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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. XIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter was penned upon occasion of a great drought, for want of
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rain. This judgment began in the latter end of Josiah's reign, but, as
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it should seem, continued in the beginning of Jehoiakim's: for less
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judgments are sent to give warning of greater coming, if not prevented
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by repentance. This calamity was mentioned several times before, but
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here, in this chapter, more fully. Here is,
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I. A melancholy description of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. A prayer to God to put an end to this calamity and to return in
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mercy to their land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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III. A severe threatening that God would proceed in his controversy,
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because they proceeded in their iniquity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:10-12">ver. 10-12</A>.
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IV. The prophet's excusing the people, by laying the blame on their
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false prophets; and the doom passed both on the deceivers and the
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deceived,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:13-16">ver. 13-16</A>.
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V. Directions given to the prophet, instead of interceding for them,
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to lament them; but his continuing notwithstanding to intercede for
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Jer14_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer14_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>
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Lamentation Caused by a Great Drought; Prayer for Mercy; Pleading with God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM 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 The word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> that came to Jeremiah concerning the
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dearth.
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2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are
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black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
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3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters:
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they came to the pits, <I>and</I> found no water; they returned with
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their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and
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covered their heads.
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4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the
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earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
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5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook <I>it,</I>
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because there was no grass.
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6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed
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up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because <I>there
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was</I> no grass.
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7 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou
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<I>it</I> for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have
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sinned against thee.
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8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble,
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why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a
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wayfaring man <I>that</I> turneth aside to tarry for a night?
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9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man
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<I>that</I> cannot save? yet thou, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>art</I> in the midst of us,
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and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The first verse is the title of the whole chapter: it does indeed all
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<I>concern the dearth,</I> but much of it consists of the prophet's
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prayers concerning it; yet these are not unfitly said to be, <I>The
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word of the Lord which came to him</I> concerning it, for every
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acceptable prayer is that which God puts into our hearts; nothing is
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our word that comes to him but what is first his word that comes from
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him. In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The language of nature lamenting the calamity. When the heavens were
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as brass, and distilled no dews, the earth was as iron, and produced no
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fruits; and then the grief and confusion were universal.
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1. The people of the land were all in tears. Destroy their vines and
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their fig-trees and you cause all their mirth to cease,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:11,12">Hos. ii. 11, 12</A>.
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All their joy fails with the joy of harvest, with that of their corn
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and wine. <I>Judah mourns</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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not for the sin, but for the trouble--for the withholding of the rain,
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not for the withdrawing of God's favour. <I>The gates thereof,</I> all
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that go in and out at their gates, <I>languish,</I> look pale, and grow
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feeble, for want of the necessary supports of life and for fear of the
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further fatal consequences of this judgment. <I>The gates,</I> through
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which supplies of corn formerly used to be brought into their cities,
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now look melancholy, when, instead of that, the inhabitants are
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departing through them to seek for bread in other countries. Even those
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that sit in the gates languish; <I>they are black unto the ground,</I>
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they go in black as mourners and sit on the ground, a the poor beggars
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at the gates are <I>black in the face</I> for want of food, <I>blacker
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than a coal,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:8">Lam. iv. 8</A>.
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Famine is represented by a black horse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:5">Rev. vi. 5</A>.
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They fall to the ground through weakness, not being able to go along
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the streets. <I>The cry of Jerusalem has gone up;</I> that is, of the
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citizens (for the city is <I>served by the field</I>), or of people
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from all parts of the country met at Jerusalem to pray for rain; so
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some. But I fear it was rather the cry of their trouble, and the cry of
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their prayer.
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2. The great men of the land felt from this judgment
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>The nobles sent their little ones to the water,</I> perhaps their
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own children, having been forced to part with their servants because
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they had not wherewithal to keep them, and being willing to train up
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their children, when they were little, to labour, especially in a case
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of necessity, as this was. We find Ahab and Obadiah, the king and the
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lord chamberlain of his household, in their own persons, seeking for
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water in such a time of distress as this was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:5,6">1 Kings xviii. 5, 6</A>.
