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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. XXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The prophecy of this chapter bears date some time before those
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prophecies in the chapters next foregoing, for they are not placed in
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the exact order of time in which they were delivered. This is dated in
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the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, that remarkable year when the sword
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of the Lord began to be drawn and furbished. Here is,
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I. A review of the prophecies that had been delivered to Judah and
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Jerusalem for many years past, by Jeremiah himself and other prophets,
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with the little regard given to them and the little success of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. A very express threatening of the destruction of Judah and
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Jerusalem, by the king of Babylon, for their contempt of God, and their
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continuance in sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>),
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to which is annexed a promise of their deliverance out of their
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captivity in Babylon, after 70 years,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:12-14">ver. 12-14</A>.
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III. A prediction of the devastation of divers other nations about, by
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Nebuchadrezzar, represented by a "cup of fury" put into their hands
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:15-28">ver. 15-28</A>),
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by a sword sent among them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:29-33">ver. 29-33</A>),
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and a desolation made among the shepherds and their flocks and pastures
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:34-38">ver. 34-38</A>);
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so that we have here judgment beginning at the house of God, but not
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ending there.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer25_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_7"> </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>God's Remonstrances with the People.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 607.</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 that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of
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Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
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Judah, that <I>was</I> the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of
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Babylon;
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2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of
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Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
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3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of
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Judah, even unto this day, that <I>is</I> the three and twentieth
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year, the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath come unto me, and I have spoken
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unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
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4 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath sent unto you all his servants the
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prophets, rising early and sending <I>them;</I> but ye have not
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hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
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5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and
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from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
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6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship
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them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands;
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and I will do you no hurt.
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7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; that ye
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might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your
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own hurt.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a message from God concerning all the people of Judah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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which Jeremiah delivered, in his name, unto all the people of Judah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note, That which is of universal concern ought to be of universal
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cognizance. It is fit that the word which concerns all the people, as
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the word of God does, the word of the gospel particularly, should be
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divulged to all in general, and, as far as may be, addressed to each in
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particular. Jeremiah had been sent to the <I>house of the king</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:1"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 1</A>),
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and he took courage to deliver his message to them, probably when they
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had all come up to Jerusalem to worship at one of the solemn feasts;
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then he had them together, and it was to be hoped then, if ever, they
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would be well disposed to hear counsel and receive instruction.</P>
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<P>
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This prophecy is dated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and the first of
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Nebuchadrezzar. It was in the latter end of Jehoiakim's third year that
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Nebuchadrezzar began to reign by himself alone (having reigned some
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time before in conjunction with his father), as appears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:1">Dan. i. 1</A>.
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But Jehoiakim's fourth year was begun before Nebuchadrezzar's first was
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completed. Now that that active, daring, martial prince began to set up
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for the world's master, God, by his prophet, gives notice that he is
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his servant, and intimates what work he intends to employ him in, that
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his growing greatness, which was so formidable to the nations, might
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not be construed as any reflection upon the power and providence of God
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in the government of the world. Nebuchadrezzar should not bid so fair
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for universal monarchy (I should have said universal tyranny) but that
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God had purposes of his own to serve by him, in the execution of which
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the world shall see the meaning of God's permitting and ordering a
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thing that seemed such a reflection on his sovereignty and
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goodness.</P>
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<P>
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Now in this message we may observe the great pains that had been taken
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with the people to bring them to repentance, which they are here put in
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mind of, as an aggravation of their sin and a justification of God in
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his proceedings against them.</P>
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<P>
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I. Jeremiah, for his part, had been a constant preacher among them
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twenty-three years; he began in the thirteenth year of Josiah, who
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reigned thirty-one years, so that he prophesied about eighteen or
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nineteen years in his reign, then in the reign of Jehoahaz, and now
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four years of Jehoiakim's reign. Note, God keeps an account, whether we
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do or no, how long we have enjoyed the means of grace; and the longer
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we have enjoyed them the heavier will our account be if we have not
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improved them. <I>These three years</I> (these three and twenty years)
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<I>have I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree.</I> All this while,
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1. God had been constant in sending messages to them, as there was
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occasion for them: "From that time <I>to this very day the word of the
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Lord has come into me,</I> for your use." Though they had the substance
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of the warning sent them already in the books of Moses, yet, because
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those were not duly regarded and applied, God sent to enforce them and
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make them more particular, that they might be without excuse. Thus
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God's Spirit was striving with them, as with the old world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:3">Gen. vi. 3</A>.
