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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J E R E M I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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When we left the prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, so
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pathetically poring out his prayers before God, we had reason to hope
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that in this chapter we should find God reconciled to the land and the
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prophet brought into a quiet composed frame; but, to our great
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surprise, we find it much otherwise as to both.
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I. Notwithstanding the prophet's prayers, God here ratifies the
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sentence given against the people, and abandons them to ruin turning a
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deaf ear to all the intercessions made for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:1-9">ver. 1-9</A>.
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II. The prophet himself, notwithstanding the satisfaction he had in
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communion with God, still finds himself uneasy and out of temper.
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1. He complains to God of his continual struggle with his persecutors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:10">ver. 10</A>.
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2. God assures him that he shall be taken under special protection,
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though there was a general desolation coming upon the land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:11-14">ver. 11-14</A>.
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3. He appeals to God concerning his sincerity in the discharge of his
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prophetic office and thinks it hard that he should not have more of the
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comfort of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:15-18">ver. 15-18</A>.
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4. Fresh security is given him that, upon condition he continue
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faithful, God will continue his care of him and his favour to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:19-21">ver. 19-21</A>.
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And thus, at length, we hope he regained the possession of his own
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soul.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer15_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer15_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Sentence against Judah Confirmed; Destruction of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then said the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood
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before me, <I>yet</I> my mind <I>could</I> not <I>be</I> toward this people:
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cast <I>them</I> out of my sight, and let them go forth.
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2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither
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shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Such as <I>are</I> for death, to death; and such as <I>are</I> for
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the sword, to the sword; and such as <I>are</I> for the famine, to the
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famine; and such as <I>are</I> for the captivity, to the captivity.
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3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: the
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sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven,
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and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
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4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the
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earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for
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<I>that</I> which he did in Jerusalem.
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5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall
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bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
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6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou art gone
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backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and
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destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
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7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I
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will bereave <I>them</I> of children, I will destroy my people,
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<I>since</I> they return not from their ways.
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8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas:
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I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a
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spoiler at noonday: I have caused <I>him</I> to fall upon it suddenly,
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and terrors upon the city.
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9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the
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ghost; her sun is gone down while <I>it was</I> yet day: she hath been
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ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to
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the sword before their enemies, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We scarcely find any where more pathetic expressions of divine wrath
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against a provoking people than we have here in these verses. The
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prophet had prayed earnestly for them, and found some among them to
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join with him; and yet not so much as a reprieve was gained, nor the
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least mitigation of the judgment; but this answer is given to the
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prophet's prayers, that the decree had gone forth, was irreversible,
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and would shortly be executed. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. What the sin was upon which this severe sentence was grounded.
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1. It is in remembrance of a former iniquity; it is because of
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Manasseh, for that which he did in Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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What that was we are told, and that it was for it that Jerusalem was
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destroyed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+24:3,4">2 Kings xxiv. 3, 4</A>.
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It was for his idolatry, and <I>the innocent blood which he shed, which
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the Lord would not pardon.</I> He is called <I>the son of Hezekiah</I>
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because his relation to so good a father was a great aggravation of his
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sin, so far was it from being an excuse of it. The greatest part of a
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generation was worn off since Manasseh's time, yet his sin is brought
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into the account; as in Jerusalem's last ruin God brought upon it all
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<I>the righteous blood shed on the earth,</I> to show how heavy the
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guilt of blood will light and lie somewhere, sooner or later, and that
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reprieves are not pardons.
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2. It is in consideration of their present impenitence. See how their
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sin is described
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Thou hast forsaken me,</I> my service and thy duty to me; <I>thou
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hast gone backward</I> into the ways of contradiction, art become the
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reverse of what thou shouldst have been and of what God by his law
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would have led thee forward to." See how the impenitence is described
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>They return not from their ways,</I> the ways of their own hearts,
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into the ways of God's commandments again. There is mercy for those who
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have turned aside if they will return; but what favour can those expect
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that persist in their apostasy?</P>
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<P>
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II. What the sentence is. It is such as denotes no less than an utter
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ruin.</P>
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<P>
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1. God himself abandons and abhors them: <I>My mind cannot be towards
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them.</I> How can it be thought that the holy God should have any
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remaining complacency in those that have such a rooted antipathy to
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him? It is not in a passion, but with a just and holy indignation, that
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he says, "<I>Cast them out of my sight,</I> as that which is in the
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highest degree odious and offensive, and <I>let them go forth,</I> for
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I will be troubled with them no more."</P>
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<P>
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2. He will not admit any intercession to be made for them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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"<I>Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,</I> by prayer or sacrifice
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to reconcile me to them, yet I could not be prevailed with to admit
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them into favour." Moses and Samuel were two as great favourites of
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Heaven as ever were the blessings of this earth, and were particularly
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famed for the success of their mediation between God and his offending
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people; many a time they would have been destroyed if Moses had not
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stood before him in the breach; and to Samuel's prayers they owed their
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lives
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+12:19">1 Sam. xii. 19</A>);
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yet even their intercessions should not prevail, no, not though they
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were now in a state of perfection, much less Jeremiah's who was now
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<I>a man subject to like passions</I> as others. The putting of this
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as a case, <I>Though they should stand before me,</I> supposes that
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they do not, and is an intimation that saints in heaven are not
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intercessors for saints on earth. It is the prerogative of the Eternal
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Word to be the only Mediator in <I>the other world,</I> whatever Moses,
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and Samuel, and others were in this.</P>
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<P>
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3. He condemns them all to one destroying judgment or other. When God
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casts them out of his presence, <I>whither shall they go forth?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Certainly nowhere to be safe or easy, but to be met by one judgment
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while they are pursued by another, till they find themselves surrounded
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with mischiefs on all hands, so that they cannot escape; <I>Such as are
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for death to death.</I> By death here is meant the pestilence
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:8">Rev. vi. 8</A>),
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for it is death without visible means. <I>Such as are for death to
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death,</I> or <I>for the sword to the sword;</I> every man shall perish
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in that way that God has appointed: the law that appoints the
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malefactor's death determines what death he shall die. Or, He that is
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by his own choice for this judgment, let him take it, or for that, let
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him take it, but by the one or the other they shall all fall and none
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shall escape. It is a choice like that which David was put to, and was
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thereby put into a <I>great strait,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:14">2 Sam. xxiv. 14</A>.