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Or, rather, <I>their meaner ones,</I> their servants and inferior
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officers; these they sent to seek for water, which there is no living
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without; but there was none to be found: They <I>returned with their
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vessels empty;</I> the springs were dried up when there was no rain to
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feed them; and then <I>they</I> (their masters that sent them) <I>were
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ashamed and confounded</I> at the disappointment. They would not be
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ashamed of their sins, nor confounded at the sense of them, but were
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unhumbled under the reproofs of the word, thinking their wealth and
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dignity set them above repentance; but God took a course to make them
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ashamed of that which they were so proud of, when they found that even
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on this side hell their nobility would not purchase them a drop of
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water to cool their tongue. Let our reading the account of this
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calamity make us thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not by
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the feeling of the calamity be taught to value it. What is most needful
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is most plentiful.
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3. The husbandmen felt most sensibly and immediately from it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>The ploughmen were ashamed,</I> for the ground was so parched and
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hard that it would not admit the plough even when it was so
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<I>chapt</I> and cleft that it seemed as if it did not need the plough.
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They were ashamed to be idle, for there was nothing to be done, and
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therefore nothing to be expected. The <I>sluggard, that will not plough
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by reason of cold,</I> is not ashamed of his own folly; but the
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diligent husbandman, that cannot plough by reason of heat, is ashamed
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of his own affliction. See what an immediate dependence husbandmen have
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upon the divine Providence, which therefore they should always have an
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eye to, for they cannot plough nor sow in hope unless God <I>water
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their furrows,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:10">Ps. lxv. 10</A>.
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4. The case even of the wild beasts was very pitiable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Man's sin brings those judgments upon the earth which make even the
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inferior creatures groan: and the prophet takes notice of this as a
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plea with God for mercy. Judah and Jerusalem have sinned, but the hinds
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and the wild asses, what have they done? The hinds are pleasant
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creatures, lovely and loving, and particularly tender of their young;
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and yet such is the extremity of the case that, contrary to the
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instinct of their nature, they leave their young, even when they are
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newly calved and most need them, to seek for grass elsewhere; and, if
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they can find none, they <I>abandon</I> them, because not able to
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suckle them. It grieved not the hind so much that she had no grass
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herself as that she had none for her young, which will shame those who
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spend that upon their lusts which they should preserve for their
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families. The hind, when she has brought forth her young, is said to
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have <I>cast forth her sorrows</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:3">Job xxxix. 3</A>),
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and yet she continues her cares; but, as it follows there, she soon
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sees the good effect of them, for <I>her young ones</I> in a little
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while <I>grow up,</I> and trouble her no more,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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But here the great trouble of all is that she has nothing for them.
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Nay, one would be sorry even for the <I>wild asses</I> (though they are
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creatures that none have any great affection for); for, though the
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<I>barren land</I> is made <I>their dwelling</I> at the best
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:5,6">Job xxxix. 5, 6</A>),
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yet even that is now made too hot for them, so hot that they cannot
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breathe in it, but they get to the <I>highest places</I> they can
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reach, where the air is coolest, and <I>snuff up the wind like
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dragons,</I> like those creatures which, being very hot, are
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continually panting for breath. <I>Their eyes fail,</I> and so does
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their strength, <I>because there is no grass</I> to support them. The
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tame ass, that serves her owner, is welcome to <I>his crib</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:3">Isa. i. 3</A>)
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and has her keeping for her labour, when the <I>wild ass,</I> that
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<I>scorns the crying of the driver,</I> is forced to <I>live upon
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air,</I> and is well enough served for not serving. <I>He that will not
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labour, let him not eat.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Here is the language of grace, lamenting the iniquity, and
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complaining to God of the calamity. The people are not forward to pray,
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but the prophet here prays for them, and so excites them to pray for
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themselves, and puts words into their mouths, which they may make use
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of, in hopes to speed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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In this prayer,
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1. Sin is humbly confessed. When we come to pray for the preventing or
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removing of any judgment we must always acknowledge that our
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<I>iniquities testify against us.</I> Our sins are witnesses against
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us, and true penitents see them to be such. They testify, for they are
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plain and evident; we cannot deny the charge. They testify against us,
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for our conviction, which tends to our present shame and confusion, and
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our future condemnation. They disprove and overthrow all our pleas for
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ourselves; and so not only accuse us, but answer against us. If we
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boast of our own excellencies, and trust to our own righteousness, our
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iniquities testify against us, and prove us perverse. If we quarrel
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with God as dealing unjustly or unkindly with us in afflicting us, our
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iniquities testify against us that we do him wrong; "for <I>our
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backslidings are many</I> and our revolts are great, whereby <I>we have
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sinned against thee</I>--too numerous to be concealed, for they are
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many, too heinous to be excused, for they are against thee."
