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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. VIII.</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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The prophet proceeds, in this chapter, both to magnify and to justify
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the destruction that God was bringing upon this people, to show how
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grievous it would be and yet how righteous.
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I. He represents the judgments coming as so very terrible that death
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should appear so as most to be dreaded and yet should be desired,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. He aggravates the wretched stupidity and wilfulness of this people
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as that which brought this ruin upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:4-12">ver. 4-12</A>.
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III. He describes the great confusion and consternation that the whole
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land should be in upon the alarm of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:13-17">ver. 13-17</A>.
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IV. The prophet is himself deeply affected with it and lays it very
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much to heart,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:18-22">ver. 18-22</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_3"> </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>Indignities Threatened to the Dead.</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 At that time, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, they shall bring out the bones
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of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the
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bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the
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bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
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2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and
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all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have
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served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have
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sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be
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gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of
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the earth.
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3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue
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of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the
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places whither I have driven them, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These verses might fitly have been joined to the close of the foregoing
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chapter, as giving a further description of the dreadful desolation
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which the army of the Chaldeans should make in the land. It shall
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strangely alter the property of death itself, and for the worse
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too.</P>
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<P>
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I. Death shall not now be, as it always used to be--the repose of the
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dead. When Job makes his court to the grave it is in hope of this, that
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<I>there he shall rest with kings and counsellors of the earth;</I> but
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now the ashes of the dead, even of <I>kings</I> and <I>princes,</I>
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shall be disturbed, and their <I>bones scattered at the grave's
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mouth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:7">Ps. cxli. 7</A>.
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It was threatened in the close of the former chapter that the slain
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should be unburied; that might be through neglect, and was not so
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strange; but here we find the graves of those that were buried
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industriously and maliciously opened by the victorious enemy, who
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either for covetousness, hoping to find treasure in the graves, or for
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spite to the nation and in a rage against it, <I>brought out the bones
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of the kings of Judah and the princes.</I> The dignity of their
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sepulchres could not secure them, nay, did the more expose them to be
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rifled; but it was base and barbarous thus to trample upon royal dust.
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We will hope that the bones of good Josiah were not disturbed, because
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he piously protected the bones of the man of God when he burnt the
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bones of the idolatrous priests,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:18">2 Kings xxiii. 18</A>.
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The bones of the priests and prophets too were digged up and thrown
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about. Some think the false prophets and the idol-priests, God putting
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this mark of ignominy upon them: but, if they were God's prophets and
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his priests, it is what the Psalmist complains of as the fruit of the
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outrage of the enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:1,2">Ps. lxxix. 1, 2</A>.
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Nay, those of the spiteful Chaldeans that could not reach to violate
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the sepulchres of princes and priests would rather play at small game
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than sit out, and therefore pulled the bones of the ordinary
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<I>inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves.</I> The barbarous
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nations were sometimes guilty of these absurd and inhuman triumphs over
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those they had conquered, and God permitted it here, for a mark of his
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displeasure against the generation of his wrath, and for terror to
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those that survived. The bones, being dug out of the graves, were
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spread abroad upon the face of the earth in contempt, and to make the
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reproach the more spreading and lasting. They spread them to be dried
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that they might carry them about in triumph, or might make fuel of
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them, or make some superstitious use of them. <I>They shall be spread
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before the sun</I> (for they shall not be ashamed openly to avow the
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fact at noon day) and before <I>the moon and</I> stars, even <I>all the
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host of heaven,</I> whom they have made idols of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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From the mention of the <I>sun, moon, and stars,</I> which should be
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the unconcerned spectators of this tragedy, the prophet takes occasion
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to show how they had idolized them, and paid those respects to them
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which they should have paid to God only, that it might be observed how
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little they got by worshipping the creature, for the creatures they
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worshipped when they were in distress saw it, but regarded it not, nor
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gave them any relief, but were rather pleased to see those abused in
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being vilified by whom they had been abused in being deified. See how
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their respects to their idols are enumerated, to show how we ought to
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behave towards our God.
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1. They <I>loved</I> them. As amiable being and bountiful benefactors
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they esteemed them and delighted in them, and therefore did all that
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follows.
