|0" passage="Jer 37:17"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 17</scripRef>. Whatever word
thou has for me <i>hide it not from me;</i> let me know the worst."
He had been told plainly what things would come to in the foregoing
chapter, but, like Balaam, he asks again, in hopes to get a more
pleasing answer, as if God, who is <i>in one mind,</i> were
altogether such a one as himself, who was in many minds.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p7" shownumber="no">II. The bargain that Jeremiah made with him
before he would give him his advice, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.15" parsed="|Jer|38|15|0|0" passage="Jer 38:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. He would stipulate, 1. For his
own safety. Zedekiah would have him deal faithfully with him: "And
if I do," says Jeremiah, "<i>wilt thou not put me to death?</i> I
am afraid <i>thou wilt</i>" (so some take it); "what else can I
expect when thou art led blindfold by the princes?" Not that
Jeremiah was backward to seal the doctrine he preached with his
blood, when he was called to do so; but, in doing our duty, we
ought to use all lawful means for our own preservation; even the
apostles of Christ did so. 2. He would answer for the success of
his advice, being no less concerned for Zedekiah's welfare than for
his own. He is willing to give him wholesome advice, and does not
upbraid him with his unkindness in suffering him to be put into the
dungeon, nor bid him go and consult with his princes, whose
judgments he had such a value for. Ministers must with meekness
instruct even those that oppose themselves, and render good for
evil. He is desirous that he should <i>hear counsel and receive
instruction: "Wilt thou not hearken unto me?</i> Surely thou wilt;
I am in hopes to find thee pliable at last, and now <i>in this thy
day</i> willing to know <i>the things that belong to thy
peace.</i>" Note, Then, and then only, there is hope of sinners,
when they are willing to hearken to good counsel. Some read it as
spoken despairingly: "<i>If I give thee counsel, thou wilt not
hearken unto me;</i> I have reason to fear thou wilt not, and then
I might as well keep my counsel to myself." Note, Ministers have
little heart to speak to those who have long and often turned a
deaf ear to them. Now, as to this latter concern of Jeremiah's,
Zedekiah makes him no answer, will not promise to hearken to his
advice: though he desires to know what is the mind of God, yet he
will reserve himself a liberty, when he does know it, to do as he
thinks fit; as if it were the prerogative of a prince not to have
his ruin prevented by good counsel. But, as to the prophet's
safety, he promises him, upon the word of a king, and confirms his
promise with an oath, that, whatever he should say to him, no
advantage should be taken against him for it: <i>I will neither put
thee to death nor deliver thee into the hands of those that
will,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.16" parsed="|Jer|38|16|0|0" passage="Jer 38:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>.
This, he thought, was a mighty favour, and yet Nebuchadnezzar and
Belshazzar, when Daniel read their doom, not only protected him,
but preferred and rewarded him, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.2.48 Bible:Jer.38.29" parsed="|Dan|2|48|0|0;|Jer|38|29|0|0" passage="Da 2:48,Jer 38:29">Dan. ii. 48; <i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>.
