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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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. X.</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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We may conjecture that the prophecy of this chapter was delivered after
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the first captivity, in the time of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, when many
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were carried away to Babylon; for it has a double reference:--
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I. To those that were carried away into the land of the Chaldeans, a
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country notorious above any other for idolatry and superstition; and
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they are here cautioned against the infection of the place, not to
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learn the way of the heathen
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>),
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for their astrology and idolatry are both foolish things
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>),
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and the worshippers of idols brutish,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>.
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So it will appear in the day of their visitation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:14,15">ver. 14, 15</A>.
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They are likewise exhorted to adhere firmly to the God of Israel, for
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there is none like him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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He is the true God, lives for ever, and has the government of the world
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:10-13">ver. 10-13</A>),
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and his people are happy in him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:16">ver. 16</A>.
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II. To those that yet remained in their own land. They are cautioned
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against security, and told to expect distress
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>)
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and that by a foreign enemy, which God would bring upon them for their
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sin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:20-22">ver. 20-22</A>.
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This calamity the prophet laments
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:19">ver. 19</A>)
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and prays for the mitigation of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:23-25">ver. 23-25</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer10_16"> </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>Solemn Charge to Israel; The Folly of Idolatry.</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 Hear ye the word which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> speaketh unto you, O house of
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Israel:
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2 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be
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not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed
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at them.
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3 For the customs of the people <I>are</I> vain: for <I>one</I> cutteth a
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tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman,
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with the axe.
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4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with
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nails and with hammers, that it move not.
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5 They <I>are</I> upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must
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needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them;
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for they cannot do evil, neither also <I>is it</I> in them to do good.
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6 Forasmuch as <I>there is</I> none like unto thee, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; thou
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<I>art</I> great, and thy name <I>is</I> great in might.
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7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth
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it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise <I>men</I> of the
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nations, and in all their kingdoms, <I>there is</I> none like unto
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thee.
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8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock <I>is</I> a
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doctrine of vanities.
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9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold
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from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the
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founder: blue and purple <I>is</I> their clothing: they <I>are</I> all the
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work of cunning <I>men.</I>
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10 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> the true God, he <I>is</I> the living God, and
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an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and
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the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
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11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the
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heavens and the earth, <I>even</I> they shall perish from the earth,
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and from under these heavens.
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12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the
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world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his
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discretion.
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13 When he uttereth his voice, <I>there is</I> a multitude of waters
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in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the
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ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth
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forth the wind out of his treasures.
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14 Every man is brutish in <I>his</I> knowledge: every founder is
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confounded by the graven image: for his molten image <I>is</I>
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falsehood, and <I>there is</I> no breath in them.
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15 They <I>are</I> vanity, <I>and</I> the work of errors: in the time of
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their visitation they shall perish.
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16 The portion of Jacob <I>is</I> not like them: for he <I>is</I> the
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former of all <I>things;</I> and Israel <I>is</I> the rod of his
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inheritance: The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts <I>is</I> his name.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet Isaiah, when he prophesied of the captivity in Babylon,
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added warnings against idolatry and largely exposed the sottishness of
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idolaters, not only because the temptations in Babylon would be in
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danger of drawing the Jews there to idolatry, but because the
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afflictions in Babylon were designed to cure them of their idolatry.
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Thus the prophet Jeremiah here arms people against the idolatrous
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usages and customs of the heathen, not only for the use of those that
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had gone to Babylon, but of those also that staid behind, that being
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convinced and reclaimed, by the word of God, the rod might be
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prevented; and it is <I>written for our learning.</I> Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. A solemn charge given to the people of God not to conform themselves
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to the ways and customs of the heathen. Let the house of Israel hear
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and receive this word from the God of Israel: "<I>Learn not the way of
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the heathen,</I> do not approve of it, no, nor think indifferently
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concerning it, much less imitate it or accustom yourselves to it. Let
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not any of their customs steal in among you (as they are apt to do
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insensibly) nor mingle themselves with your religion." Note, It ill
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becomes those that are taught of God to <I>learn the way of the
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heathen,</I> and to think of worshipping the true God with such rites
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and ceremonies as they used in the worship of their false gods. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+12:29-31">Deut. xii. 29-31</A>.