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2. They <I>served</I> them, did all they could in honour of them, and
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thought nothing too much; they conformed to all the laws of their
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superstition, without disputing.
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3. They <I>walked after</I> them, strove to imitate and resemble them,
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according to the characters and accounts of them they had received,
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which gave rise and countenance to much of the abominable wickedness of
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the heathen.
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4. They <I>sought</I> them, consulted them as oracles, appealed to them
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as judges, implored their favour, and prayed to them as their
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benefactors.
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5. They <I>worshipped</I> them, gave them divine honour, as having a
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sovereign dominion over them. Before these light of heaven, which they
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had courted, shall their dead bodies be cast, and left to putrefy, and
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to be <I>as dung upon the face of the earth;</I> and the sun's shining
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upon them will but make them the more noisome and offensive. Whatever
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we make a god of but the true God only, it will stand us in no stead on
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the other side death and the grave, nor for the body, much less for the
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soul.</P>
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<P>
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II. Death shall now be what it never used to be--the choice of the
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living, not because there appears in it any thing delightsome; on the
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contrary, death never appeared in more horrid frightful shapes than
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now, when they cannot promise themselves either a comfortable death or
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a human burial; and yet every thing in this world shall become so
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irksome, and all the prospects so black and dismal, that <I>death shall
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be chosen rather than life</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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not in a believing hope of happiness in the other life, but in an utter
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despair of any ease in this life. The nation is now reduced to a
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<I>family,</I> so small is <I>the residue of those that remain</I> in
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it; and it is an <I>evil family,</I> still as bad as ever, their hearts
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unhumbled and their lusts unmortified. These <I>remain</I> alive (and
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that is all) in the many <I>places whither they were driven</I> by the
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judgments of God, some prisoners in the country of their enemies,
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others beggars in their neighbour's country, and others fugitives and
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vagabonds there and in their own country. And, though those that died
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died very miserably, yet those that survived and were thus driven out
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should live yet more miserably, so that they should <I>choose death
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rather than life,</I> and wish a thousand times that they had fallen
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with those that fell by the sword. Let this cure us of the inordinate
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love of life, that the case may be such that it may become a burden and
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terror, and we may be strongly tempted to <I>choose strangling</I> and
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death rather.</P>
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<A NAME="Jer8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Full of Impenitent Sinners; Hardened Wickedness 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>4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Shall
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they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
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5 Why <I>then</I> is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
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perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to
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return.
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6 I hearkened and heard, <I>but</I> they spake not aright: no man
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repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every
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one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
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7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and
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the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of
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their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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8 How do ye say, We <I>are</I> wise, and the law of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I>
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with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he <I>it;</I> the pen of the
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scribes <I>is</I> in vain.
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9 The wise <I>men</I> are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo,
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they have rejected the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and what wisdom <I>is</I> in
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them?
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10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, <I>and</I> their
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fields to them that shall inherit <I>them:</I> for every one from the
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least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the
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prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
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11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people
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slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when <I>there is</I> no peace.
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12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay,
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they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore
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shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their
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visitation they shall be cast down, 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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The prophet here is instructed to set before this people the folly of
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their impenitence, which was it that brought this ruin upon them. They
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are here represented as the most stupid senseless people in the world,
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that would not be made wise by all the methods that Infinite Wisdom
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took to bring them to themselves and their right mind, and so to
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prevent the ruin that was coming upon them.</P>
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<P>
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I. They would not attend to the dictates of reason. They would not act
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in the affairs of their souls with the same common prudence with which
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they acted in other things. Sinners would become saints if they would
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but show themselves men, and religion would soon rule them if right
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reason might. Observe it here. <I>Come, and let us reason together,
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saith the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>):
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<I>Shall men fall and not arise?</I> If men happen to fall to the
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ground, to fall into the dirt, will they not get up again as fast as
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they can? They are not such fools as to lie still when they are down.