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2. Mercy is earnestly begged: "<I>Though our iniquities testify against
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us,</I> and against the granting of the favour which the necessity of
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our case calls for, yet <I>do thou it.</I>" They do not say
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particularly what they would have done; but, as becomes penitents and
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beggars, they refer the matter to God: "Do with us as thou thinkest
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fit,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:15">Judg. x. 15</A>.
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Not, <I>Do thou it</I> in this way or at this time, but "<I>Do thou it
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for thy name's sake;</I> do that which will be most for the glory of
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thy name." Note, Our best pleas in prayer are those that are fetched
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from the glory of God's own name. "Lord, do it, that they mercy may be
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magnified, thy promise fulfilled, and thy interest in the world kept
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up; we have nothing to plead in ourselves, but every thing in thee."
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There is another petition in this prayer, and it is a very modest one
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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"<I>Leave us not,</I> withdraw not thy favour and presence." Note, We
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should dread and deprecate God's departure from us more than the
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removal of any or all our creature-comforts.
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3. Their relation to God, their interest in him, and their expectations
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from him grounded thereupon, are most pathetically pleaded with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>.
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(1.) They look upon him as one they have reason to think should deliver
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them when they are in distress, yea, though their iniquities testify
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against them; for in him mercy has often rejoiced against judgment. The
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prophet, like Moses of old, is willing to make the best he can of the
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case of his people, and therefore, though he must own that they have
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sinned many a great sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:31">Exod. xxxii. 31</A>),
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yet he pleads, <I>Thou art the hope of Israel.</I> God has encouraged
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his people to hope in him; in calling himself so often the <I>God of
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Israel,</I> the <I>rock of Israel,</I> and the <I>Holy One of
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Israel,</I> he has made himself the <I>hope of Israel.</I> He has given
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Israel his word to hope in, and caused them to hope in it; and there
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are those yet in Israel that make God alone their hope, and expect he
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will be <I>their Saviour in time of trouble,</I> and they look not for
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salvation in any other; "Thou hast many a time been such, in the time
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of their extremity." Note, Since God is his people's all-sufficient
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Saviour, they ought to hope in him in their greatest straits; and,
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since he is their only Saviour, they ought to hope in him alone. They
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plead likewise, "<I>Thou art in the midst of us;</I> we have the
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special tokens of thy presence with us, thy temple, thy ark, thy
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oracles, and <I>we are called by the name,</I> the <I>Israel</I> of
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God; and therefore we have reason to hope thou wilt not leave us; <I>we
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are thine, save us.</I> Thy name is called upon us, and therefore what
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evils we are under reflect dishonour upon thee, as if thou wert not
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able to relieve thy own." The prophet had often told the people that
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their profession of religion would not protect them from the judgments
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of God; yet here he pleads it with God, as Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:11">Exod. xxxii. 11</A>.
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Even this may go far as to temporal punishments with a God of mercy.
