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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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[<A HREF="MHC24031.HTM">Previous</A>]
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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. XXXII.</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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In this chapter we have,
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I. Jeremiah imprisoned for foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and
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the captivity of king Zedekiah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. We have him buying land, by divine appointment, as an assurance
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that in due time a happy end should be put to the present troubles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:6-15">ver. 6-15</A>.
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III. We have his prayer, which he offered up to God upon that occasion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:16-25">ver. 16-25</A>.
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IV. We have a message which God thereupon entrusted him to deliver to
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the people.
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1. He must foretel the utter destruction of Judah and Jerusalem for
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their sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:26-35">ver. 26-35</A>.
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But,
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2. At the same time he must assure them that, though the destruction
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was total, it should not be final, but that at length their posterity
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should recover the peaceable possession of their own land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:36-44">ver. 36-44</A>.
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The predictions of this chapter, both threatenings and promises, are
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much the same with what we have already met with again and again, but
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here are some circumstances that are very particular and
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remarkable.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jer32_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_15"> </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>Judgments Predicted; Jeremiah Imprisoned.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</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 from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in the tenth
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year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which <I>was</I> the eighteenth year
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of Nebuchadrezzar.
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2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and
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Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison,
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which <I>was</I> in the king of Judah's house.
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3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore
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dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Behold, I will
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give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall
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take it;
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4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand
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of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of
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the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and
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his eyes shall behold his eyes;
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5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be
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until I visit him, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: though ye fight with the
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Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
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6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come
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unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that <I>is</I> in Anathoth: for
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the right of redemption <I>is</I> thine to buy <I>it.</I>
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8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the
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prison according to the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and said unto me, Buy
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my field, I pray thee, that <I>is</I> in Anathoth, which <I>is</I> in the
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country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance <I>is</I> thine, and
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the redemption <I>is</I> thine; buy <I>it</I> for thyself. Then I knew that
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this <I>was</I> the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that <I>was</I>
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in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, <I>even</I> seventeen shekels
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of silver.
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10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed <I>it,</I> and took
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witnesses, and weighed <I>him</I> the money in the balances.
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11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, <I>both</I> that which
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was sealed <I>according</I> to the law and custom, and that which was
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open:
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12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son
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of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine
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uncle's <I>son,</I> and in the presence of the witnesses that
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subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat
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in the court of the prison.
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13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
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14 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these
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evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed,
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and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen
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vessel, that they may continue many days.
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15 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses
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and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It appears by the date of this chapter that we are now coming very nigh
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to that fatal year which completed the desolations of Judah and
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Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. God's judgments came gradually upon them,
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but, they not meeting him by repentance in the way of his judgments, he
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proceeded in his controversy till all was laid waste, which was in the
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eleventh year of Zedekiah; now what is here recorded happened in the
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tenth. The king of Babylon's army had now invested Jerusalem and was
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carrying on the siege with vigour, not doubting but in a little time to
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make themselves masters of it, while the besieged had taken up a
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desperate resolution not to surrender, but to hold out to the last
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extremity. Now,</P>
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<P>
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I. Jeremiah prophesies that both the city and the court shall fall into
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the hands of the king of Babylon. He tells them expressly that the
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besiegers shall take the city as a prize, for God, whose city it was in
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a peculiar manner, will give it into their hands and put it out of his
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protection
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),--
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that, though Zedekiah attempt to make his escape, he shall be
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overtaken, and shall be delivered a prisoner into the hands of
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Nebuchadnezzar, shall be brought into his presence, to his great
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confusion and terror, he having made himself so obnoxious by breaking
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his faith with him, he shall hear the king of Babylon pronounce his
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doom, and see with what fury and indignation he will look upon him
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(<I>His eyes shall behold his eyes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),--
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that Zedekiah shall be carried to Babylon, and continue a miserable
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captive there, <I>until God visit him,</I> that is, till God put an end
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to his life by a natural death, as Nebuchadnezzar had long before put
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an end to his days by putting out his eyes. Note, Those that live in
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misery may be truly said to be visited in mercy when God by death takes
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them home to himself. And, <I>lastly,</I> he foretels that all their
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attempts to force the besiegers from their trenches shall be
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ineffectual: <I>Though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not
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prosper;</I> how should they, when God did not fight for them?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+34:2,3"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv. 2, 3</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. For prophesying thus he is imprisoned, not in the common gaol, but
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in the more creditable prison that was within the verge of the palace,
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<I>in the king of Judah's house,</I> and there not closely confined,
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but in <I>custodia libera--in the court of the prison,</I> where he
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might have good company, good air, and good intelligence brought him,
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and would be sheltered from the abuses of the mob; but, however, it was
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a prison, and Zedekiah shut him up in it for prophesying as he did,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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So far was he from <I>humbling himself before Jeremiah,</I> as he ought
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to have done
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:12">2 Chron. xxxvi. 12</A>),
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that he <I>hardened himself</I> against him. Though he had formerly so
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far owned him to be a prophet as to desire him to <I>enquire of the
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Lord for them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+21:2"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 2</A>),
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yet now he chides him for prophesying
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and shuts him up in prison, perhaps not with design to punish him any
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further, but only to restrain him from prophesying any further, which
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was crime enough. Silencing God's prophets, though it is not so bad as
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mocking and killing them, is yet a great affront to the God of heaven.