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Shall <I>a man turn aside</I> out of the right way? Yes, the most
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careful traveller may miss his way; but then, as soon as he is aware of
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it, <I>will he not return?</I> Yes, certainly he will, with all speed,
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and will thank him that showed him his mistake. Thus men do in other
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things. <I>Why then has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
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perpetual backsliding?</I> Why do not they, when they have fallen into
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sin, hasten to get up again by repentance? Why do not they, when they
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see they have missed their way, correct their error and reform? No man
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in his wits will go on in a way that he knows will never bring him to
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his journey's end; <I>why then has this people slidden back by a
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perpetual backsliding?</I> See the nature of sin--it is a
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<I>backsliding</I> it is going back from the right way, not only into a
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by-path, but into a contrary path, back from the way that leads to life
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to that which leads to utter destruction. And this backsliding, if
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almighty grace do not interpose to prevent it, will be a perpetual
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backsliding. The sinner not only wanders endlessly, but proceeds
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end-ways towards ruin. The same subtlety of the tempter that brings men
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to sin holds them fast in it, and they contribute to their own
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captivity: <I>They hold fast deceit.</I> Sin is a great cheat, and they
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<I>hold it fast;</I> they love it dearly, and resolve to stick to it,
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and baffle all the methods God takes to separate between them and their
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sins. The excuses they make for their sins are deceits, and so are all
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their hopes of impunity; yet they hold fast these, and will not be
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undeceived, and therefore <I>they refuse to return.</I> Note, There is
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some deceit or other which those hold fast that go on wilfully in
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sinful ways, some <I>lie in their right hand,</I> by which they keep
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hold of their sins.</P>
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<P>
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II. They would not attend to the dictates of conscience, which is our
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reason reflecting upon ourselves and our own actions,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Observe,
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1. What expectations there were from them, that they would bethink
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themselves: <I>I hearkened and heard.</I> The prophet listened to see
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what effect his preaching had upon them; God himself listened, as one
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that desires not the death of sinners, that would have been glad to
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hear any thing that promised repentance, that would certainly have
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heard it if there had been any thing said of that tendency, and would
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soon have answered it with comfort, as he did David when he said, <I>I
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will confess,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:5">Ps. xxxii. 5</A>.
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God <I>looks upon men</I> when they have done amiss
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:27">Job xxxiii. 27</A>),
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to see what they will do next; he <I>hearkens and hears.</I>
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2. How these expectations were disappointed: <I>They spoke not
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aright,</I> as I thought they would have done. They did not only not
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<I>do right,</I> but not so much as <I>speak right;</I> God could not
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get a good word from them, nothing on which to ground any favour to
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them or hopes concerning them. There was <I>none of them</I> that
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<I>spoke aright,</I> none that <I>repented him of his wickedness.</I>
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those that have sinned then, and then only, speak aright when they
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speak of repenting; and it is sad when those that have made so much
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work for repentance do not say a word of repenting. Not only did God
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not find any repenting of the national wickedness, which might have
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helped to empty the measure of public guilt, but none repented of that
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particular wickedness which he knew himself guilty of.
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(1.) They did not so much as take the first step towards repentance;
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they did not so much as say, <I>What have I done?</I> There was no
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motion towards it, not the least sign or token of it. Note, True
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repentance beings in a serious and impartial inquiry into ourselves,
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<I>what have we done,</I> arising from a conviction that we have done
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amiss.
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(2.) They were so far from repenting of their sins that they went on
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resolutely in their sins: <I>Every one turned to his course,</I> his
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wicked course, that course of sin which he had chosen and accustomed
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himself to, <I>as the horse rushes into the battle,</I> eager upon
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action, and scorning to be curbed. How the horse rushes into the battle
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is elegantly described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:21">Job xxxix. 21</A>,
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&c. <I>He mocks at fear and is not affrighted.</I> Thus the daring
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sinner laughs at the threatenings of the word as bugbears, and runs
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violently upon the instruments of death and slaughter, and nothing will
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be restrained from him.</P>
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<P>
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III. They would not attend to the dictates of providence, nor
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understand the voice of God in them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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It is an instance of their sottishness that, though they are God's
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people, and therefore should readily understand his mind upon every
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intimation of it, yet they <I>know not the judgment of the Lord;</I>
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they apprehend not the meaning either of a mercy or an affliction, not
|
|
how to accommodate themselves to either, nor to answer God's intention
|
|
in either. They know not how to improve the seasons of grave that God
|
|
affords them when he sends them his prophets, nor how to make use of
|
|
the rebukes they are under when <I>his voice cries in the city.</I>
|
|
They <I>discern not the signs of the times</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+16:3">Matt. xvi. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor are aware how God is dealing with them. They know not that way of
|
|
duty which God had prescribed them, though it be written both in their
|
|
hearts and in their books.