Zedekiah's oath on this occasion is solemn, and very observable:
"<i>As the Lord liveth, who made us this soul,</i> who gave me my
life and thee thine, I dare not take away thy life unjustly,
knowing that then I should forfeit my own to him that is the Lord
of life." Note, God is the Father of spirits; souls are his
workmanship, and they are more <i>fearfully and wonderfully
made</i> than bodies are. The soul both of the greatest prince and
of the poorest prisoner is of God's making. <i>He fashioneth their
hearts</i> alike easily. In all our appeals to God, and in all our
dealings both with ourselves and others, we ought to consider this,
that <i>the living God made us these souls.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p8" shownumber="no">III. The good advice that Jeremiah gave
him, with good reasons why he should take it, not from any prudence
or politics of his own, but in the <i>name of the Lord, the God of
hosts</i> and <i>God of Israel.</i> Not as a statesman, but as a
prophet, he advises him by all means to surrender himself and his
city <i>to the king of Babylon's princes: "Go forth to them,</i>
and make the best terms thou canst with them," <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.17" parsed="|Jer|38|17|0|0" passage="Jer 38:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. This was the advice he had
given to the people (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.2" parsed="|Jer|38|2|0|0" passage="Jer 38:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>, and before, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.21.9" parsed="|Jer|21|9|0|0" passage="Jer 21:9"><i>ch.</i>
xxi. 9</scripRef>), to submit to divine judgments, and not think of
contending with them. Note, In dealing with God, that which is good
counsel to the meanest is so to the greatest, for <i>there is no
respect of persons</i> with him. To persuade him to take this
counsel, he sets before him good and evil, life and death. 1. If he
will tamely yield, he shall save his children from the sword and
Jerusalem from the flames. The white flag is yet hung out; if he
will but acknowledge God's justice, he shall experience his mercy:
<i>The city shall not be burnt,</i> and <i>thou shalt live and thy
house.</i> But, 2. If he will obstinately stand it out, it will be
the ruin both of his house and Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.18" parsed="|Jer|38|18|0|0" passage="Jer 38:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); for when God judges he will
overcome. This is the case of sinners with God; let them humbly
submit to his grace and government and they shall live; let them
<i>take hold on his strength, that they may make peace, and they
shall make peace;</i> but, if they harden their hearts against his
proposals, it will certainly be to their destruction: they must
either bend or break.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p9" shownumber="no">IV. The objection which Zedekiah made
against the prophet's advice, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.19" parsed="|Jer|38|19|0|0" passage="Jer 38:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Jeremiah spoke to him by
prophecy, in the name of God, and therefore if he had had a due
regard to the divine authority, wisdom, and goodness, as soon as he
understood what the mind of God was he would immediately have
acquiesced in it and resolved to observe it, without disputing;
but, as if it had been the dictate only of Jeremiah's prudence, he
advances against it some prudential considerations of his own: but
human wisdom is folly when it contradicts the divine counsel. All
he suggests is, "<i>I am afraid,</i> not of the Chaldeans; their
princes are men of honour, but of the Jews, that have already gone
over to the Chaldeans; when they see <i>me</i> follow them, and who
had so much opposed their going, they will laugh at me, and say,
<i>Hast thou also become weak as water?</i>" <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.14.10" parsed="|Isa|14|10|0|0" passage="Isa 14:10">Isa. xiv. 10</scripRef>. Now, 1. It was not at all
likely that he should be thus exposed and ridiculed, that the
Chaldeans should so far gratify the Jews, or trample upon him, as
to deliver him into their hands; nor that the Jews, who were
themselves captives, should be in such a gay humour as to make a
jest of the misery of their prince. Note, We often frighten
ourselves from our duty by foolish, causeless, groundless, fears,
that are merely the creatures of our own fancy and imagination. 2.
If he should be taunted at a little by the Jews, could he not
despise it and make light of it? What harm would it do him? Note,
Those have very weak and fretful spirits indeed that cannot bear to
be laughed at for that which is both their duty and their interest.
3. Though it had been really the greatest personal mischief that he
could imagine it to be, yet he ought to have ventured it, in
obedience to God, and for the preservation of his family and city.