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2. Jeremiah had been faithful and industrious in delivering those
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messages. He could appeal to themselves, as well as to God and his own
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conscience, concerning this: <I>I have spoken to you, rising early and
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speaking.</I> He had declared to them <I>the whole counsel of God;</I>
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he had taken a great deal of care and pains to discharge his thrust in
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such a manner as might be most likely to win and work upon them. What
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men are solicitous about and intent upon they rise up early to
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prosecute. It intimates that his head was so full of thoughts about it,
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and his heart so intent upon doing good, that it broke his sleep, and
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made him get up betimes to project which way he might take that would
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be most likely to do them good. He rose early, both because he would
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lose no time and because he would lay hold on and improve the best time
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to work upon them, when, if ever, they were sober and sedate. Christ
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came <I>early in the morning</I> to preach in the temple, and the
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people as early to hear him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:38">Luke xxi. 38</A>.
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Morning lectures have their advantages. <I>My voice shalt thou hear in
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the morning.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Besides him, God had sent them other prophets, on the same errand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Of the writing prophets Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, were a little
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before him, and Zephaniah contemporary with him. But, besides those,
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there were many other of God's <I>servants the prophets</I> who
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preached awakening sermons, which were never published. And here God
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himself is said to <I>rise early</I> and <I>send them,</I> intimating
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how much his heart also was upon it, that this people should <I>turn
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and live,</I> and not <I>go on and die,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:11">Ezek. xxxiii. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. All the messages sent them were to the purpose, and much to the
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same purport,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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1. They all told them of their faults, <I>their evil way,</I> and the
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<I>evil of their doings.</I> Those were not of God's sending who
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flattered them as if there were nothing amiss among them.
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2. They all reproved them particularly for their idolatry, as a sin
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that was in a special manner provoking to God, their <I>going after
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other gods, to serve them and to worship them,</I> gods that were
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<I>the work of their own hands.</I>
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3. They all called on them to repent of their sins and to reform their
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lives. This was the burden of every song, <I>Turn you now every one
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from his evil way.</I> Note, Personal and particular reformation must
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be insisted on as necessary to a national deliverance: <I>every one</I>
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must <I>turn from his</I> own <I>evil way.</I> The street will not be
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clean unless every one sweep before his own door.
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4. They all assured them that, if they did so, it would certainly be
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the <I>lengthening out of their tranquillity.</I> The mercies they
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enjoyed should be continued to them: "<I>You shall dwell in the
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land,</I> dwell at ease, dwell in peace, in this good land, <I>which
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the Lord has given you and your fathers.</I> Nothing but sin will turn
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you out of it, and that shall not if you turn from it." The judgments
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they feared should be prevented: <I>Provoke me not, and I will do you
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no hurt.</I> Note, We should never receive from God the evil punishment
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if we did not provoke him by the evil of sin. God deals fairly with us,
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never corrects his children without cause, nor causes grief to us
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unless we give offence to him.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Yet all was to no purpose. They were not wrought upon to take the
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right and only method to turn away the wrath of God. Jeremiah was a
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very lively affectionate preacher, yet <I>they hearkened not</I> to
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him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The other prophets dealt faithfully with them, but neither did they
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<I>hearken to them,</I> nor <I>incline their ear,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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That very particular sin which they were told, of all others, was most
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offensive to God, and made them obnoxious to his justice, they wilfully
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persisted in: You <I>provoke me with the works of your hands to your
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own hurt.</I> Note, What is a provocation to God will prove, in the
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end, hurt to ourselves, and we must bear the blame of it. <I>O Israel!
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thou hast destroyed thyself.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jer25_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer25_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Desolation Predicted.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 607.</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>8 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts; Because ye have not
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heard my words,
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9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,
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saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my
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servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the
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inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about,
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and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and
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a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
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10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the
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voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of
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the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the
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candle.
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11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, <I>and</I> an
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astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
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seventy years.
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12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are
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accomplished, <I>that</I> I will punish the king of Babylon, and that
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nation, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, for their iniquity, and the land of the
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Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
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13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have
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pronounced against it, <I>even</I> all that is written in this book,
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which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
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14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of
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them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds,
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and according to the works of their own hands.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is the sentence grounded upon the foregoing charge: "<I>Because
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you have not heard my words,</I> I must take another course with you,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Note, When men will not regard the judgments of God's mouth they may
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expect to feel the judgments of his hands, to hear the rod, since they
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would not hear the word; for the sinner must either be parted from his
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sin or perish in it. Wrath comes without remedy against those only that
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sin without repentance. It is not so much men's turning aside that
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ruins them as their not returning.</P>
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<P>
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I. The ruin of the land of Judah by the king of Babylon's armies is
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here decreed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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God sent to them <I>his servants the prophets,</I> and they were not
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heeded, and therefore God will send for <I>his servant the king of
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Babylon,</I> whom they cannot mock, and despise, and persecute, as they
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did his servants the prophets. Note, The messengers of God's wrath will
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be sent against those that would not receive the messengers of his
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mercy. One way or other God will be heeded, and will make men know that
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<I>he is the Lord.</I> Nebuchadrezzar, though a stranger to the true
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God, the God of Israel, nay, an enemy to him and afterwards a rival
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with him, was yet, in the descent he made upon his country. <I>God's
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|
servant,</I> accomplished his purpose, was employed by him, and was an
|
|
instrument in his hand for the correction of his people. He was really
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serving God's designs when he thought he was serving his own ends.