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<I>Valeat quantum valere potest--Let the plea avail as far as is
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proper.</I>
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(2.) It therefore grieves them to think that he does not appear for
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their deliverance; and, though they do not charge it upon him as
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unrighteous, they humbly plead it with him why he should be gracious,
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for the glory of his own name. For otherwise he will seem,
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[1.] Unconcerned for his own people: <I>What will the Egyptians
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say?</I> they will say, "Israel's hope and Saviour does not mind them;
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he has become <I>as a stranger in the land,</I> that does not at all
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|
interest himself in its interests; his temple, which he called <I>his
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rest for ever,</I> is no more so, but he is in it <I>as a wayfaring
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man, that turns aside to tarry but for a night</I> in an inn, which he
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never enquires into the affairs of, nor is in any care about." Though
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God never is, yet he sometimes seems to be, as if he cared not what
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|
became of his church: Christ slept when his disciples were in storm.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Incapable of giving them any relief. The enemies once said,
|
|
Because the Lord <I>was not able to bring</I> his people to Canaan, he
|
|
let them <I>perish in the wilderness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:16">Num. xiv. 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
so now they will say, "Either his wisdom or his power fails him; either
|
|
he is <I>as a man astonished</I> (who, though he has the reason of a
|
|
man, yet, being astonished, is quite at a loss and at his wits' end) or
|
|
as a <I>mighty man</I> who is overpowered by such as are more mighty,
|
|
and therefore <I>cannot save;</I> though mighty, yet a man, and
|
|
therefore having his power limited." Either of these would be a most
|
|
insufferable reproach to the divine perfections; and therefore, why has
|
|
the God that we are sure <I>is in the midst of us</I> become <I>as a
|
|
stranger?</I> Why does the almighty God seem as if he were no more than
|
|
a mighty man, who, when he is astonished, though he would, yet cannot
|
|
save? It becomes us in prayer to show ourselves concerned more for
|
|
God's glory than for our own comfort. Lord, <I>what wilt thou do unto
|
|
thy great name?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Divine Threatenings.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto this people, Thus have they loved
|
|
to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and
|
|
visit their sins.
|
|
11 Then said the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto me, Pray not for this people for
|
|
<I>their</I> good.
|
|
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they
|
|
offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but
|
|
I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
|
|
pestilence.
|
|
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>! behold, the prophets say unto
|
|
them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine;
|
|
but I will give you assured peace in this place.
|
|
14 Then the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my
|
|
name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither
|
|
spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and
|
|
divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
|
|
15 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> concerning the prophets that
|
|
prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and
|
|
famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those
|
|
prophets be consumed.
|
|
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in
|
|
the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and
|
|
they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their
|
|
sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon
|
|
them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The dispute between God and his prophet, in this chapter, seems to be
|
|
like that between the owner and the dresser of the vineyard concerning
|
|
the barren fig-tree,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:7">Luke xiii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
The justice of the owner condemns it to be cut down; the clemency of
|
|
the dresser intercedes for a reprieve. Jeremiah had been earnest with
|
|
God, in prayer, to return in mercy to this people. Now here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God overrules the plea which he had offered in their favour, and
|
|
shows him that it would not hold. In answer to it thus he says
|
|
concerning <I>this people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does not say, concerning <I>my people,</I> for he disowns them,
|
|
because they had broken covenant with him. It is true they were
|
|
<I>called by his name,</I> and had the tokens of his presence among
|
|
them; but they had sinned, and provoked God to withdraw. This the
|
|
prophet had owned, and had hoped to obtain mercy for them,
|
|
notwithstanding this, through intercession and sacrifice; therefore God
|
|
here tells him,
|
|
|
|
1. That they were not duly qualified for a pardon. The prophet had
|
|
owned that <I>their backslidings were many;</I> and, though they were
|
|
so, yet there was hope for them if they returned. But <I>this
|
|
people</I> show no disposition at all to return; they have wandered,
|
|
and <I>they have loved to wander;</I> their backslidings have been
|
|
their choice and their pleasure, which should have been their shame and
|
|
pain, and therefore they will be their ruin. They cannot expect God
|
|
should take up his rest with them when they take such delight in going
|
|
astray from him after their idols. It is not through necessity or
|
|