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See how wretchedly the hearts of sinners are hardened by the
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deceitfulness of sin. Persecution was one of the sins for which God was
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now contending with them, and yet Zedekiah persists in it even now that
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he was in the depth of distress. No providences, no afflictions, will
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of themselves part between men and their sins, unless the grace of God
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work with them. Nay, some are made worse by those very judgments that
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should make them better.</P>
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<P>
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III. Being in prison, he purchases from a near relation of his a piece
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of ground that lay in Anathoth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>,
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&c.</P>
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<P>
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1. One would not have expected,
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(1.) That a prophet should concern himself so far in the business of
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this world; but why not? Though ministers must not entangle themselves,
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yet they may concern themselves in the affairs of this life.
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(2.) That one who had neither wife nor children should buy land. We
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find
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+16:2"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 2</A>)
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that he had no family of his own; yet he may purchase for his own use
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while he lives, and leave it to the children of his relations when he
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dies.
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(3.) One would little have thought that a prisoner should be a
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purchaser; how should he get money beforehand to buy land with? It is
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probably that he lived frugally, and saved something out of what
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belonged to him as a priest, which is no blemish at all to his
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character; but we have no reason to think that the people were kind, or
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that his being beforehand was owing to their generosity. Nay,
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(4.) It was most strange of all that he should buy a <I>piece of
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land</I> when he himself knew that the whole land was now to be laid
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waste and fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and then what good
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would this do him? But it was the will of God that he should buy it,
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and he submitted, though the money seemed to be thrown away. His
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kinsman came to offer it to him; it was not of his own seeking; he
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coveted not to lay house to house and field to field, but Providence
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brought it to him, and it was probably a good bargain; besides, the
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<I>right of redemption</I> belonged to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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and if he refused he would not do the kinsman's part. It is true he
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might lawfully refuse, but, being a prophet, in a thing of this nature
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he must do that which would be for the honour of his profession. <I>It
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became him to fulfil all righteousness.</I> It was land that lay within
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the suburbs of a priests' city, and, if he should refuse it, there was
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danger lest, in these times of disorder, it might be sold to one of
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another tribe, which was contrary to the law, to prevent which it was
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convenient for him to buy it. It would likewise be a kindness to his
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kinsman, who probably was at this time in great want of money. Jeremiah
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had but a little, but what he had he was willing to lay out in such a
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manner as might tend most to the honour of God and the good of his
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friends and country, which he preferred before his own private
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interests.</P>
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<P>
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2. Two things may be observed concerning this purchase:--</P>
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<P>
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(1.) How fairly the bargain was made. When Jeremiah knew by Hanameel's
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coming to him, as God had foretold he would, that <I>it was the word of
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the Lord,</I> that it was his mind that he should make this purchase,
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he made no more difficulty of it, but <I>bought the field.</I> And,
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[1.] He was very honest and exact in paying the money. He <I>weighted
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him the money,</I> did not press him to take it upon his report, though
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he was his near kinsman, but weighed it to him, current money. It was
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<I>seventeen shekels of silver,</I> amounting to about forty shillings
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of our money. The land was probably but a little field and of small
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yearly value, when the purchase was so low; besides, the <I>right of
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inheritance</I> was in Jeremiah, so that he had only to buy out his
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kinsman's life, the reversion being his already. Some think this was
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only the earnest of a greater sum; but we shall not wonder at the
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smallness of the price if we consider what scarcity there was of money
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at this time and how little lands were counted upon.