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Justly therefore does God here call himself <I>The Lord of hosts</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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for here is an instance of his sovereign dominion, not only over the
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inhabitants, but over the armies of this earth, of which he makes what
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use he pleases. He has them all at his command. The most potent and
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|
absolute monarchs are his servants. Nebuchadrezzar, who is an
|
|
instrument of his wrath, is as truly his servant as Cyrus, who is an
|
|
instrument of his mercy. The land of Judah being to be made desolate,
|
|
God here musters his army that is to make it so, gathers it together,
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|
takes <I>all the families of the north,</I> if there be occasion for
|
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them, leads them on as their commander-in-chief, <I>brings them against
|
|
this land,</I> gives them success, not only against Judah and
|
|
Jerusalem, but against <I>all the nations round about,</I> that there
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|
might be no dependence upon them as allies or assistants against that
|
|
threatening force. The utter destruction of this and all the
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|
neighbouring lands is here described,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:9-11"><I>v.</I> 9-11</A>.
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It shall be total: <I>The whole land shall be a desolation,</I> not
|
|
only desolate, but a desolation itself; both city and country shall be
|
|
laid waste, and all the wealth of both be made a prey of. It shall be
|
|
lasting, even <I>perpetual desolations;</I> they shall continue so long
|
|
in ruins, and after long waiting there shall appear so little prospect
|
|
of relief, that every one shall call it perpetual. This desolation
|
|
shall be the ruin of their credit among their neighbours; it shall bury
|
|
their honour in the dust, shall <I>make them an astonishment and a
|
|
hissing;</I> every one will be amazed at them, and hiss them off the
|
|
stage of action with just disgrace for deserting a God who would have
|
|
been their protection for impostors who would certainly be their
|
|
destruction. It will likewise be the ruin of all their comfort among
|
|
themselves; it shall be a final period of all their joy: <I>I will take
|
|
from them the voice of mirth,</I> hang their harps on the willow-trees,
|
|
and put them out of tune for songs. <I>I will take from them the voice
|
|
of mirth;</I> they shall neither have cause for it nor hearts for it.
|
|
They would not hear the voice of God's word and therefore the voice of
|
|
mirth shall no more be heard among them. They shall be deprived of
|
|
food: <I>The sound of the mill-stones shall not be heard;</I> for, when
|
|
the enemy has seized their stores, the sound of the grinding must needs
|
|
be low,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+12:4">Eccl. xii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
An end shall be put to all business; there shall not be seen <I>the
|
|
light of a candle,</I> for there shall be no work to be done worth
|
|
candle-light. And, <I>lastly,</I> they shall be deprived of their
|
|
liberty: <I>Those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy
|
|
years.</I> The fixing of time during which the captivity should last
|
|
would be of great use, not only for the confirmation of the prophecy,
|
|
when the event (which in this particular could by no human sagacity be
|
|
foreseen) should exactly answer the prediction, but for the comfort of
|
|
the people of God in their calamity and the encouragement of faith and
|
|
prayer. Daniel, who was himself a prophet, had an eye to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:2">Dan. ix. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, God himself had an eye to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:22">2 Chron. xxxvi. 22</A>);
|
|
|
|
for <I>therefore</I> he <I>stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,</I> that the
|
|
word spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished. <I>Known
|
|
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,</I> which
|
|
appears by this, that, when he has thought fit, some of them have been
|
|
made known to his servants the prophets and by them to his church.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The ruin of Babylon, at last, is here likewise foretold, as it had
|
|
been, long before, by Isaiah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:12-14"><I>v.</I> 12-14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The destroyers must themselves be destroyed, and the rod thrown into
|
|
the fire, when the correcting work is done with it. This shall be done
|
|
when <I>seventy years are accomplished;</I> for the destruction of
|
|
Babylon must make way for the deliverance of the captives. It is a
|
|
great doubt when these <I>seventy years</I> commence; some date them
|
|
from the captivity in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and first of
|
|
Nebuchadrezzar, others from the captivity of Jehoiachin eight years
|
|
after. I rather incline to the former, because then these nations began
|
|
<I>to serve the king of Babylon,</I> and because usually God has taken
|
|
the earliest time from which to reckon the accomplishment of a promise
|
|
of mercy, as will appear in computing the 400 years' servitude in
|
|
Egypt. And, if so, eighteen or nineteen years of the seventy had run
|
|
out before Jerusalem and the temple were quite destroyed in the
|
|
eleventh year of Zedekiah. However that be, when the time, the set
|
|
time, to favour Zion, has come, the king of Babylon must be visited,
|
|
and all the instances of his tyranny reckoned for; then that nation
|
|
shall be punished <I>for their iniquity,</I> as the other nations have
|
|
been punished for theirs. That land must then be a <I>perpetual
|
|
desolation,</I> such as they had made other lands; for the <I>Judge of
|
|
all the earth</I> will both <I>do right</I> and <I>avenge wrong,</I> as
|
|
King of nations and King of saints. Let proud conquerors and oppressors
|
|
be moderate in the use of their power and success, for it will come at
|
|
last to their own turn to suffer; their day will come to fall. In this
|
|
destruction of Babylon, which was to be brought about by the Medes and
|
|
Persians, reference shall be had,
|
|
|
|
1. To what God had said: <I>I will bring upon that land all my
|
|
words;</I> for all the wealth and honour of Babylon shall be sacrificed
|
|
to the truth of the divine predictions, and all its power broken,
|
|
rather than one iota or tittle of God's word shall fall to the ground.