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<I>Captivity</I> is mentioned last, some think, because the sorest
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judgment of all, it being both a complication and continuance of
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miseries. That of <I>the sword</I> is again repeated
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and is made the first of another four frightful set of destroyers,
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which God will <I>appoint over them,</I> as officers over the soldiers,
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to do what they please with them. As those that escape <I>the sword</I>
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shall be cut off by pestilence, famine, or captivity, so those that
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fall by the sword shall be cut off by divine vengeance, which pursues
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sinners on the other side death; there shall be <I>dogs to tear</I> in
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the field to devour. And, if there be any that think to outrun justice,
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they shall be made the most public monuments of it: <I>They shall be
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removed into all kingdoms of the earth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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like Cain, who, that he might be made a spectacle of horror to all,
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became <I>a fugitive and a vagabond</I> in the earth.</P>
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<P>
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4. They shall fall without being relieved. Who can do any thing to help
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them? for
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(1.) God, even their own God (so he had been) appears against them:
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<I>I will stretch out my hand against thee,</I> which denotes a
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deliberate determined stroke, which will reach far and wound deeply.
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<I>I am weary with repenting</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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it is a strange expression; they had behaved so provokingly, especially
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by their treacherous professions of repentance, that they had put even
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infinite patience itself to the stretch. God had often turned away his
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wrath when it was ready to break forth against them; but now he will
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grant no more reprieves. Miserable is the case of those who have sinned
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so long against God's mercy that at length they have sinned it away.
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(2.) Their own country expels them, and is ready to <I>spue them
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out,</I> as it had done the Canaanites that were before them; for so it
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was threatened
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:28">Lev. xviii. 28</A>):
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<I>I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land,</I> in their
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own gates, through which they shall be scattered, or <I>into the gates
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of the earth,</I> into the cities of all the nations about them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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(3.) Their own children, that should assist them when they speak with
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the enemy in the gate, shall be cut off from them: <I>I will bereave
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them of children,</I> so that they shall have little hopes that the
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next generation will retrieve their affairs, for <I>I will destroy my
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people;</I> and, when the inhabitants are slain, the land will soon be
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desolate. This melancholy article is enlarged upon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>,
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where we have,
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[1.] The destroyer brought upon them. When God has bloody work to do he
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will find out bloody instruments to do it with. Nebuchadnezzar is here
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called <I>a spoiler at noon-day,</I> not a thief in the night, that is
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afraid of being discovered, but one that without fear shall break
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through and destroy all the fences of rights and properties, and this
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in the face of the sun and in defiance of its light: <I>I have brought
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against the mother a young man, a spoiler</I> (so some read it); for
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Nebuchadnezzar, when he first invaded Judah, was but a <I>young
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man,</I> in the first year of his reign. We read it, <I>I have brought
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upon them,</I> even <I>against the mother of the young men, a
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spoiler,</I> that is, against Jerusalem, a mother city, that had a very
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numerous family of young men: or that invasion was in a particular
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manner terrible to those mothers who had many sons fit for war, who
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must now hazard their lives in the high places of the field, and, being
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an unequal match for the enemy, would be likely to fall there, to the
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inexpressible grief of their poor mothers, who had nursed them up with
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a great deal of tenderness. The same God that brought the spoiler upon
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them <I>caused him to fall upon it,</I> that is, upon the spoil
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delivered to him, <I>suddenly</I> and by surprise; and then
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<I>terrors</I> came <I>upon the city.</I> the original is very
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abrupt--<I>the city and terrors. O the city!</I> what a consternation
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will it then be in! <I>O the terrors</I> that shall then seize it! Then
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the city and terrors shall be brought together, that seemed at a
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distance from each other. <I>I will cause to fall suddenly upon her</I>
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(upon Jerusalem) <I>a watcher and terrors;</I> so Mr. Gataker reads it,
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for the word is used for a watcher
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:13,23">Dan. iv. 13, 23</A>),
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and the Chaldean soldiers were called watchers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+4:16"><I>ch.</I> iv. 16</A>.