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It was the way of the heathen to worship the host of heaven, the sun,
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moon, and stars; to them they gave divine honours, and from them they
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expected divine favours, and therefore, according as <I>the signs of
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heaven</I> were, whether they were auspicious or ominous, they thought
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themselves countenanced or discountenanced by their deities, which
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made them observe those signs, the eclipses of the sun and moon, the
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conjunctions and oppositions of the planets, and all the unusual
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phenomena of the celestial globe, with a great deal of anxiety and
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trembling. Business was stopped if any thing occurred that was thought
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to bode ill; if it did but thunder on their left hand, they were almost
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as if they had been thunderstruck. Now God would not have his people to
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be <I>dismayed at the signs of heaven,</I> to reverence the stars as
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deities, nor to frighten themselves with any prognostications grounded
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upon them. Let them fear the God of heaven, and keep up a reverence of
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his providence, and then they need not be <I>dismayed at the signs of
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heaven,</I> for the <I>stars in their courses</I> fight not against any
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that are at peace with God. The heathen are dismayed at these signs,
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for they know no better; but let not the <I>house of Israel,</I> that
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are taught of God, be so.</P>
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<P>
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II. Divers good reasons given to enforce this charge.</P>
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<P>
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1. The way of the heathen is very ridiculous and absurd, and is
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condemned even by the dictates of right reason,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The statutes and ordinances of the heathen are vanity itself; they
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cannot stand the test of a rational disquisition. This is again and
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again insisted upon here, as it was by Isaiah. The Chaldeans valued
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themselves upon their wisdom, in which they thought that they excelled
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all their neighbours; but the prophet here shows that they, and all
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others that worshipped idols and expected help and relief from them,
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were brutish and sottish, and had not common sense.
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(1.) Consider what the idol is that is worshipped. It was a <I>tree cut
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out of the forest</I> originally. It was fitted up by <I>the hands of
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the workman,</I> squared, and sawed, and worked into shape; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:12">Isa. xliv. 12</A>,
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&c. But, after all, it was but the stock of a tree, fitter to make a
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gate-post of than any thing else. But, to hide the wood, <I>they deck
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it with silver and gold,</I> they gild or lacquer it, or they deck it
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with gold and silver lace, or cloth of tissue. <I>They fasten it</I> to
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its place, which they themselves have assigned it, <I>with nails and
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hammers,</I> that it fall not, nor be thrown down, nor stolen away,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The image is made straight enough, and it cannot be denied but that the
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workman did his part, for it <I>is upright as the palm-tree</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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it looks stately, and stands up as if it were going to speak to you,
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but it <I>cannot speak;</I> it is a poor dumb creature; nor can it take
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one step towards your relief. If there be any occasion for it to shift
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its place, it must be carried in procession, for it <I>cannot go.</I>
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Very fitly does the admonition come in here, "<I>Be not afraid of
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them,</I> any more than of the signs of heaven; be not afraid of
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incurring their displeasure, for <I>they can do no evil;</I> be not
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afraid of forfeiting their favour, <I>for neither is it in them to do
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good.</I> If you think to mend the matter by mending the materials of
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which the idol is made, you deceive yourselves. Idols of gold and
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silver are an unworthy to be worshipped as wooden gods. <I>The stock is
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a doctrine of vanities,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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It teaches lies, teaches lies concerning God. It is <I>an instruction
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of vanities; it is wood.</I>" It is probable that the idols of gold and
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silver had wood underneath for the substratum, and then <I>silver
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spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,</I> imported from beyond
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sea, <I>and gold from Uphaz,</I> or <I>Phaz,</I> which is sometimes
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rendered the <I>fine</I> or <I>pure gold,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:3">Ps. xxi. 3</A>.
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A great deal of art is used, and pains taken, about it. They are not
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such ordinary mechanics that are employed about these as about the
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wooden gods,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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These are cunning men; it is <I>the work of the workman;</I> the graver
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must do his part when it has passed through <I>the hands of the
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founder.</I> Those were but decked here and there with silver and gold;
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these are silver and gold all over. And, that these gods might be
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reverenced as kings, <I>blue and purple are their clothing,</I> the
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colour of royal robes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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which amuses ignorant worshippers, but makes the matter no better. For
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what is the idol when it is made and when they have made the best they
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can of it? He tells us
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
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<I>They are falsehood;</I> they are not what they pretend to be, but a
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great cheat put upon the world. They are worshipped as the gods that
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give us breath and life and sense, whereas they are lifeless senseless
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things themselves, and <I>there is no breath in them;</I> there is
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<I>no spirit in them</I> (so the word is); they are not animated, or
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inhabited, as they are supposed to be, by any <I>divine spirit</I> or
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<I>numen--divinity.</I> They are so far from being gods that they have
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not so much as the <I>spirit of a beast that goes downward. They are
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vanity, and the work of errors,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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Enquire into the use of them and you will find they are vanity; they
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are good for nothing; no help is to be expected from them nor any
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confidence put in them. They are a <I>deceitful work, works of
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illusions,</I> or <I>mere mockeries;</I> so some read the following
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clause. They <I>delude</I> those that put their trust in them, make
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fools of them, or, rather, they make fools of themselves. Enquire into
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the use of them and you will find they are <I>the work of errors,</I>
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grounded upon the grossest mistakes that ever men who pretended to
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reason were guilty of. They are the creatures of a deluded fancy; and
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the errors by which they were produced they propagate among their
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worshippers.