|
|
The same Jeremiah that prophesied the destruction of other nations by
|
|
the Chaldeans foretold also the destruction of the Chaldeans
|
|
themselves; and this must be brought upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is with reference to this very event that God says, I will
|
|
<I>confirm the word of my servant,</I> and <I>perform the counsel of my
|
|
messengers,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:26">Isa. xliv. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Two what they had done
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will recompense them according to their deeds,</I> by which they
|
|
transgressed the law of God, even then when they were made to serve his
|
|
purposes. They had made many nations to serve them, and trampled upon
|
|
them with the greatest insolence imaginable; but not that the measure
|
|
of their iniquity is full <I>many nations and great kings,</I> that are
|
|
in alliance with and come in to the assistance of Cyrus king of Persia,
|
|
shall <I>serve themselves of them</I> also, shall make themselves
|
|
masters of their country, enrich themselves with their spoils, and make
|
|
them the footstool by which to mount the throne of universal monarchy.
|
|
They shall make use of them for servants and soldiers. <I>He that leads
|
|
into captivity shall go into captivity.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_29"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Cup of Wrath; General Desolation.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 607.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel unto me; Take the wine
|
|
cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I
|
|
send thee, to drink it.
|
|
16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of
|
|
the sword that I will send among them.
|
|
17 Then took I the cup at the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s hand, and made all the
|
|
nations to drink, unto whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had sent me:
|
|
18 <I>To wit,</I> Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings
|
|
thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an
|
|
astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as <I>it is</I> this day;
|
|
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes,
|
|
and all his people;
|
|
20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of
|
|
Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and
|
|
Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
|
|
21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
|
|
22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and
|
|
the kings of the isles which <I>are</I> beyond the sea,
|
|
23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all <I>that are</I> in the utmost
|
|
corners,
|
|
24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the
|
|
mingled people that dwell in the desert,
|
|
25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and
|
|
all the kings of the Medes,
|
|
26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with
|
|
another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which <I>are</I> upon the
|
|
face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after
|
|
them.
|
|
27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of
|
|
hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and
|
|
fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send
|
|
among you.
|
|
28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine
|
|
hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
|
|
29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called
|
|
by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be
|
|
unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants
|
|
of the earth, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Under the similitude of a cup going round, which all the company must
|
|
drink of, is here represented the universal desolation that was now
|
|
coming upon that part of the world which Nebuchadrezzar, who just now
|
|
began to reign and act, was to be the instrument of, and which should
|
|
at length recoil upon his own country. The cup in the vision is to be a
|
|
sword in the accomplishment of it: so it is explained,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is <I>the sword that I will send among them,</I> the sword of war,
|
|
that should be irresistibly strong and implacably cruel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. As to the circumstances of this judgment, observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Whence this destroying sword should come--<I>from the hand of
|
|
God.</I> It is the <I>sword of the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+47:6"><I>ch.</I> xlvii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>bathed in heaven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+34:5">Isa. xxxiv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Wicked men are made use of as his sword,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:13">Ps. xvii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is <I>the wine-cup of his fury.</I> It is the just anger of God that
|
|
sends this judgment. The nations have provoked him by their sins, and
|
|
they must fall under the tokens of his wrath. These are compared to
|
|
some intoxicating liquor, which they shall be forced to drink of, as,
|
|
formerly, condemned malefactors were sometimes executed by being
|
|
compelled to drink poison. The wicked are said to <I>drink the wrath of
|
|
the Almighty,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:20,Re+14:10">Job xxi. 20; Rev. xiv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their share of troubles in his world is represented by the dregs of a
|
|
cup of red wine full of mixture,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+11:6">Ps. xi. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The wrath of God in this world is but as a cup, in comparison of the
|
|
full streams of it in the other world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. By whose hand it should be sent to them--by the hand of Jeremiah as
|
|
the judge <I>set over the nations</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:10"><I>ch.</I> i. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
to pass his sentence upon them, and by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar as
|
|
the executioner. What a much greater figure then does the poor prophet
|
|
make than what the potent prince makes, if we look upon their relation
|
|
to God, though in the eye of the world it was the reverse of it!