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[2.] The destruction made by this destroyer. A dreadful slaughter is
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here described. <I>First,</I> The wives are deprived of their husbands:
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<I>Their widows are increased above the sand of the seas,</I> so
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numerous have they now grown. It was promised that the men of Israel
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(for those only were numbered) should be <I>as the sand of the sea for
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multitude;</I> but now <I>they</I> shall be all cut off, and their
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widows shall be so. But observe, God says, <I>They are increased to
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me.</I> Though the husbands were cut off by the sword of his justice,
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their poor widows were gathered in the arms of his mercy, who has taken
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it among the titles of his honour to be <I>the God of the widows.</I>
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Widows are said to be <I>taken into the number,</I> the number of those
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whom God has a particular compassion and concern for. <I>Secondly,</I>
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The parents are deprived of their children: <I>She that has borne
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seven</I> sons, whom she expected to be the support and joy of her age,
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now <I>languishes,</I> when she has seen them all cut off by the sword
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in one day, who had been many years her burden and care. <I>She that
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had many children has waxed feeble,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:5">1 Sam. ii. 5</A>.
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See what uncertain comforts children are; and let us therefore rejoice
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in them <I>as though we rejoiced not.</I> When the children are slain
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the mother <I>gives up the ghost,</I> for her life was bound up in
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theirs: <I>Her sun has gone down while it was yet day;</I> she is
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bereaved of all her comforts just when she thought herself in the midst
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of the enjoyment of them. She is now <I>ashamed and confounded</I> to
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think how proud she was of her sons, how fond of them, and how much she
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promised herself from them. Some understand, by this languishing
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mother, Jerusalem lamenting the death of her inhabitants as
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passionately as ever poor mother bewailed her children. Many are cut
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off already, <I>and the residue of them,</I> who have yet escaped, and,
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as was hoped, were reserved to be the seed of another generation, even
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these <I>will I deliver to the sword before their enemies</I> (as the
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condemned malefactor is delivered to the sheriff to be executed),
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<I>saith the Lord,</I> the Judge of heaven and earth, who, we are sure,
|
|
herein judges according to truth, though the judgment seem severe.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. They shall fall without being pitied
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>For who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem?</I> When thy God has
|
|
<I>cast thee out of his sight,</I> and his compassions fail and are
|
|
shut up from thee, neither thy enemies nor thy friends shall have any
|
|
compassion for thee. They shall have no sympathy with thee; they shall
|
|
not <I>bemoan thee</I> nor be sorry for thee; they shall have no
|
|
concern for thee, shall not go a step out of their way to <I>ask how
|
|
thou dost.</I>" For,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their friends, who were expected to do these friendly offices,
|
|
were all involved with them in the calamities, and had enough to do to
|
|
bemoan themselves.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was plain to all their neighbours that they had brought all
|
|
this misery upon themselves by their obstinacy in sin, and that they
|
|
might easily have prevented it by repentance and reformation, which
|
|
they were often in vain called to; and therefore <I>who can pity them?
|
|
O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself.</I> Those will perish for ever
|
|
unpitied that might have been saved upon such easy terms and would not.
|
|
|
|
(3.) God will thus complete their misery. He will set their
|
|
acquaintance, as he did Job's at a distance from them; and his hand,
|
|
his righteous hand, is to be acknowledged in all the unkindnesses of
|
|
our friends, as well as in all the injuries done us by our foes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_14"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prophet's Complaint; The Prophet Assured of His Safety.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of
|
|
strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither
|
|
lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; <I>yet</I> every one
|
|
of them doth curse me.
|
|
11 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;
|
|
verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee <I>well</I> in the time
|
|
of evil and in the time of affliction.
|
|
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
|
|
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil
|
|
without price, and <I>that</I> for all thy sins, even in all thy
|
|
borders.
|
|
14 And I will make <I>thee</I> to pass with thine enemies into a
|
|
land <I>which</I> thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine
|
|
anger, <I>which</I> shall burn upon you.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Jeremiah has now returned from his public work and retired into his
|
|
closet; what passed between him and his God there we have an account of
|
|
in these and the following verses, which he published afterwards, to
|
|
affect the people with the weight and importance of his messages to
|
|
them. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The complaint which the prophet makes to God of the many
|
|
discouragements he met with in his work,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He met with a great deal of contradiction and opposition. He was a
|
|
<I>man of strife and contention to the whole land</I> (so it might be
|
|
read, rather than to <I>the whole earth,</I> for his business lay only
|
|
in that land); both city and country quarrelled with him, and set
|
|
themselves against him, and said and did all they could to thwart him.