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[2.] He was very prudent and discreet in preserving the writings. They
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were subscribed <I>before witnesses.</I> One copy was <I>sealed up,</I>
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the other was <I>open.</I> One was the original, the other the
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counterpart; or perhaps that which was <I>sealed up</I> was for his own
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private use, the other that was <I>open</I> was to be laid up in the
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public register of conveyances, for any person concerned to consult.
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Due care and caution in things of this nature might prevent a great
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deal of injustice and contention. The deeds of purchase were lodged in
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the hands of Baruch, before witnesses, and he was ordered to lay them
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up in an <I>earthen vessel</I> (an emblem of the nature of all the
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securities this world can pretend to give us, brittle things and soon
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broken), that they might <I>continue many days,</I> for the use of
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Jeremiah's heirs, after the return out of captivity; for they might
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then have the benefit of this purchase. Purchasing reversions may be a
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kindness to those that come after us, and a good man thus <I>lays up an
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inheritance for his children's children.</I></P>
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<P>
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(2.) What was the design of having this bargain made. It was to signify
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that though Jerusalem was now besieged, and the whole country was
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likely to be laid waste, yet the time should come when <I>houses, and
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fields, and vineyards should be again possessed in this land,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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As God appointed Jeremiah to confirm his predictions of the approaching
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destruction of Jerusalem by his own practice in living unmarried, so he
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now appointed him to confirm his predictions of the future restoration
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of Jerusalem by his own practice in purchasing this field. Note, It
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concerns ministers to make it to appear in their whole conversation
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that they do themselves believe that which they preach to others; and
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that they may do so, and impress it the more deeply upon their hearers,
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they must many a time deny themselves, as Jeremiah did in both these
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instances. God having promised that this land should again come into
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the possession of his people, Jeremiah will, on behalf of his heirs,
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put in for a share. Note, It is good to manage even our worldly affairs
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in faith, and to do common business with an eye to the providence and
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promise of God. Lucius Florus relates it as a great instance of the
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bravery of the Roman citizens that in the time of the second Punic war,
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when Hannibal besieged Rome and was very near making himself master of
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it, a field on which part of his army lay, being offered to sale at
|
|
that time, was immediately purchased, in a firm belief that the Roman
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valour would raise the siege, <I>lib. ii. cap.</I>
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6. And have not we much more reason to venture our all upon the word
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of God, and to embark in Zion's interests, which will undoubtedly be
|
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the prevailing interests at last? <I>Non si male nunc et olim sic
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|
erit--Though now we suffer, we shall not suffer always.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Jer32_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jer32_25"> </A>
|
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jeremiah's Prayer.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto
|
|
Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, saying,
|
|
17 Ah Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth
|
|
by thy great power and stretched out arm, <I>and</I> there is nothing
|
|
too hard for thee:
|
|
18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest
|
|
the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children
|
|
after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, <I>is</I>
|
|
his name,
|
|
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes <I>are</I>
|
|
open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one
|
|
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
|
|
20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
|
|
<I>even</I> unto this day, and in Israel, and among <I>other</I> men; and
|
|
hast made thee a name, as at this day;