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(2.) Infer hence what the idolaters are that worship these idols.
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>They are altogether brutish and foolish.</I> Those that make them
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are like unto them, senseless and stupid, and there is no spirit in
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them--no use of reason, else they would never stoop to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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<I>Every man</I> that makes or worships idols has become <I>brutish in
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his knowledge,</I> that is, brutish for want of knowledge, or brutish
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in that very thing which one would think they should be fully
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acquainted with; compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:10">Jude 10</A>,
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<I>What they know naturally,</I> what they cannot but know by the light
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of nature, <I>in those things as brute beasts they corrupt
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themselves.</I> Though in the works of creation they cannot but see the
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eternal power and godhead of the Creator, yet they have become <I>vain
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in their imaginations, not liking to retain God in their knowledge.</I>
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:21,28">Rom. i. 21, 28</A>.
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Nay, whereas they thought it a piece of wisdom thus to multiply gods,
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it really was the greatest folly they could be guilty of. <I>The world
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by wisdom knew not God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:21,Ro+1:22">1 Cor. i. 21; Rom. i. 22</A>.
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<I>Every founder</I> is himself <I>confounded by the graven image;</I>
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when he has made it by a mistake he is more and more confirmed in his
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mistake by it; he is bewildered, bewitched, and cannot disentangle
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himself from the snare; or it is what he will one time or other be
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ashamed of.</P>
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<P>
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2. The God of Israel is the one only living and true God, and those
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that have him for their God need not make their application to any
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other; nay, to set up any other in competition with him is the greatest
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affront and injury that can be done him. Let the house of Israel cleave
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to the God of Israel and serve and worship him only, for,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He is a non-such. Whatever men may set in competition with him,
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there is none to be compared with him. The prophet turns from speaking
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with the utmost disdain of the idols of the heathen (as well he might)
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to speak with the most profound and awful reverence of the God of
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Israel
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord!</I> none of all
|
|
the heroes which the heathen have deified and make such ado about," the
|
|
dead men of whom they made dead images, and whom they worshipped.
|
|
"Some were deified and adored for their wisdom; but, <I>among all the
|
|
wise men of the nations,</I> the greatest philosophers or statesmen, as
|
|
Apollo or Hermes, <I>there is none like thee.</I> Others were deified
|
|
and adored for their dominion; but, <I>in all their royalty</I>" (so it
|
|
may be read), "among all their kings, as Saturn and Jupiter, <I>there
|
|
is none like unto thee.</I>" What is the glory of a man that invented a
|
|
useful art or founded a flourishing kingdom (and these were grounds
|
|
sufficient among the heathen to entitle a man to an apotheosis)
|
|
compared with the glory of him that is the Creator of the world and
|
|
that <I>forms the spirit of man within him?</I> What is the glory of
|
|
the greatest prince or potentate, compared with the glory of him whose
|
|
<I>kingdom rules over all?</I> He acknowledges
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>O Lord! thou art great,</I> infinite and immense, and <I>thy name is
|
|
great in might;</I> thou hast all power, and art known to have it.
|
|
Men's name is often beyond their might; they are thought to be greater
|
|
than they are; but God's <I>name is great,</I> and no greater than he
|
|
really is. And therefore <I>who would not fear thee, O King of
|
|
nations?</I> Who would not choose to worship such a God as this, that
|
|
can do every thing, rather than such dead idols as the heathen worship,
|
|
that can do nothing? Who would not be afraid of offending or forsaking
|
|
a God whose name is so <I>great in might?</I> Which of all the nations,
|
|
if they understood their interests aright, <I>would not fear him</I>
|
|
who is the <I>King of nations?</I> Note, There is an admirable decency
|
|
and congruity in the worshipping of God only. It is fit that he who is
|
|
God alone should alone be served, that he who is Lord of all should be
|
|
served by all, that he who is great should be greatly feared and
|
|
greatly praised.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) His verity is as evident as the idol's vanity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are the work of men's hands, and therefore nothing is more plain
|
|
than that it is a jest to worship them, if that may be called a jest
|
|
which is so great an indignity to him that made us: <I>But the Lord is
|
|
the true God,</I> the God of truth; he is God in truth. <I>God Jehovah
|
|