|
|
He was a peaceable man, gave no provocation to any, nor was apt to
|
|
resent the provocations given him, and yet <I>a man of strife,</I> not
|
|
a man striving, but a man striven with; he was for peace, but, when he
|
|
spoke, they were for war. And, whatever they pretended, that which was
|
|
the real cause of their quarrels with him was his faithfulness to God
|
|
and to their souls. He showed them their sins that were working their
|
|
ruin, and put them into a way to prevent that ruin, which was the
|
|
greatest kindness he could do them; and yet this was it for which they
|
|
were incensed against him and looked upon him as their enemy. Even the
|
|
prince of peace himself was thus a man of strife, a sign spoken
|
|
against, continually <I>enduring the contradiction of sinners against
|
|
himself.</I> And the gospel of peace brings division, even to fire and
|
|
sword,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:34,35,Lu+12:49,51">Matt. x. 34, 35; Luke xii. 49, 51</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now this made Jeremiah very uneasy, even to a degree of impatience. He
|
|
cried out, <I>Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me,</I> as if
|
|
it were his mother's fault that she bore him, and he had better never
|
|
have been born than be born to such an uncomfortable life; nay, he is
|
|
angry that she had <I>borne him a man of strife,</I> as if he had been
|
|
fatally determined to this by the stars that were in the ascendant at
|
|
his birth. If he had any meaning of this kind, doubtless it was very
|
|
much his infirmity; we rather hope it was intended for no more than a
|
|
pathetic lamentation of his own case. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Even those who are most quiet and peaceable, if they serve God
|
|
faithfully, are often made men of strife. We can but <I>follow
|
|
peace;</I> we have the making only of one side of the bargain, and
|
|
therefore can but, <I>as much as in us lies, live peaceably.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is very uncomfortable to those who are of a peaceable
|
|
disposition to live among those who are continually picking quarrels
|
|
with them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Yet, if we cannot live so peaceably as we desire with our
|
|
neighbours, we must not be so disturbed at it as thereby to lose the
|
|
repose of our own minds and put ourselves upon the fret.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He met with a great deal of contempt, contumely, and reproach. They
|
|
every one of them cursed him; they branded him as a turbulent factious
|
|
man, as an incendiary and a sower of discord and sedition. They ought
|
|
to have blessed him, and to have blessed God for him; but they had
|
|
arrived at such a pitch of enmity against God and his word that for his
|
|
sake they cursed his messenger, spoke ill of him, wished ill to him,
|
|
did all they could to make him odious. They all did so; he had scarcely
|
|
one friend in Judah or Jerusalem that would give him a good word. Note,
|
|
It is often the lot of the best of men to have the worst of characters
|
|
ascribed to them. <I>So persecuted they the prophets.</I> But one would
|
|
be apt to suspect that surely Jeremiah had given them some provocation,
|
|
else he could not have lost himself thus: no, not the least: <I>I have
|
|
neither lent</I> money <I>nor borrowed</I> money, have been neither
|
|
creditor nor debtor; for so general is the signification of the words
|
|
here.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is implied here that those who deal much in the business of
|
|
this world are often involved thereby in strife and contention; <I>meum
|
|
et tuum--mine and thine</I> are the great make-bates; lenders and
|
|
borrowers sue and are sued, and great dealers often get a great deal of
|
|
ill-will.
|
|
|
|
(2.) it was an instance of Jeremiah's great prudence, and it is written
|
|
for our learning, that, being called to be a prophet, he <I>entangled
|
|
not himself in the affairs of this life,</I> but kept clear from them,
|
|
that he might apply the more closely to the business of his profession
|
|
and might not give the least shadow of suspicion that he aimed at
|
|
secular advantages in it nor any occasion to his neighbours to contend
|
|
with him. He <I>put out</I> no money, for he was no usurer, nor indeed
|
|
had he any money to lend: he <I>took up</I> no money, for he was no
|
|
purchaser, no merchant, no spendthrift. He was perfectly dead to this
|
|
world and the things of it: a very little served to keep him, and we
|
|
find
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+16:2"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 2</A>)
|
|
|
|
that he had neither wife nor children to keep. And yet,
|
|
|
|
(3.) Though he behaved thus discreetly, and so as one would think
|
|
should have gained him universal esteem, yet he lay under a general
|
|
odium, through the iniquity of the times. Blessed be God, bad as things
|
|
are with us, they are not so bad but that there are those with whom
|
|
virtue has its praise; yet let not those who behave most prudently
|
|
think it strange if they have not the respect and esteem they deserve.