|
|
21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of
|
|
Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and
|
|
with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
|
|
22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to
|
|
their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
|
|
23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy
|
|
voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all
|
|
that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all
|
|
this evil to come upon them:
|
|
24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it;
|
|
and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight
|
|
against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the
|
|
pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and,
|
|
behold, thou seest <I>it.</I>
|
|
25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, Buy thee the field
|
|
for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the
|
|
hand of the Chaldeans.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here Jeremiah's prayer to God upon occasion of the discoveries
|
|
God had made to him of his purposes concerning this nation, to pull it
|
|
down, and in process of time to build it up again, which puzzled the
|
|
prophet himself, who, though he delivered his messages faithfully, yet,
|
|
in reflecting upon them, was greatly at a loss within himself how to
|
|
reconcile them; in that perplexity he poured out his soul before God in
|
|
prayer, and so gave himself ease. That which disturbed him was not the
|
|
bad bargain he seemed to have made for himself in purchasing a field
|
|
that he was likely to have no good of, but the case of his people, for
|
|
whom he was still a kind and faithful intercessor, and he was willing
|
|
to hope that, if God had so much mercy in store for them hereafter as
|
|
he had promised, he would not proceed with so much severity against
|
|
them now as he had threatened. Before Jeremiah went to prayer he
|
|
delivered the deeds that concerned his new purchase to Baruch, which
|
|
may intimate to us that when we are going to worship God we should get
|
|
our minds as clear as may be from the cares and incumbrances of this
|
|
world. Jeremiah was in prison, in distress, in the dark about the
|
|
meaning of God's providences, and then he prays. Note, Prayer is a
|
|
salve for every sore. Whatever is a burden to us, we may by prayer
|
|
cast it upon the Lord and then be easy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this prayer, or meditation,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Jeremiah adores God and his infinite perfections, and gives him the
|
|
glory due to his name as the Creator, upholder, and benefactor, of the
|
|
whole creation, thereby owning his irresistible power, that he can do
|
|
what he will, and his incontestable sovereignty, that he may do what he
|
|
will,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:17-19"><I>v.</I> 17-19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, When at any time we are perplexed about the particular methods
|
|
and dispensations of Providence it is good for us to have recourse to
|
|
our first principles, and to satisfy ourselves with the general
|
|
doctrines of God's wisdom, power, and goodness. Let us consider, as
|
|
Jeremiah does here,
|
|
|
|
1. That God is the fountain of all being, power, life, motion, and
|
|
perfection: He <I>made the heaven and the earth with his outstretched
|
|
arm;</I> and therefore who can control him? Who dares contend with him?
|
|
|
|
2. That with him nothing is impossible, no difficulty insuperable:
|
|
<I>Nothing is too hard for thee.</I> When human skill and power are
|
|
quite nonplussed, <I>with God are strength and wisdom</I> sufficient to
|
|
master all the opposition.
|
|
|
|
3. That he is a God of boundless bottomless mercy; mercy is his
|
|
darling attribute; it is his goodness that is his glory: "Thou not only
|
|
art kind, but thou <I>showest lovingkindness,</I> not to a few, to here
|
|
and there one, but <I>to thousands,</I> thousands of persons, thousands
|
|
of generations."
|
|
|
|
4. That he is a God of impartial and inflexible justice. His reprieves
|
|
are not pardons, but if in mercy he spares the parents, that they may
|
|
be led to repentance, yet such a hatred has he to sin, and such a
|
|
displeasure against sinners, that he <I>recompenses their iniquity into
|
|
the bosom of their children,</I> and yet does them no wrong; so hateful
|
|
is the unrighteousness of man, and so jealous of its own honour is the
|
|
righteousness of God.
|
|
|
|
5. That he is a God of universal dominion and command: He is <I>the
|
|
great</I> God, for he is <I>the mighty God,</I> and might among men
|
|
makes them great. He is <I>the Lord of hosts,</I> of all hosts, that
|
|
<I>is his name,</I> and he answers to his name, for all the hosts of
|
|
heaven and earth, of men and angels, are at his beck.
|
|
|
|
6. That he contrives every thing for the best, and effects every thing
|
|
as he contrived it: He is <I>great in counsel,</I> so vast are the
|
|
reaches and so deep are the designs of his wisdom; and he is <I>mighty
|
|
in doing,</I> according to the counsel of his will. Now such a God as
|
|
this is not to be quarrelled with. His service is to be constantly
|
|
adhered to and all his disposals cheerfully acquiesced in.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He acknowledges the universal cognizance God takes of all the
|
|
actions of the children of men and the unerring judgment he passes upon
|
|
them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy eyes are open upon all the sons of men,</I> wherever they are,
|
|
beholding the evil and the good, and upon all <I>their ways,</I> both
|
|
the course they take and every step they take, not as an unconcerned
|
|
spectator, but as an observing judge, <I>to give every one according to
|
|
his ways and according</I> to his deserts, which are <I>the fruit of
|
|
his doings;</I> for men shall find God as they are found of him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He recounts the great things God had done for his people Israel
|
|
formerly.