He thought it would be looked upon as a piece of cowardice to
surrender; whereas it would be really an instance of true courage
cheerfully to bear a less evil, the mocking of the Jews, for the
avoiding of a greater, the ruin of his family and kingdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p10" shownumber="no">V. The pressing importunity with which
Jeremiah followed the advice he had given the king. He assures him
that, if he would comply with the will of God herein, the thing he
feared should not come upon him (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.20" parsed="|Jer|38|20|0|0" passage="Jer 38:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>They shall not deliver
thee up,</i> but treat thee as becomes thy character. He begs of
him, after all the foolish games he had played, to manage wisely
the last stake, and now at length to do well for himself: <i>Obey,
I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord,</i> because it is his voice,
so it <i>shall be well unto thee.</i> But he tells him what would
be the consequence if he would not obey. 1. He himself would
<i>fall into the hands of the Chaldeans,</i> as implacable enemies,
whom he might now make his friends by throwing himself into their
hands. If he must fall, he should contrive how to fall easily:
"<i>Thou shalt not escape,</i> as thou hopest to do," <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.23" parsed="|Jer|38|23|0|0" passage="Jer 38:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. 2. He would himself be
chargeable with the destruction of Jerusalem, which he pretended a
concern for the preservation of: <i>"Thou shalt cause this city to
be burnt with fire,</i> for by a little submission and self-denial
thou mightest have prevented it." Thus subjects often suffer for
the pride and wilfulness of their rulers, who should be their
protectors, but prove their destroyers. 3. Whereas he causelessly
feared an unjust reproach for surrendering, he should certainly
fall under a just reproach for standing it out, and that from women
too, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.22" parsed="|Jer|38|22|0|0" passage="Jer 38:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. The
court ladies who were left when Jehoiakim and Jeconiah were carried
away will now at length fall into the hands of the enemy, and they
shall say, "<i>The men of thy peace,</i> whom thou didst consult
with and confide in, and who promised thee peace if thou wouldst be
ruled by them, have <i>set thee on,</i> have encouraged thee to be
bold and brace and hold out to the last extremity; and see what
comes of it? They, by prevailing upon thee, have <i>prevailed
against thee,</i> and thou findest those thy real enemies that
would be thought thy only friends. <i>Now thy feet are sunk in the
mire,</i> thou art embarrassed, and hast noway to help thyself; thy
feet cannot get forward, but are <i>turned away back.</i>" Thus
will Zedekiah be bantered by the women, when all his wives and
children shall be made a prey to the conquerors, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.23" parsed="|Jer|38|23|0|0" passage="Jer 38:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Note, What we seek to avoid by
sin will be justly brought upon us by the righteousness of God. And
those that decline the way of duty for fear of reproach will
certainly meet with much greater reproach in the way of
disobedience. <i>The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon
him,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.10.24" parsed="|Prov|10|24|0|0" passage="Pr 10:24">Prov. x. 24</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxix-p11" shownumber="no">VI. The care which Zedekiah took to keep
this conference private (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.24" parsed="|Jer|38|24|0|0" passage="Jer 38:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>): <i>Let no man know of these words.</i> he does not
at all incline to take God's counsel, nor so much as promise to
consider of it; for so obstinate has he been to the calls of God,
and so wilful in the ways of sin, that though he has good counsel
given him he seems to be given up to walk in his own counsels. He
has nothing to object against Jeremiah's advice, and yet he will
not follow it. Many hear God's words, but will not do them. 1.
Jeremiah is charged to let no man know of what had passed between
the king and him. Zedekiah is concerned to keep it private, not so
much for Jeremiah's safety (for he knew the princes could do him no
hurt without his permission), but for his own reputation. Note,
Many have really a better affection to good men and good things
than they are willing to own. God's prophets are manifest in their
consciences (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.11" parsed="|2Cor|5|11|0|0" passage="2Co 5:11">2 Cor. v. 11</scripRef>),
but they care not for manifesting that to the world; they would
rather do them a kindness than have it known that they do: such, it
is to be feared, <i>love the praise of men more than the praise of
God.</i> 2. He is instructed what to say to the princes if they
should examine him about it. He must tell them that he was
petitioning the king not to remand him back to <i>the house of
Jonathan the scribe</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.25-Jer.38.26" parsed="|Jer|38|25|38|26" passage="Jer 38:25,26"><i>v.</i>
25, 26</scripRef>), and he did tell them so (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxix-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.38.27" parsed="|Jer|38|27|0|0" passage="Jer 38:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), and no doubt it was true: he
would not let slip so fair an opportunity of engaging the king's
favour; so that this was no lie or equivocation, but a part of the
truth, which it was lawful for him to put them off with when he was
under no obligation at all to tell them the whole truth. Note,
Though we must be harmless as doves, so as never to tell a wilful
lie, yet we must be wise as serpents, so as not needlessly to
expose ourselves to danger by telling all we know.</p>
</div></div2>