|
|
<I>Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The answer which God gave to this complaint. Though there was in it
|
|
a mixture of passion and infirmity, yet God graciously took cognizance
|
|
of it, because it was <I>for his sake</I> that the prophet suffered
|
|
reproach. In this answer,
|
|
|
|
1. God assures him that he should weather the storm and be made easy at
|
|
last,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though his neighbours quarrelled with him for what he did in the
|
|
discharge of his office, yet God accepted him and promised to stand by
|
|
him. It is in the original expressed in the form of an oath: "<I>If
|
|
I</I> take not care of thee, let me never be counted faithful;
|
|
<I>verily it shall go well with thy remnant,</I> with the remainder of
|
|
thy life" (for so the word signifies); "the residue of thy days shall
|
|
be more comfortable to thee than those hitherto have been." <I>Thy end
|
|
shall be good;</I> so the Chaldee reads it. Note, It is a great and
|
|
sufficient support to the people of God that, how troublesome soever
|
|
their way may be, it shall be well with them in their latter end,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:37">Ps. xxxvii. 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
They have still a <I>remnant,</I> a <I>residue,</I> something behind
|
|
and left in reserve, which will be sufficient to counterbalance all
|
|
their grievances, and the hope of it may serve to make them easy. It
|
|
should seem that Jeremiah, besides the vexation that his people gave
|
|
him, was uneasy at the apprehension he had of sharing largely in the
|
|
public judgments which he foresaw coming; and, though he mentioned not
|
|
this, God replied to his thought of it, as to Moses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:19">Exod. iv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jeremiah thought, "If my friends are thus abusive to me, what will my
|
|
enemies be?" And God had thought fit to awaken in him an expectation of
|
|
this kind,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:5"><I>ch.</I> xii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
But here he quiets his mind with this promise: "<I>Verily I will cause
|
|
the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil,</I> when all about
|
|
thee shall be laid waste." Note, God has all men's hearts in his hand,
|
|
and can turn those to favour his servants whom they were most afraid
|
|
of. And the prophets of the Lord have often met with fairer and better
|
|
treatment among open enemies than among those that call themselves his
|
|
people. When we see trouble coming, and it looks very threatening, let
|
|
us not despair, but hope in God, because it may prove better than we
|
|
expect. This promise was accomplished when Nebuchadnezzar, having taken
|
|
the city, charged the captain of the guard to be kind to Jeremiah, and
|
|
let him have every thing he had a mind to,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+39:11,12"><I>ch.</I> xxxix. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The following words, <I>Shall iron break the northern iron, and the
|
|
steel,</I> or <I>brass?</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
being compared with the promise of God made to Jeremiah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:18"><I>ch.</I> i. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he would make him an <I>iron pillar</I> and <I>brazen walls,</I>
|
|
seem intended for his comfort. They were continually clashing with him,
|
|
and were rough and hard as iron; but Jeremiah, being armed with power
|
|
and courage from on high, is as northern iron, which is naturally
|
|
stronger, and as steel, which is hardened by art; and therefore they
|
|
shall not prevail against him; compare this with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+2:6,3:8,9">Ezek. ii. 6; iii. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He might the better bear their quarrelling with him when he was sure of
|
|
the victory.
|
|
|
|
2. God assures him that his enemies and persecutors should be lost in
|
|
the storm, should be ruined at last, and that therein the word of God
|
|
in his mouth should be accomplished and he proved a true prophet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
God here turns his speech from the prophet to the people. To them also
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>
|
|
|
|
may be applied: <I>Shall iron break the northern iron, and the
|
|
steel?</I> Shall their courage and strength, and the most hardly and
|
|
vigorous of their efforts, be able to contest either with the counsel
|
|
of God or with the army of the Chaldeans, which are as inflexible, as
|
|
invincible, as the northern iron and steel. Let them therefore hear
|
|
their doom: <I>Thy substance and thy treasure will I give to the
|
|
spoil,</I> and that <I>without price;</I> the spoilers shall have it
|
|
<I>gratis;</I> it shall be to them a cheap and easy prey. Observe, The
|
|
prophet was poor; he neither lent nor borrowed; he had nothing to lose,
|
|
neither <I>substance.</I> nor <I>treasure,</I> and therefore the enemy
|
|
will treat him well, <I>Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator--The
|
|
traveller that has no property about him will congratulate himself when
|
|
accosted by a robber.</I> But the people that had great estates in
|
|
money and land would be slain for what they had, or the enemy, finding
|
|
they had much, would use them hardly, to make them confess more. And it
|
|
is their own iniquity that herein corrects them: It is <I>for all thy
|
|
sins, even in all thy borders.</I> All parts of the country, even those
|
|
which lay most remote, had contributed to the national guilt, and all
|
|
shall now be brought to account. Let not one tribe lay the blame upon
|
|
another, but each take shame to itself: It is for <I>all thy sins in
|
|
all thy borders.</I> Thus shall they stay at home till they see their
|
|
estates ruined, and then they shall be carried into captivity, to spend
|
|
the sad remains of a miserable life in slavery: "<I>I will make thee to
|
|
pass with thy enemies,</I> who shall lead thee in triumph <I>into a
|
|
land that thou knowest not,</I> and therefore canst expect to find no
|
|
comfort in it." All this is the fruit of God's wrath: "It is <I>a fire
|
|
kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you,</I> and, if not
|
|
extinguished in time, will burn eternally."</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer15_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prophet's Humble Appeal to God; God's Answer to Jeremiah's Address.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge
|
|
me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know
|
|
that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
|
|
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was
|
|
unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by
|
|
thy name, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of hosts.