|
|
|
|
2. It is an aggravation of their sottishness that there is so much
|
|
sagacity in the inferior creatures. <I>The stork in the heaven knows
|
|
her appointed times</I> of coming and continuing; so do other
|
|
season-birds, <I>the turtle, the crane, and the swallow.</I> These by a
|
|
natural instinct change their quarters, as the temper of the air
|
|
alters; they come when the spring comes, and go, we know not whither,
|
|
when the winter approaches, probably into warmer climates, as some
|
|
birds come with winter and go when that is over.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. They would not attend to the dictates of the written word. They
|
|
say, <I>We are wise;</I> but <I>how</I> can they say so?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
With what face can they pretend to any thing of wisdom, when they do
|
|
not understand themselves so well as the brute-creatures? Why, truly,
|
|
they think they are wise because <I>the law of the Lord is with
|
|
them,</I> the book of the law and the interpreters of it; and their
|
|
neighbours, for the same reason, conclude they are wise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:6">Deut. iv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But their pretensions are groundless for all this: <I>Lo, certainly in
|
|
vain made he it;</I> surely never any people had Bibles to so little
|
|
purpose as they have. They might as well have been without the law,
|
|
unless they had made a better use of it. God has indeed made it able to
|
|
make men wise to salvation, but as to them it is made so in vain, for
|
|
they are never the wiser for it: <I>The pen of the scribes,</I> of
|
|
those that first wrote the law and of those that now write expositions
|
|
of it, <I>is in vain.</I> Both the favour of their God and the labour
|
|
of their scribes are lost upon them; they receive the grace of God
|
|
therein in vain. Note, There are many that enjoy abundance of the means
|
|
of grace, that have great plenty of Bibles and ministers, but they have
|
|
them in vain; they do not answer the end of their having them. But it
|
|
might be said, They have some wise men among them, to whom the law and
|
|
the pen of the scribes are not in vain. To this it is answered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The wise men are ashamed,</I> that is, they have reasons to be so,
|
|
that they have not made a better use of their wisdom, and lived more up
|
|
to it. <I>They are confounded and taken;</I> all their wisdom has not
|
|
served to keep them from those courses that tend to their ruin. They
|
|
are taken in the same snares that others of their neighbours, who have
|
|
not pretended to so much wisdom, are taken in, and filled with the same
|
|
confusion. Those that have more knowledge than others, and yet do no
|
|
better than others for their own souls, have reason to be ashamed. They
|
|
talk of their wisdom, but, <I>Lo, they have rejected the word of the
|
|
Lord;</I> they would not be governed by it, would not follow its
|
|
direction, would not do what they knew; <I>and</I> then <I>what wisdom
|
|
is in them?</I> None to any purpose; none that will be found to their
|
|
praise at the great day, how much soever it is found to their pride
|
|
now. The pretenders to wisdom, who said, "<I>We are wise and the law of
|
|
the Lord is with us,</I>" were the priests and the false prophets; with
|
|
them the prophet here deals plainly.
|
|
|
|
1. He threatens the judgments of God against them. Their families and
|
|
estates shall be ruined
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Their wives shall be given to others,</I> when they are taken
|
|
captives, <I>and their fields.</I> shall be taken from them by their
|
|
victorious enemy and shall be given <I>to those that shall inherit
|
|
them,</I> not only strip them for once, but take possession of them as
|
|
their own and acquire a property in them as their own and acquire a
|
|
property in them, which they shall transmit to their posterity. And
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
notwithstanding all their pretensions to wisdom and sanctity, <I>they
|
|
shall fall among those that fall;</I> for, <I>if the blind lead the
|
|
blind, both shall fall together into the ditch. In the time of their
|
|
visitation,</I> when the wickedness of the land comes to be enquired
|
|
into, it will be found that they have contributed to it more than any,
|
|
and therefore <I>they shall be</I> sure to be <I>cast down</I> and cast
|
|
out.