inadvertency that they wander, but they love to wander. Sinners are
|
|
wanderers from God; their wanderings forfeit God's favour, but it is
|
|
their loving to wander that quite cuts them off from it. They were told
|
|
what their wanderings would come to that one sin would hurry them on to
|
|
another, and all to ruin; and yet they have not taken warning and
|
|
<I>refrained their feet.</I> So far were they from returning to their
|
|
God that neither his prophets nor his judgments could prevail upon them
|
|
to give themselves the least check in a sinful pursuit. This is that
|
|
for which God is now reckoning with them. When he denies them rain from
|
|
heaven he is <I>remembering their iniquity</I> and <I>visiting their
|
|
sin;</I> that is it for which their <I>fruitful land</I> is thus
|
|
<I>turned into barrenness.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. That they had no reason to expect that the God they had rejected
|
|
should accept them; no, not though they betook themselves to fasting
|
|
and prayer and put themselves to the expense of burnt-offerings and
|
|
sacrifice: <I>The Lord doth not accept them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He takes no pleasure in them</I> (so the word is); for what pleasure
|
|
can the holy God take in those that take pleasure in his rivals, in any
|
|
service, in any society, rather than his? "<I>When they fast</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
which is a proper expression of repentance and reformation,--<I>when
|
|
they offer a burnt offering and an oblation,</I> which was designed to
|
|
be an expression of faith in a Mediator,--though their prayers be thus
|
|
enforced, and offered up in those vehicles that used to be acceptable,
|
|
yet, because they do not proceed from humble, penitent, and renewed
|
|
hearts, but still they <I>love to wander,</I> therefore <I>I will not
|
|
hear their cry,</I> be it ever so loud; <I>nor will I accept them,</I>
|
|
neither their persons nor their performances." It had been long since
|
|
declared, <I>The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the
|
|
Lord;</I> and those only are <I>accepted</I> that <I>do well,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:7">Gen. iv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. That they had forfeited all benefit by the prophet's prayers for
|
|
them because they had not regarded his preaching to them. This is the
|
|
meaning of that repeated prohibition given to the prophet
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Pray not thou for this people for their good,</I> as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:15,11:14">
|
|
<I>ch.</I> vii. 15; xi. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
This did not forbid him thus to express his <I>good-will</I> to them
|
|
(Moses continued to intercede for Israel after God had said, <I>Let me
|
|
alone,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:10">Exod. xxxii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
but it forbade them to expect any good effect from it as long as they
|
|
<I>turned away their ear from hearing the law.</I> Thus was the doom of
|
|
the impenitent ratified, as that of Saul's rejection was by that word
|
|
to Samuel, <I>When wilt thou cease to mourn for Saul?</I> It therefore
|
|
follows
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I will consume them,</I> not only by this famine, but by the further
|
|
sore judgments of sword and pestilence; for God has many arrows in his
|
|
quiver, and those that will not be convinced and reclaimed by one shall
|
|
be consumed by another.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The prophet offers another plea in excuse for the people's
|
|
obstinacy, and it is but an excuse, but he was willing to say whatever
|
|
their case would bear; it is this, That the prophets, who pretended a
|
|
commission from heaven, imposed upon them, and flattered them with
|
|
assurances of peace though they went on in their sinful way,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
He speaks of it with lamentation: "<I>Ah! Lord God,</I> the poor people
|
|
seem willing to take notice of what comes in thy name, and there are
|
|
those who in thy name tell them that they <I>shall not see the sword
|
|
nor famine;</I> and they say it as from thee, with all the gravity and
|
|
confidence of prophets: <I>I will</I> continue you <I>in this
|
|
place,</I> and will <I>give you assured peace</I> here, peace of truth.
|
|
I tell them the contrary; but I am one against many, and every one is
|
|
apt to credit that which makes for them; therefore, Lord, pity and
|
|
spare them, for <I>their leaders cause them to err.</I>" This excuse
|
|
would have been of some weight if they had not had warning given them,
|
|
before, of false prophets, and rules by which to distinguish them; so
|
|
that if they were deceived it was entirely their own fault. But this
|
|
teaches us, as far as we can with truth, to make the best of bad, and
|
|
judge as charitably of others as their case will bear.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. God not only overrules this plea, but condemns both the blind
|
|
leaders and the blind followers to fall together into the ditch.
|
|
|
|
1. God disowns the flatteries
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They prophesy lies in my name.</I> They had no commission from God
|
|
to prophesy at all: <I>I neither sent them, nor commanded them, nor
|
|
spoke unto them.</I> They never were employed to go on any errand at
|
|
all from God; he never made himself known to them, much less by them to
|
|
the people; never any word of the Lord came to them, no call, no
|
|
warrant, no instruction, much less did he send them on this errand, to
|
|
rock them asleep in security. No; men may flatter themselves, and Satan
|
|
may flatter them, but God never does. It is <I>a false vision, and a
|
|
thing of nought.</I> Note, What is false and groundless in vain and
|
|
worthless. The vision that is not true, be it ever so pleasing, is good
|
|
for nothing; it is the <I>deceit of their heart,</I> a spider's web
|
|
spun out of their own bowels, and in it they think to shelter
|
|
themselves, but it will be swept away in a moment and prove a great
|
|
cheat. Those that oppose their own thoughts of God's word (God indeed
|
|
says so, but they think otherwise) walk in the <I>deceit of their
|
|
heart,</I> and it will be their ruin.