|
|
Jeremiah must <I>take the cup at God's hand,</I> and compel the nations
|
|
<I>to drink it.</I> He foretels no hurt to them but what God appoints
|
|
him to foretel; and what is foretold by a divine authority will
|
|
certainly be fulfilled by a divine power.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. On whom it should be sent--on all the nations within the verge of
|
|
Israel's acquaintance and the lines of their communication. Jeremiah
|
|
took the cup, and <I>made all the nations to drink of it,</I> that is,
|
|
he prophesied concerning each of the nations here mentioned that they
|
|
should share in this great desolation that was coming. <I>Jerusalem and
|
|
the cities of Judah</I> are put first
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
for <I>judgment begins at the house of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:17">1 Pet. iv. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
at the sanctuary,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+9:6">Ezek. ix. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whether Nebuchadrezzar had his eye principally upon Jerusalem and Judah
|
|
in this expedition or no does not appear; probably he had; for it was
|
|
as considerable as any of the nations here mentioned. However God had
|
|
his eye principally to them. And this part of the prophecy was already
|
|
begun to be accomplished; this is denoted by that melancholy
|
|
parenthesis (<I>as it is this day</I>), for in the fourth year of
|
|
Jehoiakim things had come into a very bad posture, and all the
|
|
foundations were out of course. <I>Pharaoh king of Egypt</I> comes
|
|
next, because the Jews trusted to that broken reed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>);
|
|
|
|
the remains of them fled to Egypt, and there Jeremiah particularly
|
|
foretold the destruction of that country,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:10,11"><I>ch.</I> xliii. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
All the other nations that bordered upon Canaan must pledge Jerusalem
|
|
in this bitter cup, this cup of trembling. The <I>mingled people,</I>
|
|
the Arabians (so some), some rovers of divers nations that lived by
|
|
rapine (so others); <I>the kings of the land of Uz,</I> joined to the
|
|
country of the Edomites. The Philistines had been vexatious to Israel,
|
|
but now their cities and their lords become a prey to this mighty
|
|
conqueror. Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon, are places well known to
|
|
border upon Israel; the <I>Isles beyond,</I> or <I>beside, the sea,</I>
|
|
are supposed to be those parts of Phœnicia and Syria that lay upon the
|
|
coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Dedan and the other countries mentioned
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
seem to have lain upon the confines of Idumea and Arabia the desert.
|
|
Those of Elam are the Persians, with whom the Medes are joined, now
|
|
looked upon as inconsiderable and yet afterwards able to make reprisals
|
|
upon Babylon for themselves and all their neighbours. The <I>kings of
|
|
the north,</I> that lay nearer to Babylon, and others that lay at some
|
|
distance, will be sure to be seized on and made a prey of by the
|
|
victorious sword of Nebuchadrezzar. Nay, he shall push on his victories
|
|
with such incredible fury and success that all the kingdoms of the
|
|
world that were then and there known should become sacrifices to his
|
|
ambition. Thus Alexander is said to have conquered <I>the world,</I>
|
|
and the Roman empire is called <I>the world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:1">Luke ii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or it may be taken as reading the doom of <I>all the kingdoms</I> of
|
|
the earth; one time or other, they shall feel the dreadful effects of
|
|
war. The world has been, and will be, a great cockpit, while men's
|
|
lusts war as they do <I>in their members,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:1">Jam. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, that the conquerors may see their fate with the conquered, it
|
|
concludes, <I>The king of Sheshach shall drink after them,</I> that is,
|
|
the king of Babylon himself, who has given his neighbours all this
|
|
trouble and vexation, shall at length have it return upon his own head.
|
|
That by Sheshach is meant Babylon is plain from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+51:41"><I>ch.</I> li. 41</A>;
|
|
|
|
but whether it was another name of the same city or the name of another
|
|
city of the same kingdom is uncertain. Babylon's ruin was foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Upon this prophecy of its being the author of the ruin of so many
|
|
nations it is very fitly repeated here again.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. What should be the effect of it. The desolations which the sword
|
|
should make in all these kingdoms are represented by the consequences
|
|
of excessive drinking
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They shall drink, and be moved, and be mad. They shall be drunken,
|
|
and spue, and fall and rise no more,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now this may serve,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To make us loathe the sin of drunkenness, that the consequences of
|
|
it are made use of to set forth a most woeful and miserable condition.