|
|
|
|
2. He gives a reason for these judgments
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:10-12"><I>v.</I> 10-12</A>),
|
|
|
|
even the same account of their badness which we meet with before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:13-15"><I>ch.</I> vi. 13-15</A>),
|
|
|
|
where it was opened at large.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They were greedy of the wealth of this world, which is bad enough
|
|
in any, but worst in prophets and priests, who should be best
|
|
acquainted with another world and therefore should be most dead to
|
|
this. But these, <I>from the least to the greatest,</I> were <I>given
|
|
to covetousness.</I> The <I>priests teach for hire</I> and the
|
|
<I>prophets divine for money,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+3:11">Mic. iii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They made no conscience of speaking truth, no, not when they spoke
|
|
as priests and prophets: <I>Every one deals falsely,</I> looks one way
|
|
and rows another. There is no such thing as sincerity among them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They flattered people in their sins, and so flattered them into
|
|
destruction. They pretended to be the physicians of the state, but
|
|
knew not how to apply proper remedies to its growing maladies; they
|
|
<I>healed them slightly,</I> killed the patient with palliative cures,
|
|
silencing their fears and complaints with, "<I>Peace, peace,</I> all is
|
|
well, and there is no danger," when the God of heaven was proceeding in
|
|
his controversy with them, so that there could be no peace to them.
|
|
|
|
(4.) When it was made to appear how basely they prevaricated
|
|
<I>they</I> were not at all ashamed of it, but rather gloried in it,
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They could not blush,</I> so perfectly lost were they to all sense
|
|
of virtue and honour. When they were convicted of the grossest
|
|
forgeries they would justify what they had done, and laugh at those
|
|
whom they had imposed upon. Such as these were ripe for ruin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer8_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Destruction Threatened for Sin; Despair of Sinners in Trouble; The Prophet's Lamentation.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 I will surely consume them, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: <I>there shall be</I>
|
|
no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf
|
|
shall fade; and <I>the things that</I> I have given them shall pass
|
|
away from them.
|
|
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter
|
|
into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall
|
|
to drink, because we have sinned against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
15 We looked for peace, but no good <I>came; and</I> for a time of
|
|
health, and behold trouble!
|
|
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole
|
|
land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones;
|
|
for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in
|
|
it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
|
|
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you,
|
|
which <I>will</I> not <I>be</I> charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
18 <I>When</I> I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart <I>is</I>
|
|
faint in me.
|
|
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people
|
|
because of them that dwell in a far country: <I>Is</I> not the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in
|
|
Zion? <I>is</I> not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to
|
|
anger with their graven images, <I>and</I> with strange vanities?
|
|
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not
|
|
saved.
|
|
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am
|
|
black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
|
|
22 <I>Is there</I> no balm in Gilead; <I>is there</I> no physician there?
|
|
why then is not the health of the daughter of my people
|
|
recovered?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God threatening the destruction of a sinful people. He has borne
|
|
long with them, but they are still more and more provoking, and
|
|
therefore now their ruin is resolved on: <I>I will surely consume them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
consuming I will consume them,</I> not only surely, but utterly,
|
|
consume them, will follow them with one judgment after another, till
|
|
they are quite consumed; it is a <I>consumption determined,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:23">Isa. x. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. They shall be quite stripped of all their comforts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There shall be no grapes on the vine.</I> Some understand this as
|
|
intimating their sin; God came looking for grapes from this vineyard,
|
|
seeking fruit upon this fig-tree, but he <I>found none</I> (as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:2,Lu+13:6">Isa. v. 2, Luke xiii. 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
nay, they had not so much as leaves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:19">Matt. xxi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
But it is rather to be understood of God's judgments upon them, and may
|
|
be meant literally--The enemy shall seize the fruits of the earth,
|
|
shall pluck the grapes and figs for themselves and beat down the very
|
|
leaves with them; or, rather, figuratively--They shall be deprived of
|
|
all their comforts and shall have nothing left them wherewith to
|
|
<I>make glad their hearts.</I> It is expounded in the last clause:
|
|
<I>The things that I have given them shall pass away from them.</I>
|
|
Note, God's gifts are upon condition, and revocable upon
|
|
non-performance of the condition. Mercies abused are forfeited, and it
|
|
is just with God to take the forfeiture.