|
|
|
|
2. He passes sentence upon the flatterers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
As for the prophets, who put this abuse upon the people by telling them
|
|
they shall have peace, and this affront upon God by telling them so in
|
|
God's name, let them know that they shall have no peace themselves.
|
|
They shall fall first by those very judgments which they have flattered
|
|
others with the hopes of an exemption from. They undertook to warrant
|
|
people that <I>sword and famine</I> should <I>not be in the land;</I>
|
|
but it shall soon appear how little their warrants are good for, when
|
|
they themselves shall be cut off by sword and famine. How should they
|
|
secure others or foretel peace to them when they cannot secure
|
|
themselves, nor have such a foresight of their own calamities as to get
|
|
out of the way of them? Note, The sorest punishment await those who
|
|
promise sinners impunity in their sinful ways.
|
|
|
|
3. He lays the flattered under the same doom: The <I>people to whom
|
|
they prophesy lies,</I> and who willingly suffer themselves to be thus
|
|
imposed upon, <I>shall die by sword and famine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The unbelief of the deceived, with all the falsehood of the
|
|
deceivers, shall not make the divine threatenings of no effect; sword
|
|
and famine will come, whatever they say to the contrary; and those will
|
|
be least safe that are most secure. Impenitent sinners will not escape
|
|
the damnation of hell by saying that they can never believe there is
|
|
such a thing, but will feel what they will not fear. It is threatened
|
|
that this people shall not only fall by <I>sword and famine,</I> but
|
|
that they shall be as it were hanged up in chains, as monuments of that
|
|
divine justice which they set at defiance; their bodies shall be
|
|
<I>cast out,</I> even <I>in the streets of Jerusalem,</I> which of all
|
|
places, one would think, should be kept clear from such nuisances:
|
|
there they shall lie unburied; their nearest relations, who should do
|
|
them that last office of love, being so poor that they cannot afford
|
|
it, or so weakened with hunger that they are not able to attend it, or
|
|
so overwhelmed with grief that they have no heart to it, or so
|
|
destitute of natural affection that they will not pay them so much
|
|
respect. Thus will God <I>pour their wickedness upon them,</I> that is,
|
|
the punishment of their wickedness; the full vials of God's wrath shall
|
|
be poured upon them, to which they have made themselves obnoxious.
|
|
Note, When sinners are overwhelmed with trouble they must in it see
|
|
their own wickedness poured upon them. This refers to the wickedness
|
|
both of the false prophets and of the people; the blind lead the blind,
|
|
and both fall together into the ditch, where they will be miserable
|
|
comforters one to another.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer14_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prophet's Intercession.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 606.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes
|
|
run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for
|
|
the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach,
|
|
with a very grievous blow.
|
|
18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the
|
|
sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are
|
|
sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about
|
|
into a land that they know not.
|
|
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion?
|
|
why hast thou smitten us, and <I>there is</I> no healing for us? we
|
|
looked for peace, and <I>there is</I> no good; and for the time of
|
|
healing, and behold trouble!
|
|
20 We acknowledge, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, our wickedness, <I>and</I> the iniquity
|
|
of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
|
|
21 Do not abhor <I>us,</I> for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the
|
|
throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
|
|
22 Are there <I>any</I> among the vanities of the Gentiles that can
|
|
cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? <I>art</I> not thou he, O
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast
|
|
made all these <I>things.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The present deplorable state of Judah and Jerusalem is here made the
|
|
matter of the prophet's lamentation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the occasion of his prayer and intercession for them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and I am willing to hope that the latter, as well as the former, was by
|
|
divine direction, and that these words
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Thus shalt thou say unto them</I> (or <I>concerning them,</I> or
|
|
<I>in their hearing</I>), refer to the intercession, as well as to the
|
|
lamentation, and then it amounts to a revocation of the directions
|
|
given to the prophet not to pray for them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
However, it is plain, by the prayers we find in these verses, that the
|
|
prophet did not understand it as a prohibition, but only as a
|
|
discouragement, like that
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:16">1 John v. 16</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I do not say he shall pray for that.</I> Here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet stands weeping over the ruins of his country; God
|
|
directs him to do so, that, showing himself affected, he might, if
|
|
possible, affect them with the foresight of the calamities that were
|
|
coming upon them. Jeremiah must say it not only to himself, but to them
|
|
too: <I>Let my eyes run down with tears,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus he must signify to them that he certainly foresaw <I>the sword</I>
|
|
coming, and another sort of famine, more grievous even than this which
|
|
they were now groaning under; this was in the country for want of rain,
|
|
that would be in the city through the straitness of the siege. The
|
|
prophet speaks as if he already saw the miseries attending the descent
|
|
which the Chaldeans made upon them: <I>The virgin daughter of my
|
|
people,</I> that is as dear to me as a daughter to her father, <I>is
|
|
broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow,</I> much greater
|
|
and more grievous than any she has yet sustained; for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>in the field</I> multitudes lie dead that were <I>slain by the
|
|
sword,</I> and in the city multitudes lie dying for want of food.