|
|
|
|
1. He brought them out of Egypt, that house of bondage, with <I>signs
|
|
and wonders,</I> which remain, if not in the marks of them, yet in the
|
|
memorials of them, <I>even unto this day;</I> for it would never be
|
|
forgotten, not only <I>in Israel,</I> who were reminded of it every
|
|
year by the ordinance of the passover, but <I>among other men:</I> all
|
|
the neighbouring nations spoke of it, as that which redounded
|
|
exceedingly to the glory of the God of Israel, and made him <I>a name
|
|
as at this day.</I> This is repeated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
that God <I>brought them forth,</I> not only with comforts and joys to
|
|
them, but with glory to himself, <I>with signs and wonders</I> (witness
|
|
the ten plagues), <I>with a strong hand,</I> too strong for the
|
|
Egyptians themselves, <I>and with a stretched-out arm,</I> that reached
|
|
Pharaoh, proud as he was, <I>and with great terror</I> to them and all
|
|
about them. This seems to refer to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:34">Deut. iv. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He brought them into Canaan, that good land, that <I>land flowing
|
|
with milk and honey.</I> He <I>swore to their fathers to give it
|
|
them,</I> and, because he would perform his oath, he did give it to the
|
|
children
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>and they came in and possessed it.</I> Jeremiah mentions this both
|
|
as an aggravation of their sin and disobedience and also as a plea with
|
|
God to work deliverance for them. Note, It is good for us often to
|
|
reflect upon the great things that God did for his church formerly,
|
|
especially in the first erecting of it, that work of wonder.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He bewails the rebellions they had been guilty of against God, and
|
|
the judgments God had brought upon them for these rebellions. It is a
|
|
sad account he here gives of the ungrateful conduct of that people
|
|
towards God. He had done every thing that he had promised to do (they
|
|
had acknowledged it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+8:56">1 Kings viii. 56</A>),
|
|
|
|
but they had <I>done nothing of all that he commanded them to do</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>);
|
|
|
|
they made no conscience of any of <I>his laws;</I> they <I>walked
|
|
not</I> in them, paid no respect to any of his calls by his prophets,
|
|
for they <I>obeyed not his voice.</I> And therefore he owns that God
|
|
was righteous in <I>causing all this evil to come upon them.</I> The
|
|
city is besieged, is attacked <I>by the sword</I> without, is weakened
|
|
and wasted by the <I>famine</I> and <I>pestilence</I> within, so that
|
|
it is ready to fall <I>into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight
|
|
against it</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is <I>given into their hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now,
|
|
|
|
1. He compares the present state of Jerusalem with the divine
|
|
predictions, and finds that what God <I>has spoken</I> has <I>come to
|
|
pass.</I> God had given them fair warning of it before; and, if they
|
|
had regarded this, the ruin would have been prevented; but, if they
|
|
will not do what God has commanded, they can expect no other than that
|
|
he should do what he had threatened.
|
|
|
|
2. He commits the present state of Jerusalem to the divine
|
|
consideration and compassion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold the mounts,</I> or <I>ramparts,</I> or the <I>engines</I>
|
|
which they make use of to batter the city and beat down the wall of it.
|
|
And again, "<I>Behold thou seest it,</I> and takest cognizance of it.