|
|
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I
|
|
sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with
|
|
indignation.
|
|
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, <I>which</I>
|
|
refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar,
|
|
<I>and as</I> waters <I>that</I> fail?
|
|
19 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, If thou return, then will I
|
|
bring thee again, <I>and</I> thou shalt stand before me: and if thou
|
|
take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth:
|
|
let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
|
|
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall:
|
|
and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail
|
|
against thee: for I <I>am</I> with thee to save thee and to deliver
|
|
thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I
|
|
will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here, as before, we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet's humble address to God, containing a representation
|
|
both of his integrity and of the hardships he underwent
|
|
notwithstanding. It is a matter of comfort to us that, whatever ails
|
|
us, we have a God to go to, before whom we may spread our case and to
|
|
whose omniscience we may appeal, as the prophet here, "<I>O Lord! thou
|
|
knowest;</I> thou knowest my sincerity, which men are resolved they
|
|
will not acknowledge; thou knowest my distress, which men disdain to
|
|
take notice of." Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What it is that the prophet prays for,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God would consider his case and be mindful of him: "<I>O
|
|
Lord! remember me;</I> think upon me for good."
|
|
|
|
(2.) That God would communicate strength and comfort to him: "<I>Visit
|
|
me;</I> not only remember me, but let me know that thou rememberest me,
|
|
that thou art nigh unto me."
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he would appear for him against those that did him wrong:
|
|
<I>Revenge me of my persecutors,</I> or rather, <I>Vindicate me from my
|
|
persecutors;</I> give judgment against them, and let that judgment be
|
|
executed so far as is necessary for my vindication and to compel them
|
|
to acknowledge that they have done me wrong. Further than this a good
|
|
man will not desire that God should avenge him. Let something be done
|
|
to convince the world that (whatever blasphemers say to the contrary)
|
|
Jeremiah is a righteous man and the God whom he serves is a righteous
|
|
God.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That he would yet spare him and continue him in the land of the
|
|
living: "<I>Take me not away</I> by a sudden stroke, but <I>in thy
|
|
long-suffering</I> lengthen out my days." The best men will own
|
|
themselves so obnoxious to God's wrath that they are indebted to his
|
|
patience for the continuance of their lives. Or, "While thou exercisest
|
|
long-suffering towards my persecutors, let not them prevail to take me
|
|
away." Though in a passion he complained of his birth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet he desires here that his death might not be hastened; for life is
|
|
sweet to nature, and the life of a useful man is so to grace. <I>I
|
|
pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What it is that he pleads with God for mercy and relief against his
|
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enemies, persecutors, and slanderers.</P>
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|
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<P>
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(1.) That God's honour was interested in this case: <I>Know,</I> and
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make it known, <I>that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.</I> Those
|
|
that lay themselves open to reproach by their own fault and folly have
|
|
great reason to bear it patiently, but no reason to expect that God
|
|
should appear for them. But if it is for doing well that we suffer ill,
|
|
and for righteousness' sake that we have all manner of evil said
|
|
against us, we may hope that God will vindicate our honour with his
|
|
own. To the same purport
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
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|
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<I>I am called by thy name, O Lord of hosts!</I> It was for that reason
|
|
that his enemies hated him, and therefore for that reason he promised
|
|
himself that God would own him and stand by him.</P>
|
|
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<P>
|
|
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(2.) That the word of God, which he was employed to preach to others,
|
|
he had experienced the power and pleasure of in his own soul, and
|
|
therefore had the graces of the Spirit to qualify him for the divine
|
|
favour, as well as his gifts. We find some rejected of God who yet
|
|
could say, <I>Lord, we have prophesied in thy name.</I> But Jeremiah
|
|
could say more
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
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"<I>Thy words were found,</I> found <I>by me</I>" (he searched the
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scripture, diligently studied the law, and found that in it which was
|
|
reviving to him: if we seek we shall find), "found <I>for me</I>" (the
|
|
words which he was to deliver to others were laid ready to his hand,
|
|
were brought to him by inspiration), "<I>and I did</I> not only taste
|
|
them, but <I>eat them,</I> received them entirely, conversed with them
|
|
intimately; they were welcome to me, as food to one that is hungry; I
|
|
entertained them, digested them, turned them <I>in succum et
|
|
sanguinem--into blood and spirits,</I> and was myself delivered into
|
|
the mould of those truths which I was to deliver to others." The
|
|
prophet was told to <I>eat the roll,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+2:8,Re+10:9">Ezek. ii. 8; Rev. x. 9</A>.