|
|
Doleful spectacles! "<I>The prophets and the priests,</I> the false
|
|
prophets that flattered them with their lies and the wicked priests
|
|
that persecuted the true prophets, are now expelled their country, and
|
|
<I>go about</I> either as prisoners and captives, whithersoever their
|
|
conquerors lead them, or as fugitives and vagabonds, wherever they can
|
|
find shelter and relief, <I>in a land that they know not.</I>" Some
|
|
understand this of the true prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, that were
|
|
carried to Babylon with the rest. The prophet's eyes must run down
|
|
<I>with tears day and night,</I> in prospect of this, that the people
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might be convinced, not only that this woeful day would infallibly
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come, and would be a very woeful day indeed, but that he was far from
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|
desiring it, and would as gladly have brought them messages of peace as
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|
their false prophets, if he might have had warrant from heaven to do
|
|
it. Note, Because God, though he inflicts death on sinners, yet
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|
delights not in it, it becomes his ministers, though in his name they
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pronounce the death of sinners, yet sadly to lament it.</P>
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<P>
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II. He stands up to make intercession for them; for who knows but God
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|
will yet return and repent? While there is life there is hope, and room
|
|
for prayer. And, though there were many among them who neither prayed
|
|
themselves nor valued the prophet's prayers, yet there were some who
|
|
were better affected, would join with him in his devotions, and set the
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seal of their <I>Amen</I> to them.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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1. He humbly expostulates with God concerning the present
|
|
deplorableness of their case,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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|
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It was very sad, for,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their expectations from their God failed them; they thought he had
|
|
avouched Judah to be his, but now, it seems, he has <I>utterly
|
|
rejected</I> it, and cast it off, will not own any relation to it nor
|
|
concern for it. They thought Zion was the beloved of his soul, was his
|
|
rest for ever; but now <I>his soul</I> even <I>loathes Zion,</I>
|
|
loathes even the services there performed, for the sake of the sins
|
|
there committed.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Then no marvel that all their other expectations failed them:
|
|
<I>They were smitten,</I> and their wounds were multiplied, but there
|
|
was <I>no healing</I> for them; they <I>looked for peace,</I> because
|
|
after a storm there usually comes a calm and fair weather, after a long
|
|
fit of wet; but <I>there was no good,</I> things went still worse and
|
|
worse. They looked for a <I>healing time,</I> but could not gain so
|
|
much as a <I>breathing time. "Behold, trouble</I> at the door, by which
|
|
we hoped peace would enter. And is it so then? <I>Hast thou</I> indeed
|
|
<I>rejected Judah?</I> Justly thou mightest. <I>Hath thy soul loathed
|
|
Zion?</I> We deserve it should. But wilt thou not at length in wrath
|
|
remember mercy?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He makes a penitent confession of sin, speaking that language which
|
|
they all should have spoken, though but few did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>We acknowledge our wickedness,</I> the abounding wickedness of our
|
|
land <I>and the iniquity of our fathers,</I> which we have imitated,
|
|
and therefore justly smart for. <I>We know, we acknowledge,</I> that
|
|
<I>we have sinned against thee,</I> and therefore thou art just in all
|
|
that is brought upon us; but, because we confess our sins, we hope to
|
|
find thee faithful and just in forgiving our sins."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He deprecates God's displeasure, and by faith appeals to his honour
|
|
and promise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
His petition is, "<I>Do not abhor us;</I> though thou afflict us, <I>do
|
|
not abhor us;</I> though thy hand by turned <I>against</I> us, let not
|
|
thy heart be so, nor let thy mind be alienated from us." They own God
|