is truth;</I> he is not a counterfeit and pretender, as they are, but
|
|
is really what he has revealed himself to be; he is one we may depend
|
|
upon, in whom and by whom we cannot be deceived.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Look upon him as he is in himself, and he is <I>the living
|
|
God.</I> He is life itself, has life in himself, and is the fountain of
|
|
life to all the creatures. The gods of the heathen are dead things,
|
|
worthless and useless, but ours is a living God, and hath immortality.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Look upon him with relation to his creatures, he is a <I>King,</I>
|
|
and absolute monarch, over them all, is their owner and ruler, has an
|
|
incontestable right both to command them and dispose of them. As a
|
|
king, he protects the creatures, provides for their welfare, and
|
|
preserves peace among them. He is <I>an everlasting king.</I> The
|
|
counsels of his kingdom were from everlasting and the continuance of it
|
|
will be to everlasting. He is a <I>King of eternity.</I> The idols whom
|
|
they call their kings are but of yesterday, and will soon be abolished;
|
|
and the kings of the earth, that set them up to be worshipped, will
|
|
themselves be in the dust shortly; but <I>the Lord shall reign for
|
|
ever, thy God, O Zion! unto all generations.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) None knows the power of his anger. Let us stand in awe, and not
|
|
dare to provoke him by giving that glory to another which is due to him
|
|
alone; for <I>at his wrath the earth shall tremble,</I> even the
|
|
strongest and stoutest of the kings of the earth; nay, the earth,
|
|
firmly as it is fixed, when he pleases is made to quake and the rocks
|
|
to tremble,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:32,Hab+3:6,10">Ps. civ. 32; Hab. iii. 6, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though the nations should join together to contend with him, and unite
|
|
their force, yet they would be found utterly unable not only to resist,
|
|
but even <I>to abide his indignation.</I> Not only can they not make
|
|
head against it, for it would overcome them, but they cannot bear up
|
|
under it, for it would overload them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:7,8,Na+1:6">Ps. lxxvi. 7, 8; Nah. i. 6</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He is the God of nature, the fountain of all being; and all the
|
|
powers of nature are at his command and disposal,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The God we worship is he that made the heavens and the earth, and has a
|
|
sovereign dominion over both; so that his <I>invisible things</I> are
|
|
manifested and proved in the <I>things that are seen.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] If we look back, we find that the whole world owed its origin to
|
|
him as its first cause. It was a common saying even among the
|
|
Greeks--<I>He that sets up to be another god ought first to make
|
|
another world.</I> While the heathen worship gods that they made, we
|
|
worship the God that made us and all things. <I>First, The earth</I> is
|
|
a body of vast bulk, has valuable treasures in its bowels and more
|
|
valuable fruit on its surface. It and them he has <I>made by his
|
|
power;</I> and it is by no less than an infinite power that it <I>hangs
|
|
upon nothing,</I> as it does
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:7">Job xxvi. 7</A>)--
|
|
|
|
<I>ponderibus librata suis--poised by its own weight. Secondly, The
|
|
world,</I> the habitable part of the earth, is admirably fitted for the
|
|
use and service of man, and <I>he hath established it</I> so <I>by his
|
|
wisdom,</I> so that it continues serviceable in constant changes and
|
|
yet a continual stability from one generation to another. Therefore
|
|
both the earth and the world are his,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly, The heavens</I> are wonderfully <I>stretched out</I> to an
|
|
incredible extent, and it is <I>by his discretion</I> that they are so,
|
|
and that the motions of the heavenly bodies are directed for the
|
|
benefit of this lower world. These <I>declare his glory</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+19:1">Ps. xix. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and oblige us to declare it, and not give that glory to the heavens
|
|
which is due to him that made them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] If we look up, we see his providence to be a continued creation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When he uttereth his voice</I> (gives the word of command) <I>there
|
|
is a multitude of waters in the heavens,</I> which are poured out on
|
|
the earth, whether for judgment or mercy, as he intends them. When he
|
|
utters his voice in the thunder, immediately there follow
|
|
thunder-showers, in which there are a multitude of waters; and those
|
|
come with <I>a noise,</I> as the margin reads it; and we read of the
|
|
<I>noise of abundance of rain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:41">1 Kings xviii. 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, there are wonders done daily in the kingdom of nature without
|
|
noise: <I>He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the
|
|
earth,</I> from all parts of the earth, even the most remote, and
|
|
chiefly those that lie next the sea. All the earth pays the tribute of
|
|
vapours, because all the earth receives the blessing of rain. And thus
|
|
the moisture in the universe, like the money in a kingdom and the blood
|
|
in the body, is continually circulating for the good of the whole.
|
|
Those vapours produce wonders, for of them are formed <I>lightnings for
|
|
the rain,</I> and <I>the winds</I> which God from time to time
|
|
<I>brings forth out of his treasures,</I> as there is occasion for
|
|
them, directing them all in such measure and for such use as he thinks
|
|
fit, as payments are made out of the treasury. All the meteors are so
|
|
ready to serve God's purposes that he seems to have treasures of them,
|
|
that cannot be exhausted and may at any time be drawn from,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
God glories in the treasures he has of these,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:22,23">Job xxxviii. 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This God can do; but which of the idols of the heathen can do the like?