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<I>I did eat it</I>--that is, as it follows, it <I>was to me the joy
|
|
and rejoicing of my heart,</I> nothing could be more agreeable.
|
|
Understand it,
|
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|
|
[1.] Of the message itself which he was to deliver. Though he was to
|
|
foretel the ruin of his country, which was dear to him, and in the ruin
|
|
of which he could not but have a deep share, yet all natural affections
|
|
were swallowed up in zeal for God's glory, and even these messages of
|
|
wrath, being divine messages, were a satisfaction to him. He also
|
|
rejoiced, at first, in hope that the people would take warning and
|
|
prevent the judgment. Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] Of the commission he received to deliver this message. Though the
|
|
work he was called to was not attended with any secular advantages,
|
|
but, on the contrary, exposed him to contempt and persecution, yet,
|
|
because it put him in a way to serve God and do good, he took pleasure
|
|
in it, was glad to be so employed, and it was his <I>meat and drink to
|
|
do the will of him that sent him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:34">John iv. 34</A>.
|
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Or,
|
|
|
|
[3.] Of the promise God gave him that he would assist and own him in
|
|
his work
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:18"><I>ch.</I> i. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
he was satisfied in that, and depended upon it, and therefore hoped it
|
|
should not fail him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he had applied himself to the duty of his office with all
|
|
possible gravity, seriousness, and self-denial, though he had had of
|
|
late but little satisfaction in it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] It was his comfort that he had given up himself wholly to the
|
|
business of his office and had done nothing either to divert himself
|
|
from it or disfit himself for it. He kept no unsuitable company,
|
|
denied himself the use even of lawful recreations, abstained from every
|
|
thing that looked like levity, lest thereby he should make himself mean
|
|
and less regarded. He <I>sat alone,</I> spent a great deal of time in
|
|
his closet, <I>because of the hand</I> of the Lord that was strong upon
|
|
him to carry him on his work,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:14">Ezek. iii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>For thou hast filled me with indignation,</I> with such messages of
|
|
wrath against this people as have made me always pensive." Note, It
|
|
will be a comfort to God's ministers, when men despise them, if they
|
|
have the testimony of their consciences for them that they have not by
|
|
any vain foolish behaviour made themselves despicable, that they have
|
|
been dead not only to the wealth of the world, as this prophet was
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
but to the pleasures of it too, as here. But,
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is his complaint that he had had but little pleasure in his
|
|
work. It was at first the rejoicing of his heart, but of late it had
|
|
made him melancholy, so that he had no heart to <I>sit in the meeting
|
|
of those that make merry.</I> He cared not for company, for indeed no
|
|
company cared for him. He <I>sat alone,</I> fretting at the people's
|
|
obstinacy and the little success of his labours among them. This filled
|
|
him with a holy <I>indignation.</I> Note, It is the folly and infirmity
|
|
of some good people that they lose much of the pleasantness of their
|
|
religion by the fretfulness and uneasiness of their natural temper,
|
|
which they humour and indulge, instead of mortifying it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He throws himself upon God's pity and promise in a very passionate
|
|
expostulation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Why is my pain perpetual,</I> and nothing done to ease it? Why are
|
|
the wounds which my enemies are continually giving both to my peace and
|
|
to my reputation incurable, and nothing done to retrieve either my
|
|
comfort or my credit? I once little thought that I should be thus
|
|
neglected; will the God that has promised me his presence <I>be to me
|
|
as a liar,</I> the God on whom I depend to be me <I>as waters that
|
|
fail?</I>" We are willing to make the best we can of it, and to take it
|
|
as an appeal,
|
|
|
|
[1.] To the mercy of God: "I know he will not let the pain of his
|
|
servant be perpetual, but he will ease it, will not let his wound be
|
|
incurable, but he will heal it; and therefore I will not despair."
|
|
|
|
[2.] To his faithfulness: "<I>Wilt thou be to me as a liar?</I> No; I
|
|
know thou wilt not. God is not a man that he should lie. The fountain
|
|
of life will never be to his people as <I>waters that fail.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God's gracious answer to this address,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:19-21"><I>v.</I> 19-21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though the prophet betrayed much human frailty in his address, yet God
|
|
vouchsafed to answer him with good words and comfortable words; for he
|
|
knows our frame. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What God here requires of him as the condition of the further
|
|
favours he designed him. Jeremiah had done and suffered much for God,
|
|
yet God is no debtor to him, but he is still upon his good behaviour.
|
|
God will own him. But,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He must recover his temper, and be reconciled to his work, and
|
|
friends with it again, and not quarrel with it any more as he had done.
|
|
He must <I>return,</I> must shake off these distrustful discontented
|
|
thoughts and passions, and not give way to them, must regain the
|
|
peaceable possession and enjoyment of himself, and resolve to be easy.
|
|
Note, When we have stepped aside into any disagreeable frame or way our
|
|
care must be to return and compose ourselves into a right temper of
|
|
mind again; and <I>then</I> we may expect God will help us, if thus we
|
|
endeavour to help ourselves.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He must resolve to be faithful in his work, for he could not
|
|
expect the divine protection any longer than he did approve himself so.