|
|
Drunkenness deprives men, for the present, of the use of their reason,
|
|
makes them mad. It takes from them likewise that which, next to reason,
|
|
is the most valuable blessing, and that is health; it makes them sick,
|
|
and endangers the bones and the life. Men in drink often <I>fall and
|
|
rise no more;</I> it is a sin that is its own punishment. How
|
|
wretchedly are those intoxicated and besotted that suffer themselves at
|
|
any time to be intoxicated, especially to be by the frequent commission
|
|
of the sin besotted with wine or strong drink!
|
|
|
|
(2.) To make us dread the judgments of war. When God sends the sword
|
|
upon a nation, with warrant to make it desolate, it soon becomes like a
|
|
drunken man, filled with confusion at the alarms of war, put into a
|
|
hurry; its counsellors <I>mad,</I> and at their wits' end, staggering
|
|
in all the measures they take, all the motions they make, sick at heart
|
|
with continual vexation, <I>vomiting up the riches</I> they have
|
|
greedily <I>swallowed down</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:15">Job xx. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>falling</I> down before the enemy, and as unable to get up again, or
|
|
do any thing to help themselves, as a man <I>dead drunk is,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:16">Hab. ii. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The undoubted certainty of it, with the reason given for it,
|
|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:28,29"><I>v.</I> 28, 29</A>.
|
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They will <I>refuse to take the cup at thy hand;</I> not only they will
|
|
be loth that the judgment should come, but they will be loth to believe
|
|
that ever it will come; they will not give credit to the prediction of
|
|
so despicable a man as Jeremiah. But he must tell them that it is
|
|
<I>the word of the Lord of hosts,</I> he hath said it; and it is in
|
|
vain for them to struggle with Omnipotence: <I>You shall certainly
|
|
drink.</I> And he must give them this reason, It is a time of
|
|
visitation, it is a reckoning day, and Jerusalem has been called to an
|
|
account already: <I>I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by
|
|
my name;</I> its relation to me will not exempt it from punishment, and
|
|
<I>should you be utterly unpunished?</I> No; <I>If this be done in the
|
|
green tree, what shall be done in the dry?</I> If those who have some
|
|
good in them smart so severely for the evil that is found in them, can
|
|
those expect to escape who have worse evils, and no good, found among
|
|
them? If Jerusalem be punished for learning idolatry of the nations,
|
|
shall not the nations be punished, of whom they learned it? No doubt
|
|
they shall: <I>I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the
|
|
earth,</I> for they have helped to debauch the inhabitants of
|
|
Jerusalem.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Upon this whole matter we may observe,
|
|
|
|
1. That there is a God that judges in the earth, to whom all the
|
|
nations of the earth are accountable, and by whose judgment they must
|
|
abide.
|
|
|
|
2. That God can easily bring to ruin the greatest nations, the most
|
|
numerous and powerful, and such as have been most secure.
|
|
|
|
3. That those who have been vexatious and mischievous to the people of
|
|
God will be reckoned with for it at last. Many of these nations had in
|
|
their turns given disturbance to Israel, but now comes destruction on
|
|
them. The year of the redeemer will come, even the <I>year of
|
|
recompenses</I> for the controversy of Zion.
|
|
|
|
4. That the <I>burden of the word of the Lord</I> will at last become
|
|
the burden of his judgments. Isaiah had prophesied long since against
|
|
most of these nations
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:1-27"><I>ch.</I> xiii.</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.) and now at length all his prophecies will have their complete
|
|
fulfilling.
|
|
|
|
5. That those who are ambitious of power and dominion commonly become
|
|
the troublers of the earth and the plagues of their generation.
|
|
Nebuchadrezzar was so proud of his might that he had no sense of right.
|
|
These are the men that turn the world upside down, and yet expect to be
|
|
admired and adored. Alexander thought himself a great prince when
|
|
others thought him no better than a great pirate.
|
|
|
|
6. That the greatest pomp and power in this world are of very uncertain
|
|
continuance. Before Nebuchadrezzar's greater force kings themselves
|
|
must yield and become captives.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer25_36"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Jer25_37"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Jer25_38"> </A>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>General Desolation; Jeremiah's Faithful Preaching.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 607.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and
|
|
say unto them, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall roar from on high, and utter his
|
|
voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his
|
|
habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread <I>the
|
|
grapes,</I> against all the inhabitants of the earth.