|
|
Note, There is no sort of weather but what furnishes us with a proof
|
|
and instance of the wisdom and power of the great Creator.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) This God is Israel's God in covenant, and the felicity of every
|
|
Israelite indeed. Therefore let the house of Israel cleave to him, and
|
|
not forsake him to embrace idols; for, if they do, they certainly
|
|
change for the worse, for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>the portion of Jacob is not like them;</I> their rock is not as our
|
|
rock
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:31">Deut. xxxii. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor ours like their mole-hills. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those that have the Lord for their God have a full and complete
|
|
happiness in him. The <I>God of Jacob</I> is the <I>portion of
|
|
Jacob;</I> he is his all, and in him he has enough and needs no more in
|
|
this world nor the other. In him we have a worthy portion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+16:5">Ps. xvi. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] If we have entire satisfaction and complacency in God as our
|
|
portion, he will have a gracious delight in us as his people, whom he
|
|
owns as <I>the rod of his inheritance,</I> his possession and treasure,
|
|
with whom he dwells and by whom he is served and honoured.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It is the unspeakable comfort of all the Lord's people that he who
|
|
is their God is <I>the former of all things,</I> and therefore is able
|
|
to do all that for them, and give all that to them, which they stand in
|
|
need of. Their <I>help stands in his name who made heaven and
|
|
earth.</I> And he is the <I>Lord of hosts,</I> of all the hosts in
|
|
heaven and earth, has them all at his command, and will command them
|
|
into the service of his people when there is occasion. This is the
|
|
name by which they know him, which they first give him the glory of and
|
|
then take to themselves the comfort of.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Herein God's people are happy above all other people, happy
|
|
indeed, <I>bona si sua norint--did they but know their blessedness.</I>
|
|
The gods which the heathen pride, and please, and so portion themselves
|
|
in, are vanity and a lie; but <I>the portion of Jacob is not like
|
|
them.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The prophet, having thus compared the gods of the heathen with the
|
|
God of Israel (between whom there is no comparison), reads the doom,
|
|
the certain doom, of all those pretenders, and directs the Jews, in
|
|
God's name, to read it to the worshippers of idols, though they were
|
|
their lords and masters
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thus shall you say unto them</I> (and the God you serve will bear
|
|
you out in saying it), <I>The gods which have not made the heavens and
|
|
the earth</I> (and therefore are no gods, but usurpers of the honour
|
|
due to him only who did make heaven and earth) <I>shall perish,</I>
|
|
perish of course, because they are vanity--perish by his righteous
|
|
sentence, because they are rivals with him. As gods they shall perish
|
|
<I>from off the earth</I> (even all those things <I>on earth
|
|
beneath</I> which they make gods of) <I>and from under these
|
|
heavens,</I> even all those things in the firmament of heaven, under
|
|
the highest heavens, which are deified, according to the distribution
|
|
in the second commandment. These words in the original are not in the
|
|
Hebrew, like all the rest, but in the Chaldee dialect, that the Jews in
|
|
captivity might have this ready to say to the Chaldeans in their own
|
|
language when they tempted them to idolatry: "Do you press us to
|
|
worship your gods? We will never do that; for,"
|
|
|
|
(1.) "They are counterfeit deities; they are no gods, for they <I>have
|
|
not made the heavens and the earth,</I> and therefore are not entitled
|
|
to our homage, nor are we indebted to them either for the products of
|
|
the earth or the influences of heaven, as we are to the God of Israel."
|
|
The primitive Christians would say, when they were urged to worship
|
|
such a god, <I>Let him make a world and he shall be my god.</I> While
|
|
we have him to worship who made heaven and earth, it is very absurd to
|
|
worship any other.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "They are condemned deities. They <I>shall perish;</I> the time
|
|
shall come when they shall be no more respected as they are now, but
|
|
shall be buried in oblivion, and they and their worshippers shall sink
|
|
together. The earth shall no longer bear them; the heavens shall no
|
|
longer cover them; but both shall abandon them." It is repeated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>In the time of their visitation</I> they shall perish. When God
|
|
comes to reckon with idolaters he will make them weary of their idols,
|
|
and glad to be rid of them. They shall <I>cast them to the moles and to
|
|
the bats,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:20">Isa. ii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whatever runs against God and religion will be run down at last.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer10_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Lamentation of Judah; Sovereignty of Divine Providence; Prophetic Imprecations.</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>17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the
|
|
fortress.
|
|
18 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Behold, I will sling out the
|
|
inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them,
|
|
that they may find <I>it so.</I>
|
|
19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said,
|
|
Truly this <I>is</I> a grief, and I must bear it.