|
|
Though there was no cause at all to charge Jeremiah with
|
|
unfaithfulness, and God knew his heart to be sincere, yet God saw fit
|
|
to give him this caution. Those that do their duty must not take it ill
|
|
to be told their duty. In two things he must be faithful:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] He must distinguish between some and others of those he preached
|
|
to: Thou must <I>take forth the precious from the vile.</I> The
|
|
righteous are the precious be they ever so mean and poor; the wicked
|
|
are the vile be they ever so rich and great. In our congregations these
|
|
are mixed, wheat and chaff in the same floor; we cannot distinguish
|
|
them by name, but we must by character, and must give to each a
|
|
portion, speaking comfort to precious saints and terror to vile
|
|
sinners, neither <I>making the heart of the righteous sad</I> nor
|
|
<I>strengthening the hands of the wicked</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+13:22">Ezek. xiii. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
but <I>rightly dividing the word of truth.</I> Ministers must take
|
|
those whom they see to be precious into their bosoms, and not <I>sit
|
|
alone</I> as Jeremiah did, but keep up conversation with those they may
|
|
do good to and get good by.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He must closely adhere to his instructions, and not in the least
|
|
vary from them: <I>Let them return to thee, but return not thou to
|
|
them,</I> that is, he must do the utmost he can, in his preaching, to
|
|
bring people up to the mind of God; he must tell them they must, at
|
|
their peril, comply with that. Those that had flown off from him, that
|
|
did not like the terms upon which God's favour was offered to them,
|
|
"<I>Let them return to thee,</I> and, upon second thoughts, come up to
|
|
the terms and strike the bargain; but do not thou <I>return to
|
|
them,</I> do not compliment them, nor comply with them, nor think to
|
|
make the matter easier to them than the word of God has made it." Men's
|
|
hearts and lives must come up to God's law and comply with that, for
|
|
God's law will never come down to them nor comply with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What God here promises to him upon the performance of these
|
|
conditions. If he approve himself well,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God will tranquilize his mind and pacify the present tumult of his
|
|
spirits: <I>If thou return, I will bring thee again,</I> will
|
|
<I>restore thy soul,</I> as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+23:3">Ps. xxiii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
The best and strongest saints, if at any time they have gone aside out
|
|
of the right way, and are determined to return, need the grace of God
|
|
to bring them again.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God will employ him in his service as a prophet, whose work, even
|
|
in those bad times, had comfort and honour enough in it to be its own
|
|
wages: "<I>Thou shalt stand before me,</I> to receive instructions from
|
|
me, as a servant from his master; and <I>thou shalt be as my mouth</I>
|
|
to deliver my messages to the people, as an ambassador is the mouth of
|
|
the prince that sends him." Note, Faithful ministers are God's mouth to
|
|
us; they are so to look upon themselves, and to speak God's mind and
|
|
<I>as becomes the oracles of God;</I> and we are so to look upon them,
|
|
and to hear God speaking to us by them. Observe, If thou keep close to
|
|
thy instructions, <I>thou shalt be as my mouth,</I> not otherwise; so
|
|
far, and no further, God will stand by ministers, as they go by the
|
|
written word. "<I>Thou shalt be as my mouth,</I> that is, what thou
|
|
sayest shall be made good, as if I myself had said it." See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:26,1Sa+3:19">Isa. xliv. 26; 1 Sam. iii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He shall have strength and courage to face the many difficulties
|
|
he meets with in his work, and his spirit shall not fail again as now
|
|
it does
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will make thee unto this people as a fenced brazen wall,</I>
|
|
which the storm batters and beats violently upon, but cannot shake.
|
|
<I>Return not thou to them</I> by any sinful compliances, and then
|
|
trust thy God to arm thee by his grace with holy resolutions. Be not
|
|
cowardly, and God will make thee daring." He had complained that he was
|
|
made a <I>man of strife.</I> "Expect to be so (says God); they will
|
|
<I>fight against thee,</I> they will still continue their opposition,
|
|
<I>but they shall not prevail against thee</I> to drive thee off from
|
|
thy work nor to cut thee off from the land of the living."
|
|
|
|
(4.) He shall have God for his protector and mighty deliverer: <I>I am
|
|
with thee to save thee.</I> Those that have God with them have a
|
|
Saviour with them who has wisdom and strength enough to deal with the
|
|
most formidable enemy; and those that are with God, and faithful to
|
|
him, he will deliver
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
|
|
|
|
either from trouble or through it. They may perhaps fall <I>into the
|
|
hand of the wicked,</I> and they may appear terrible to them, but God
|
|
will rescue them <I>out of their hands.</I> They shall not be able to
|
|
kill them till they have finished their testimony; they shall not
|
|
prevent their happiness. God will so deliver them as to <I>preserve
|
|
them to his heavenly kingdom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+4:18">2 Tim. iv. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that is deliverance enough. There are many things that appear very
|
|
frightful that yet do not prove at all hurtful to a good man.</P>
|
|
|
|
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