|
|
Is this the city that thou has chosen to put thy name there? And shall
|
|
it be thus abandoned?" He neither complains of God for what he had done
|
|
nor prescribes to God what he should do, but desires he would behold
|
|
their case, and is pleased to think that he does behold it. Whatever
|
|
trouble we are in, upon a personal or public account, we may comfort
|
|
ourselves with this, that God sees it and sees how to remedy it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He seems desirous to be let further into the meaning of the order
|
|
God had now given him to purchase his kinsman's field
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Though the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans,</I> and no
|
|
man is likely to enjoy what he has, yet <I>thou hast said unto me, Buy
|
|
thou the field.</I>" As soon as he understood that it was the mind of
|
|
God he did it, and made no objections, was not disobedient to the
|
|
heavenly vision; but, when he had done it, he desired better to
|
|
understand why God had ordered him to do it, because the thing looked
|
|
strange and unaccountable. Note, Though we are bound to follow God with
|
|
an implicit obedience, yet we should endeavour that it may be more and
|
|
more an intelligent obedience. We must never dispute God's statutes and
|
|
judgments, but we may and must enquire, <I>What mean these statutes and
|
|
judgments?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:20">Deut. vi. 20</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jer32_44"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judgments Predicted; Restoration of the Jews; Encouraging Promises.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 Then came the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto Jeremiah, saying,
|
|
27 Behold, I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the God of all flesh: is there any
|
|
thing too hard for me?
|
|
28 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Behold, I will give this city
|
|
into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of
|
|
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
|
|
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come
|
|
and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon
|
|
whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out
|
|
drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
|
|
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have
|
|
only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of
|
|
Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their
|
|
hands, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
31 For this city hath been to me <I>as</I> a provocation of mine
|
|
anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto
|
|
this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
|
|
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the
|
|
children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger,
|
|
they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their
|
|
prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
|
|
33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face:
|
|
though I taught them, rising up early and teaching <I>them,</I> yet
|
|
they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
|
|
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is
|
|
called by my name, to defile it.
|
|
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which <I>are</I> in the
|
|
valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
|
|
daughters to pass through <I>the fire</I> unto Molech; which I
|
|
commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they
|
|
should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
|
|
36 And now therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the God of Israel,
|
|
concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into
|
|
the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine,
|
|
and by the pestilence;
|
|
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I
|
|
have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great
|
|
wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will
|
|
cause them to dwell safely:
|
|
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
|
|
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may
|
|
fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children
|
|
after them:
|
|
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I
|
|
will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my
|
|
fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
|
|
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will
|
|
plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my
|
|
whole soul.
|
|
42 For thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; Like as I have brought all this
|
|
great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the
|
|
good that I have promised them.
|
|
43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, <I>It
|
|
is</I> desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of
|
|
the Chaldeans.
|
|
44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and
|
|
seal <I>them,</I> and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in
|
|
the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in
|
|
the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and
|
|
in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to
|
|
return, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here God's answer to Jeremiah's prayer, designed to quiet his
|
|
mind and make him easy; and it is a full discovery of the purposes of
|
|
God's wrath against the present generation and the purposes of his
|
|
grace concerning the future generations. Jeremiah knew not how to
|
|
<I>sing both of mercy and judgment,</I> but God here teaches to sing
|
|
unto him of both. When we know not how to reconcile one word of God
|
|
with another we may yet be sure that both are true, both are pure, both
|
|
shall be made good, and not one iota or tittle of either shall fall to
|
|
the ground. When Jeremiah was ordered to buy the field in Anathoth he
|
|
was willing to hope that God was about to revoke the sentence of his
|
|
wrath and to order the Chaldeans to raise the siege. "No," says God,
|
|
"the execution of the sentence shall go on; Jerusalem shall be laid in
|
|
ruins." Note, Assurances of future mercy must not be interpreted as
|
|
securities from present troubles. But, lest Jeremiah should think that
|
|
his being ordered to buy this field intimated that all the mercy God
|
|
had in store for his people, after their return, was only that they
|
|
should have the possession of their own land again, he further informs
|
|
him that that was but a type and figure of those spiritual blessings
|
|
which should then be abundantly bestowed upon them, unspeakably more
|
|
valuable than fields and vineyards; so that in this <I>word of the
|
|
Lord,</I> which came to Jeremiah, we have first as dreadful
|
|
threatenings and then as precious promises as perhaps any we have in
|
|
the Old Testament; life and death, good and evil, are here set before
|
|
us; let us consider and choose wisely.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem is here pronounced. The decree has
|
|
gone forth, and shall not be recalled.