|
|
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my
|
|
children are gone forth of me, and they <I>are</I> not: <I>there is</I>
|
|
none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my
|
|
curtains.
|
|
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks
|
|
shall be scattered.
|
|
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great
|
|
commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah
|
|
desolate, <I>and</I> a den of dragons.
|
|
23 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, I know that the way of man <I>is</I> not in himself: <I>it
|
|
is</I> not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
|
|
24 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger,
|
|
lest thou bring me to nothing.
|
|
25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and
|
|
upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten
|
|
up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his
|
|
habitation desolate.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet threatens, in God's name, the approaching ruin of Judah
|
|
and Jerusalem,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Jews that continued in their own land, after some were carried into
|
|
captivity, were very secure; they thought themselves <I>inhabitants of
|
|
a fortress;</I> their country was their strong hold, and, in their own
|
|
conceit, impregnable; but they are here told to think of leaving it:
|
|
they must prepare to go after their brethren, and pack up their effects
|
|
in expectation of it: "<I>Gather up thy wares out of the land;</I>
|
|
contract your affairs, and bring them into as small a compass as you
|
|
can. <I>Arise, depart, this is not your rest,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+2:10">Mic. ii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let not what you have lie scattered, for the Chaldeans will be upon you
|
|
again, to be the executioners of the sentence God has passed upon you
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this
|
|
once;</I> they have hitherto dropped out, by a few at a time, but one
|
|
captivity more shall make a thorough riddance, and they shall be slung
|
|
out as a stone out of a sling, so easily, so thoroughly shall they be
|
|
cast out; nothing of them shall remain. They shall be thrown out with
|
|
violence, and driven to a place at a great distance off, in a little
|
|
time." See this comparison used to signify an utter destruction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:29">1 Sam. xxv. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Yet once more</I> God will shake their land, and <I>shake the wicked
|
|
out of it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:26">Heb. xii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
He adds, <I>And I will distress them, that they may find it so.</I> He
|
|
will not only throw them out hence (that he may do and yet they may be
|
|
easy elsewhere); but, whithersoever they go, trouble shall follow them;
|
|
they shall be continually perplexed and straitened, and at a loss
|
|
within themselves: and who or what can make those easy whom God <I>will
|
|
distress,</I> whom he will distress <I>that they may find it so,</I>
|
|
that they may feel that which they would not believe? They were often
|
|
told of the weight of God's wrath and their utter inability to make
|
|
head against it, or bear up under it. They were told that their sin
|
|
would be their ruin, and they would not regard nor credit what was told
|
|
them; but now <I>they shall find it so;</I> and <I>therefore</I> God
|
|
will pursue them with his judgments, <I>that they may find it so,</I>
|
|
and be forced to acknowledge it. Note, sooner or later sinners will
|
|
find it just as the word of God has represented things to them, and no
|
|
better, and that the threatenings were not bugbears.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He brings in the people sadly lamenting their calamities
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
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|
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<I>Woe is me for my hurt!</I> Some make this the prophet's own
|
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lamentation, not for himself, but for the calamities and desolations of
|
|
his country. He mourned for those that would not be persuaded to mourn
|
|
for themselves; and, since there were none that had so much sense as to
|
|
join with them, he weeps in secret, and cries out, <I>Woe is me!</I> In
|
|
mournful times it becomes us to be of a mournful spirit. But it may be
|
|
taken as the language of the people, considered as a body, and
|
|
therefore speaking as a single person. The prophet puts into their
|
|
mouths the words they <I>should</I> say; whether they would say them or
|
|
no, they should have cause to say them. Some among them would thus
|
|
bemoan themselves, and all of them, at last, would be forced to do it.
|
|
|
|
1. They lament that the affliction is very great, and it is very hard
|
|
to them to bear it, the more hard because they had not been used to
|
|
trouble and now did not expect it: "<I>Woe is me for my hurt,</I> not
|
|
for what I fear, but for what I feel;" for they are not, as some are,
|
|
worse frightened than hurt. Nor is it a slight hurt, but <I>a
|
|
wound,</I> a wound that is <I>grievous,</I> very painful, and very
|
|
threatening.
|
|
|
|
2. That there is no remedy but patience. They cannot help themselves,
|
|
but must sit still, and abide it: <I>But I said,</I> when I was about
|
|
to complain of my wound, To what purpose is it to complain? <I>This is
|
|
a grief, and I must bear it</I> as well as I can. This is the language
|
|
rather of a sullen than of a gracious submission, of a patience per
|
|
force, not a patience by principle. When I am in affliction I should
|
|
say, "This is an evil, and I will bear it, because it is the will of
|
|
God that I should, because his wisdom has appointed this for me and his
|
|
grace will make it work for good to me." This is <I>receiving evil</I>
|
|
at the hand of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+2:10">Job ii. 10</A>.