|
|
31 A noise shall come <I>even</I> to the ends of the earth; for the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all
|
|
flesh; he will give them <I>that are</I> wicked to the sword, saith
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
32 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth
|
|
from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up
|
|
from the coasts of the earth.
|
|
33 And the slain of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall be at that day from <I>one</I>
|
|
end of the earth even unto the <I>other</I> end of the earth: they
|
|
shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall
|
|
be dung upon the ground.
|
|
34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves <I>in the
|
|
ashes,</I> ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter
|
|
and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like
|
|
a pleasant vessel.
|
|
35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the
|
|
principal of the flock to escape.
|
|
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the
|
|
principal of the flock, <I>shall be heard:</I> for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
|
|
spoiled their pasture.
|
|
37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the
|
|
fierce anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is
|
|
desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because
|
|
of his fierce anger.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have, in these verses, a further description of those terrible
|
|
desolations which the king of Babylon with his armies should make in
|
|
all the countries and nations round about Jerusalem. In Jerusalem God
|
|
had erected his temple; there were his oracles and ordinances, which
|
|
the neighbouring nations should have attended to and might have
|
|
received benefit by; thither they should have applied for the knowledge
|
|
of God and their duty, and then they might have had reason to bless God
|
|
for their neighbourhood to Jerusalem; but they, instead of that, taking
|
|
all opportunities either to debauch or to disturb that holy city, when
|
|
God came to reckon with Jerusalem because it learned so much of the
|
|
<I>way of the nations,</I> he reckoned with the nations because they
|
|
learned so little of the way of Jerusalem.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
They will soon be aware of Nebuchadrezzar's making war upon them; but
|
|
the prophet is here directed to tell them that it is God himself that
|
|
makes war upon them, a God with whom there is no contending.
|
|
|
|
1. The war is here proclaimed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord shall roar from on high;</I> not <I>from Mount Zion and
|
|
Jerusalem</I> (as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+3:16,Am+1:2">Joel iii. 16, Amos i. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
but from <I>heaven,</I> from <I>his holy habitation</I> there; for now
|
|
Jerusalem is one of the places against which he roars. <I>He shall
|
|
mightily roar upon his habitation</I> on earth from that above. He has
|
|
been long silent, and seemed not to take notice of the wickedness of
|
|
the nations; the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now <I>he
|
|
shall give a shout,</I> as the assailants in battle do, <I>against all
|
|
the inhabitants of the earth,</I> to whom it shall be a shout of
|
|
terror, and yet a shout of joy in heaven, as theirs that <I>tread the
|
|
grapes;</I> for, when God is reckoning with the proud enemies of his
|
|
kingdom among men, there is a <I>great voice of much people heard in
|
|
heaven, saying, Hallelujah,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+19:1">Rev. xix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>roars as a lion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:4,8">Amos iii. 4, 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
as a lion that has <I>forsaken his covert</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
and is going abroad to seek his prey, upon which he roars, that he may
|
|
the more easily seize it.
|
|
|
|
2. The manifesto is here published, showing the causes and reasons why
|
|
God proclaims this war
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord has a controversy with the nations;</I> he has just cause
|
|
to contend with them, and he will take this way of pleading with them.
|
|
His quarrel with them is, in one word, for their wickedness, their
|
|
contempt of him, and his authority over them and kindness to them.