|
might justly abhor them, they had rendered themselves odious in his
|
|
eyes; yet, when they pray, <I>Do not abhor us,</I> they mean, "Receive
|
|
us into favour again. <I>Let not thy soul loathe Zion,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let not our incense be an abomination." They appeal,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the honour of God, the honour of his scriptures, by which he
|
|
has made himself known--his <I>word,</I> which he has <I>magnified
|
|
above all his name: "Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake,</I> that the
|
|
name of thine by which we are called and which we call upon." The
|
|
honour of his sanctuary is pleaded: "Lord, do not abhor us, for that
|
|
will <I>disgrace the throne of thy glory</I>" (the temple, which is
|
|
called <I>a glorious high throne from the beginning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:12"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
let not that which has been the <I>joy of the whole earth</I> be made a
|
|
<I>hissing</I> and an <I>astonishment.</I> We deserve to have disgrace
|
|
put upon us, but let it not be so as to reflect upon thyself; let not
|
|
the desolations of the temple give occasion to the heathen to reproach
|
|
him that used to be worshipped there, as if he could not, or would not,
|
|
protect it, or as if the gods of the Chaldeans had been too hard for
|
|
him. Note, Good men lay the credit of religion, and its profession in
|
|
the world, nearer their hearts than any private interest or concern of
|
|
their own; and those are powerful pleas in prayer which are fetched
|
|
thence and great supports to faith. We may be sure that God will not
|
|
<I>disgrace the throne of his glory</I> on earth; nor will he eclipse
|
|
the glory of his throne by one providence without soon making it shine
|
|
forth, and more brightly than before, by another. God will be no loser
|
|
in his honour at the long-run.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To the promise of God; of this they are humbly bold to put him in
|
|
mind: <I>Remember thy covenant with us, and break not</I> that
|
|
covenant. Not that they had any distrust of his fidelity, or that they
|
|
thought he needed to be put in mind of his promise to them, but what he
|
|
had said he would plead with himself they take the liberty to plead
|
|
with him. <I>Then will I remember my covenant,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He professes a dependence upon God for the mercy of rain, which they
|
|
were now in want of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
If they have forfeited their interest in him as their God in covenant,
|
|
yet they will not let go their hold on him as the God of nature.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They will never make application to the idols of the heathen, for
|
|
that would be foolish and fruitless: <I>Are there any among the
|
|
vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain?</I> No; in a time of
|
|
great drought in Israel, Baal, though all Israel presented their
|
|
prayers to him in the days of Ahab, could not relieve them; it was that
|
|
God only who <I>answered by fire</I> that could answer <I>by water</I>
|
|
too.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They will not terminate their regards in second causes, nor expect
|
|
supply from nature only: <I>Can the heavens give showers?</I> No, not
|
|
without orders from the God of heaven; for it is he that has the key of
|
|
the clouds, that <I>opens the bottles of heaven</I> and <I>waters the
|
|
earth from his chambers.</I> But,
|
|
|
|
(3.) All their expectation therefore is from him and their confidence
|
|
in him: "<I>Art not thou he, O Lord our God!</I> from whom we may
|
|
expect succour and to whom we must apply? Art thou not he that
|
|
<I>causest rain</I> and <I>givest showers?</I> For <I>thou hast made
|
|
all these things;</I> thou gavest them being, and therefore thou givest
|
|
them law and hast them all at thy command; thou madest that moisture in
|
|
nature which is in a constant circulation to serve the intentions of
|
|
Providence, and thou directest it, and makest what use thou pleasest of
|
|
it; <I>therefore we will wait upon thee,</I> and upon thee only; we
|
|
will <I>ask of the Lord rain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+10:1">Zech. x. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
We will trust in him to give it to us in due time, and be willing to
|
|
tarry his time; it is fit that we should, and it will not be in vain to
|
|
do so." Note, The sovereignty of God should engage, and his
|
|
all-sufficiency encourage, our attendance on him and our expectations
|
|
from him at all times.</P>
|
|
|
|
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