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|
|
|
But to say, "This is an evil, <I>and I must bear it,</I> because I
|
|
cannot help it," is but a brutal patience, and argues a want of those
|
|
good thoughts of God which we should always have, even under our
|
|
afflictions, saying, not only, God can and will do what he pleases,
|
|
but, <I>Let him do what he pleases.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. That the country was quite ruined and wasted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My tabernacle is spoiled.</I> Jerusalem, though a strong city, now
|
|
proves as weak and moveable as a tabernacle or tent, when it is taken
|
|
down, and <I>all its cords,</I> that should keep it together, are
|
|
<I>broken.</I> Or by the tabernacle here may be meant the temple, the
|
|
sanctuary, which at first was but a tabernacle, and is now called so,
|
|
as then it was sometimes called a temple. Their church is ruined, and
|
|
all the supports of it fail. It was a general destruction of church and
|
|
state, city and country, and there were none to repair these
|
|
desolations. "<I>My children have gone forth of me;</I> some have fled,
|
|
others are slain, others carried into captivity, so that as to me,
|
|
<I>they are not;</I> I am likely to be an outcast, and to perish for
|
|
want of shelter; for <I>there is none to stretch forth my tent any
|
|
more,</I> none of my children that used to do it for me, <I>none to set
|
|
up my curtains,</I> none to do me any service." <I>Jerusalem has none
|
|
to guide her of all her sons,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:18">Isa. li. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. That the rulers took no care, nor any proper measures, for the
|
|
redress of their grievances and the re-establishing of heir ruined
|
|
state
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The pastors have become brutish.</I> When the tents, the shepherds'
|
|
tents, were spoiled
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
it concerned the shepherds to look after them; but they were foolish
|
|
shepherds. Their kings and princes had no regard at all for the public
|
|
welfare, seemed to have no sense of the desolations of the land, but
|
|
were quite besotted and infatuated. The priests, the pastors of God's
|
|
tabernacle, did a great deal towards the ruin of religion, but nothing
|
|
towards the repair of it. They are <I>brutish</I> indeed, for <I>they
|
|
have not sought the Lord;</I> they have neither made their peace with
|
|
him nor their prayer to him; they had no eye to him and his providence,
|
|
in their management of affairs; they neither acknowledged the judgment,
|
|
nor expected the deliverance, to come from his hand. Note, Those are
|
|
brutish people that do not seek the Lord, that live without prayer, and
|
|
live without God in the world. Every man is either a saint or a brute.
|
|
But it is sad indeed with a people when their pastors, that should
|
|
<I>feed them with knowledge and understanding,</I> are themselves thus
|
|
brutish. And what comes of it? <I>Therefore they shall not
|
|
prosper;</I> none of their attempts for the public safety shall
|
|
succeed. Note, Those cannot expect to prosper who do not by faith and
|
|
prayer take God along with them in all their ways. And, when the
|
|
pastors are brutish, what else can be expected but that <I>all their
|
|
flocks</I> should be <I>scattered? For, if the blind lead the blind,
|
|
both will fall into the ditch.</I> The ruin of a people is often owing
|
|
to the brutishness of their pastors.