|
|
|
|
2. They shall be set upon by all manner of grievances, and surrounded
|
|
with calamities
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will send serpents among you,</I> the Chaldean army, fiery
|
|
serpents, flying serpents, cockatrices; these shall bite them with
|
|
their venomous teeth, give them wounds that shall be mortal; and they
|
|
<I>shall not be charmed,</I> as some serpents used to be, with music.
|
|
These are serpents of another nature, that are not so wrought upon, or
|
|
they are as <I>the deaf adder, that stops her ear, and will not hear
|
|
the voice of the charmer.</I> The enemies are so intent upon making
|
|
slaughter that it will be to no purpose to accost them gently, or offer
|
|
any thing to pacify them, or mollify them, or to bring them to a better
|
|
temper. No peace with God, therefore none with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The people sinking into despair under the pressure of those
|
|
calamities. Those that were void of fear (when the trouble was at a
|
|
distance) and set it at defiance, are void of hope now that it breaks
|
|
in upon them, and have no heart either to make head against it or to
|
|
bear up under it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They cannot think themselves safe in the open villages: <I>Why do we
|
|
sit still here?</I> Let us <I>assemble, and go</I> into a body <I>into
|
|
the defenced cities.</I> Though they could expect no other than to be
|
|
surely cut off there at last, yet not so soon as in the country, and
|
|
therefore, "<I>Let us go, and be silent there;</I> let us attempt
|
|
nothing, nor so much as make a complaint; for to what purpose?" It is
|
|
not a submissive, but a sullen silence, that they here condemn
|
|
themselves to. Those that are most jovial in their prosperity commonly
|
|
despond most, and are most melancholy, in trouble. Now observe what it
|
|
is that sinks them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They are sensible that God is angry with them: "<I>The Lord our God
|
|
has put us to silence,</I> has struck us with astonishment, and
|
|
<I>given us water of gall to drink,</I> which is both bitter and
|
|
stupifying, or intoxicating.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+60:3">Ps. lx. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.</I> We had
|
|
better sit still than rise up and fall; better say nothing than say
|
|
nothing to the purpose. To what purpose is it to contend with our fate
|
|
when God himself has become our enemy and fights against us?
|
|
<I>Because we have sinned against the Lord,</I> therefore we are
|
|
brought to the plunge." This may be taken as the language,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Of their indignation. They seem to quarrel with God as if he had
|
|
dealt hardly with them in putting them to silence, not permitting them
|
|
to speak for themselves, and then telling them that it was because they
|
|
had sinned against him. Thus men's foolishness <I>perverts their way,
|
|
and</I> then <I>their hearts fret against the Lord.</I> Or rather,
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of their convictions. At length they begin to see the hand of God
|
|
lifted up against them, and stretched out in the calamities under which
|
|
they are now groaning, and to own that they have provoked him to
|
|
contend with them. Note, Sooner or later God will bring the most
|
|
obstinate to acknowledge both his providence and his justice in all the
|
|
troubles they are brought into, to see and say both that it is his hand
|
|
and that he is righteous.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They are sensible that the enemy is likely to be too hard for them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are soon apprehensive that it is to no purpose to make head
|
|
against such a mighty force; they and their people are quite
|
|
dispirited; and, when the courage of a nation is gone, their numbers
|
|
will stand them in little stead. <I>The snorting of the horses was
|
|
heard from Dan,</I> that is, the report of the formidable strength of
|
|
their cavalry was soon carried all the nation over and every body
|
|
<I>trembled at the sound of the neighing of his steeds;</I> for <I>they
|
|
have devoured the land and all that is in the city;</I> both town and
|
|
country are laid waste before them, not only the wealth, but the
|
|
inhabitants, of both, <I>those that dwell therein.</I> Note, When God
|
|
appears against us, every thing else that is against us appears very
|
|
formidable; whereas, if he be for us, every thing appears very
|
|
despicable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:3">Rom. viii. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. They are disappointed in their expectations of deliverance out of
|
|
their troubles, as they had been surprised when their troubles came
|
|
upon them; and this double disappointment very much aggravated their
|
|
calamity.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The trouble came when they little expected it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>We looked for peace,</I> the continuance of our peace, <I>but no
|
|
good came,</I> no good news from abroad; we looked <I>for a time of