|
|
<I>He will give those that are wicked to the sword.</I> They have
|
|
provoked God to anger, and thence comes all this destruction; it is
|
|
<I>because of the fierce anger of the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:37,38"><I>v.</I> 37 and again <I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
the <I>fierceness of the oppressor,</I> or (as it might better be read)
|
|
<I>the fierceness of the oppressing sword</I> (for the word is
|
|
feminine) is <I>because of his fierce anger;</I> and we are sure that
|
|
he is never angry without cause; but <I>who knows the power of his
|
|
anger?</I>
|
|
|
|
3. The alarm is here given and taken: <I>A noise will come even to the
|
|
ends of the earth,</I> so loud shall it roar, so far shall it reach,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
The alarm is not given by sound of trumpet, or beat of drum, but by a
|
|
<I>whirlwind, a great whirlwind, storm,</I> or <I>tempest,</I> which
|
|
shall be <I>raised up from the coasts,</I> the remote coasts <I>of the
|
|
earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Chaldean army shall be like a hurricane raised in the north, but
|
|
thence carried on with incredible fierceness and swiftness, bearing
|
|
down all before it. It is like the whirlwind out of which God answered
|
|
Job, which was exceedingly terrible,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:1,38:1">Job xxxvii. 1; xxxviii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, when the wrath of God thus roars like a lion from heaven, no
|
|
marvel if it be echoed with shrieks from earth; for who can choose but
|
|
tremble when God thus speaks in displeasure? See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:10">Hosea xi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now the shepherds shall <I>howl and cry,</I> the kings, and princes,
|
|
and the great ones of the earth, the <I>principal of the flock.</I>
|
|
They used to be the most courageous and secure, but now their hearts
|
|
shall fail them; <I>they shall wallow themselves in the ashes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
Seeing themselves utterly unable to make head against the enemy, and
|
|
seeing their country, which they have the charge of and a concern for,
|
|
inevitably ruined, they shall abandon themselves to sorrow. There shall
|
|
be <I>a voice of the cry of the shepherds,</I> and a <I>howling of the
|
|
principal of the flock shall be heard,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those are great calamities indeed that strike such a terror upon the
|
|
great men, and put them into this consternation. <I>The Lord hath
|
|
spoiled their pasture,</I> in which they fed their flock, and out of
|
|
which they fed themselves; the spoiling of that makes them cry-out
|
|
thus. Perhaps, carrying on the metaphor of a lion roaring, it alludes
|
|
to the great fright that shepherds are in when they hear a roaring lion
|
|
coming towards their flocks, and find they have <I>no way to flee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>)
|
|
|
|
for their own safety, neither can the <I>principal of their flock
|
|
escape.</I> The enemy will be so numerous, so furious, so sedulous, and
|
|
the extent of their armies so vast, that it will be impossible to avoid
|
|
falling into their hands. Note, As we cannot out-face, so we cannot
|
|
out-run, the judgments of God. This is that for which the shepherds
|
|
<I>howl and cry.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. The progress of this war is here described
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation;</I> as the cup
|
|
goes round, every nation shall have its share and take warning by the
|
|
calamities of another to repent and reform. Nay, as if this ere to be
|
|
a little representation of the last and general judgment, it shall
|
|
reach <I>from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
|
|
earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
The day of vengeance is in his heart, and now <I>his hand shall find
|
|
out all his enemies,</I> wherever they are,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:8">Ps. xxi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, When our neighbour's house is on fire it is time to be concerned
|
|
for our own. When one nation is a seat of war every neighbouring
|
|
nation should hear, and fear, and make its peace with God.
|
|
|
|
5. The dismal consequences of this war are here foretold: <I>The days
|
|
of slaughter and dispersions are accomplished,</I> that is, they are
|
|
fully come
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>),
|
|
|
|
the time fixed in the divine counsel for the slaughter of some and the
|
|
dispersion of the rest, which will make the nations completely
|
|
desolate. Multitudes shall fall by the sword of the merciless
|
|
Chaldeans, so that <I>the slain of the Lord</I> shall be every where
|
|
found: they are slain by commission from him, and are sacrificed to his
|
|
justice. The slain for sin are the <I>slain of the Lord.</I> To
|
|
complete the misery of their slaughter, <I>they shall not be
|
|
lamented</I> in particular, so general shall the matter of lamentation
|
|
be. Nay, they shall not <I>be gathered</I> up, nor <I>buried,</I> for
|
|
they shall have no friends left to bury them, and the enemies shall not
|
|
have so much humanity in them as to do it; and then they shall be <I>as
|
|
dung upon the earth,</I> so vile and noisome: and it is well if, as
|
|
dung manures the earth and makes it fruitful, so these horrid
|
|
spectacles, which lie as monuments of divine justice, might be a means
|
|
to awaken the inhabitants of the earth to <I>learn righteousness.</I>
|
|
The effect of this war will be the <I>desolation of the whole land</I>
|
|
that is the seat of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
one land after another. But here are two expressions more that seem to
|
|
make the case in a particular manner piteous.
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>You shall fall like a pleasant vessel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
The most desirable persons among them, who most valued themselves and
|
|
were most valued, who were looked upon as <I>vessels of honour,</I>
|
|
shall fall by the sword. You shall fall as a Venice glass or a China
|
|
dish, which is soon broken all to pieces. Even the tender and delicate
|
|
shall share in the common calamity; the sword devours one as well as
|
|
another.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Even <I>the peaceable habitations are cut down.</I> Those that
|
|
used to be quiet, and not molested, the habitations in which you have
|
|
long dwelt in peace, shall now be no longer such, but <I>cut down</I>
|
|
by the war. Or, Those who used to be quiet, and not molesting any of
|
|
their neighbours, those who lived in peace, easily, and gave no
|
|
provocation to any, even those shall not escape. This is one of the
|
|
direful effects of war, that even those who were most harmless and
|
|
inoffensive suffer hard things. Blessed be God, there is a
|
|
<I>peaceable habitation</I> above for all the sons of peace, which is
|
|
out of the reach of fire and sword.</P>
|
|
|
|
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