|
|
|
|
5. That the report of the enemy's approach was very dreadful
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The noise of the bruit has come,</I> of the report which at first
|
|
was but whispered and bruited abroad, as wanting confirmation. It now
|
|
proves too true: <I>A great commotion</I> arises <I>out of the north
|
|
country,</I> which threatens to make all <I>the cities of Judah
|
|
desolate and a den of dragons;</I> for they must all expect to be
|
|
sacrificed to the avarice and fury of the Chaldean army. And what else
|
|
can that place expect but to be made a den of dragons which has by sin
|
|
made itself a den of thieves?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He turns to God, and addresses himself to him, finding it to
|
|
little purpose to speak to the people. It is some comfort to poor
|
|
ministers that, if men will not hear them, God will; and to him they
|
|
have liberty of access at all times. Let them close their preaching
|
|
with prayer, as the prophet, and then they shall have no reason to say
|
|
that they have laboured in vain.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The prophet here acknowledges the sovereignty and dominion of the
|
|
divine Providence, that by it, and not by their own will and wisdom,
|
|
the affairs both of nations and particular persons are directed and
|
|
determined,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is an article of our faith which it is very proper for us to make
|
|
confession of at the throne of grace when we are complaining of an
|
|
affliction or suing for a mercy: "<I>O Lord, I know,</I> and believe,
|
|
<I>that the way of man is not in himself;</I> Nebuchadnezzar did not
|
|
come of himself against our land, but by the direction of a divine
|
|
Providence." We cannot of ourselves do any thing for our own relief,
|
|
unless God work with us and command deliverance for us; for <I>it is
|
|
not in man that walketh to direct his steps,</I> though he seem in his
|
|
walking to be perfectly at liberty and to choose his own way. Those
|
|
that had promised themselves a long enjoyment of their estates and
|
|
possessions were made to know, by sad experience, when they were thrown
|
|
out by the Chaldeans, that <I>the way of man is not in himself;</I> he
|
|
designs which men lay deep, and think well-formed, are dashed to pieces
|
|
in a moment. We must all apply this to ourselves, and mix faith with
|
|
it, that we are not at our own disposal, but under a divine direction;
|
|
the event is often overruled so as to be quite contrary to our
|
|
intention and expectation. We are not masters of our own way, nor can
|
|
we think that every thing should be according to our mind; we must
|
|
therefore refer ourselves to God and acquiesce in his will. Some think
|
|
that the prophet here mentions this with a design to make this
|
|
comfortable use of it, that, the way of the Chaldean army being not in
|
|
themselves, they can do no more than God permits them; he can set
|
|
bounds to thee proud waves, and say, <I>Hitherto they shall come, and
|
|
no further.</I> And a quieting consideration it is that the most
|
|
formidable enemies have <I>no power against us but what is given them
|
|
from above.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He deprecates the divine wrath, that it might not fall upon God's
|
|
Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
He speaks not for himself only, but on the behalf of his people: <I>O
|
|
Lord, correct me, but with judgment</I> (in measure and with
|
|
moderation, and in wisdom, no more than is necessary for driving out of
|
|
the foolishness that is bound up in our hearts), <I>not in thy
|
|
anger</I> (how severe soever the correction be, let it come from thy
|
|
love, and be designed for our good and made to work for good), not to
|
|
<I>bring us to nothing,</I> but to bring us home to thyself. Let it not
|
|
be according to the desert of our sins, but according to the design of
|
|
thy grace. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We cannot pray in faith that we may never be corrected, while we
|
|
are conscious to ourselves that we need correction and deserve it, and
|
|
know that as many as God loves he chastens.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The great thing we should dread in affliction is the wrath of God.
|
|
Say not, Lord, <I>do not correct</I> me, but, Lord, do not correct me
|
|
<I>in anger;</I> for that will infuse wormwood and gall into the
|
|
affliction and misery that will <I>bring us to nothing.</I> We may bear
|
|
the smart of his rod, but we cannot bear the weight of his wrath.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He imprecates the divine wrath against the oppressors and
|
|
persecutors of Israel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not.</I> This
|
|
prayer does not come from a spirit of malice or revenge, nor is it
|
|
intended to prescribe to God whom he should execute his judgments upon,
|
|
or in what order; but,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is an appeal to his justice. As if he had said, "Lord, we are a
|
|
provoking people; but are there not other nations that are more so? And
|
|
shall we only be punished? We are thy children, and may expect a
|
|
fatherly correction; but they are thy enemies, and against them we have
|
|
reason to think thy indignation should be, not against us." This is
|
|
God's usual method. The <I>cup put into the hands</I> of God's people
|
|
is <I>full of mixtures,</I> mixtures of mercy; but the <I>dregs of the
|
|
cup</I> are reserved for <I>the wicked of the earth,</I> let them
|
|
<I>wring them out,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is a prediction of God's judgments upon all the impenitent
|
|
enemies of his church and kingdom. If <I>judgment begin</I> thus <I>at
|
|
the house of God,</I> what shall be <I>the end of those that obey not
|
|
his gospel?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:17">1 Pet. iv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
See how the heathen are described, on whom God's fury shall be poured
|
|
out.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They are strangers to God, and are content to be so. They <I>know
|
|
him not,</I> nor desire to know him. They are families that live
|
|
without prayer, that have nothing of religion among them; they <I>call
|
|
not on God's name.</I> Those that restrain prayer prove that they know
|
|
not God; for those that know him will seek to him and entreat his
|
|
favour.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They are persecutors of the people of God and are resolved to be
|
|
so. <I>They have eaten up Jacob</I> with as much greediness as those
|
|
that are hungry eat their necessary food; nay, with more, they have
|
|
<I>devoured him, and consumed him, and made his habitation
|
|
desolate,</I> that is, the land in which he lives, or the temple of
|
|
God, which is his habitation among them. Note, What the heathen, in
|
|
their rage and malice, do against the people of God, though therein he
|
|
makes use of them as the instruments of his correction, yet he will,
|
|
for that, make them the objects of his indignation. This prayer is
|
|
taken from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:6,7">Ps. lxxix. 6, 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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