|
|
health</I> and prosperity to our nation, but, <I>behold, trouble,</I>
|
|
the alarms of war; for, as it follows
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>the noise of the</I> enemies' <I>horses was heard from Dan.</I>
|
|
Their false prophets had cried <I>Peace, peace,</I> to them, which made
|
|
it the more terrible when the scene of war opened on a sudden. This
|
|
complaint will occur again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:19"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The deliverance did not come when they had long expected it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The harvest is past, the summer is ended;</I> that is, there is a
|
|
great deal of time gone. Harvest and summer are parts of the year, and
|
|
when they are gone the year draws towards a conclusion; so the meaning
|
|
is, "One year passes after another, one campaign after another, and yet
|
|
our affairs are in as bad a posture as ever they were; no relief comes,
|
|
nor is any thing done towards it: <I>We are not saved.</I>" Nay, there
|
|
is a great deal of opportunity lost, the season of action is over and
|
|
slipped, the summer and harvest are gone, and a cold and melancholy
|
|
winter succeeds. Note, The salvation of God's church and people often
|
|
goes on very slowly, and God keeps his people long in the expectation
|
|
of it, for wise and holy ends. Nay, they stand in their own light, and
|
|
put a bar in their own door, and are not saved because they are not
|
|
ready for salvation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. They are deceived in those things which were their confidence and
|
|
which they thought would have secured their peace to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The daughter of my people</I> cries, cries aloud, <I>because of
|
|
those that dwell in a far country,</I> because of the foreign enemy
|
|
that invades them, that comes from a far country to take possession of
|
|
ours; this occasions the cry; and what is the cry? It is this: <I>Is
|
|
not the Lord in Zion? Is not her king in her?</I> These were the two
|
|
things that they had all along buoyed up themselves with and depended
|
|
upon,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they had among them the temple of God, and the tokens of his
|
|
special presence with them. The common cant was, "<I>Is not the Lord in
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Zion?</I> What danger then need we fear?" And they held by this when
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|
the trouble was breaking in upon them. "Surely we shall do well enough,
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|
for have we not God among us?" But, when it grew to an extremity, it
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|
was an aggravation of their misery that they had thus flattered
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|
themselves.
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|
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(2.) That they had the throne of the house of David. As they had a
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temple, so they had a monarchy, <I>jure divino--by divine right: Is not
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Zion's king in her?</I> And will not Zion's God protect Zion's king and
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|
his kingdom? Surely he will; but why does he not? "What" (say they)
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|
"has Zion neither a God nor a king to stand by her and help her, that
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|
she is thus run down and likely to be ruined?" This outcry of theirs
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|
reflects upon God, as if his power and promise were broken or weakened;
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|
and therefore he returns an answer to it immediately: <I>Why have they
|
|
provoked me to anger with their graven images?</I> They quarrel with
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God as if he had dealt unkindly by them in forsaking them, whereas they
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|
by their idolatry had driven him from them; they have withdrawn from
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|
their allegiance to him, and so have thrown themselves out of this
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|
protection. They <I>fret themselves, and curse their king and their
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|
God</I>
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:21">Isa. viii. 21</A>),
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when it is their own sin that <I>separates between them and God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+59:2">Isa. lix. 2</A>);
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|
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they <I>feared not the Lord,</I> and then <I>what can a king do for
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|
them?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+10:3">Hos. x. 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. We have here the prophet himself bewailing the calamity and ruin
|
|
of his people; for there were more of the lamentations of Jeremiah than
|
|
those we find in the book that bears that title. Observe here,
|
|
|
|
1. How great his griefs were. He was an eyewitness of the desolations
|
|
of his country, and saw those things which by the spirit of prophecy he
|
|
had foreseen. In the foresight, much more in the sight, of them, he
|
|
cries out, "<I>My heart is faint in me,</I> I sink, I die away at the
|
|
consideration of it,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
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<I>When I would comfort myself against my sorrow,</I> I do but labour
|
|
in vain; nay, every attempt to alleviate the grief does but aggravate
|
|
it." It is our wisdom and duty, under mournful events, to do what we
|
|
can to <I>comfort ourselves against our sorrow,</I> by suggesting to
|
|
ourselves such considerations as are proper to allay the grief and
|
|
balance the grievance. But sometimes the sorrow is such that the more
|
|
it is repressed the more strongly it recoils. This may sometimes be the
|
|
case of very good men, as of the prophet here, whose soul refused to be
|
|
comforted and fainted at the cordial,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:2,3">Ps. lxxvii. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
He tells us
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
|
|
|
|
what was the matter: "It is <I>for the hurt of the daughter of my
|
|
people</I> that <I>I am</I> thus <I>hurt;</I> it is for their sin, and
|
|
the miseries they have brought upon themselves by it; it is for this
|
|
that <I>I am black,</I> that I look black, that I go in black as
|
|
mourners do, and that <I>astonishment has taken hold on me,</I> so that
|
|
I know not what to do nor which way to turn." Note, The miseries of our
|
|
country ought to be very much the grief of our souls. A gracious spirit
|
|
will be a public spirit, a tender spirit, a mourning spirit. It becomes
|
|
us to lament the miseries of our fellow-creatures, much more to lay to
|
|
heart the calamities of our country, and especially of the church of
|
|
God, to <I>grieve for the affliction of Joseph.</I> Jeremiah had
|
|
prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, and, though the truth of his
|
|
prophecy was questioned, yet he did not rejoice in the proof of the
|
|
truth of his prophecy was questioned, yet he did not rejoice in the
|
|
proof of the truth of it by the accomplishment of it, preferring the
|
|
welfare of his country before his own reputation. If Jerusalem had
|
|
repented and been spared, he would have been far from fretting as Jonah
|
|
did. Jeremiah had many enemies in Judah and Jerusalem, that hated, and
|
|
reproached, and persecuted him; and in the judgments brought upon them
|
|
God reckoned with them for it and pleaded his prophet's cause; yet he
|
|
was far from rejoicing in it, so truly did he forgive his enemies and
|
|
desire that God would forgive them.
|
|
|
|
2. How small his hopes were
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Is there no balm in Gilead</I>--no medicine proper for a sick and
|
|
dying kingdom? <I>Is there no physician there</I>--no skilful faithful
|
|
hand to apply the medicine?" He looks upon the case to be deplorable
|
|
and past relief. There is no balm in Gilead that can cure the disease
|
|
of sin, no physician there that can restore the health of a nation
|
|
quite overrun by such a foreign army as that of the Chaldeans. The
|
|
desolations made are irreparable, and the disease has presently come to
|
|
such a height that there is no checking it. Or
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:22">this verse</A>
|
|
|
|
may be understood as laying all the blame of the incurableness of their
|
|
disease upon themselves; and so the question must be answered
|
|
affirmatively: <I>Is there no balm in Gilead--no physician there?</I>
|
|
Yes, certainly there is; God is able to help and heal them, there is a
|
|
sufficiency in him to redress all their grievances. Gilead was a place
|
|
in their own land, not far off. They had among themselves God's law and
|
|
his prophets, with the help of which they might have been brought to
|
|
repentance, and their ruin might have been prevented. They had princes
|
|
and priests, whose business it was to reform the nation and redress
|
|
their grievances. What could have been done more than had been done for
|
|
their recovery? <I>Why then was not</I> their health restored?
|
|
Certainly it was not owing to God, but to themselves; it was not for
|
|
want of balm and a physician, but because they would not admit the
|
|
application nor submit to the methods of cure. The physician and
|
|
physic were both ready, but the patient was wilful and irregular, would
|
|
not be tied to rules, but must be humoured. Note, If sinners die of
|
|
their wounds, their blood is upon their own heads. The blood of Christ
|
|
is balm in Gilead, his Spirit is the physician there, both sufficient,
|
|
all-sufficient, so that they might have been healed, but would not.</P>
|
|
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