|
|
|
|
1. God here asserts his own sovereignty and power
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, I am Jehovah,</I> a self-existent self-sufficient being;
|
|
<I>I am that I am; I am the God of all flesh,</I> that is, of all
|
|
mankind, here called <I>flesh</I> because weak and unable to contend
|
|
with God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+56:4">Ps. lvi. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and because wicked and corrupt and unapt to comply with God. God is the
|
|
Creator of all, and makes what use he pleases of all. He that is the
|
|
God of Israel is the <I>God of all flesh</I> and of <I>the spirits of
|
|
all flesh,</I> and, if Israel were cast off, could raise up a people to
|
|
his name out of some other nation. If he be the <I>God of all
|
|
flesh,</I> he may well ask, <I>Is any thing too hard for me?</I> What
|
|
cannot he do from whom all the powers of men are derived, on whom they
|
|
depend, and by whom all their actions are directed and governed?
|
|
Whatever he designs to do, whether in wrath or in mercy, nothing can
|
|
hinder him nor defeat his designs.
|
|
|
|
2. He abides by that he had often said of the destruction of Jerusalem
|
|
by the king of Babylon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will give this city into his hand,</I> now that he is grasping at
|
|
it, <I>and he shall take it</I> and make a prey of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The Chaldeans shall come and set fire to it,</I> shall burn it and
|
|
all the <I>houses in it,</I> God's house not excepted, nor the king's
|
|
neither.
|
|
|
|
3. He assigns the reason for these severe proceedings against the city
|
|
that had been so much in his favour. It is sin, it is that and nothing
|
|
else, that ruins it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They were impudent and daring in sin. They <I>offered incense to
|
|
Baal,</I> not in corners, as men ashamed or afraid of being discovered,
|
|
but upon the <I>tops of their houses</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
in defiance of God's justice.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They designed an affront to God herein. They did it <I>to provoke
|
|
me to anger,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>They have only provoked me to anger with the works of their
|
|
hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
They could not promise themselves any pleasure, profit, or honour out
|
|
of it, but did it on purpose to offend God. And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>All the evil which they have done was to provoke me to anger.</I>
|
|
They knew he was a jealous God in the matters of his worship, and there
|
|
they resolved to try his jealousy and dare him to his face. "Jerusalem
|
|
has been <I>to me a provocation of my anger and fury,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their conduct in every thing was provoking.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They began betimes, and had continued all along provoking to God:
|
|
"They have <I>done evil before me from their youth,</I> ever since they
|
|
were first formed into a people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
witness their murmurings and rebellions in the wilderness." And as for
|
|
Jerusalem, though it was the <I>holy city,</I> it has been <I>a
|
|
provocation</I> to the holy God <I>from the day that they built it,
|
|
even to this day,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
O what reason have we to lament the little honour God has from this
|
|
world, and the great dishonour that is done him, when even in Judah,
|
|
where <I>he is known</I> and <I>his name is great,</I> and in Salem
|
|
where his <I>tabernacle is,</I> there was always that found that was a
|
|
provocation to him!
|
|
|
|
(4.) All orders and degrees of men contributed to the common guilt, and
|
|
therefore were justly involved in the common ruin. Not only the
|
|
<I>children of Israel,</I> that had revolted from the temple, but the
|
|
<I>children of Judah</I> too, that still adhered to it--not only the
|
|
common people, the <I>men of Judah</I> and <I>inhabitants of
|
|
Jerusalem,</I> but those that should have reproved and restrained sin
|
|
in others were themselves ringleaders in it, their <I>kings</I> and
|
|
<I>princes,</I> their <I>priests</I> and <I>prophets.</I>
|
|
|
|
(5.) God had again and again called them to repentance, but they turned
|
|
a deaf ear to his calls, and rudely turned their back on him that
|
|
called them, though he was their master, to whom they were bound in
|
|
duty, and their benefactor, to whom they were bound in gratitude and
|
|
interest,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>I taught them</I> better manners, with as much care as ever any
|
|
tender parent taught a child, <I>rising up early, in teaching them,</I>
|
|
studying to adapt the teaching to their capacities, taking them
|
|
betimes, when they might have been most pliable, but all in vain; they
|
|
<I>turned not the face to me,</I> would not so much as look upon me,
|
|
nay, they <I>turned the back upon me,</I>" an expression of the highest
|
|
contempt. <I>As he called them,</I> like froward children, <I>so they
|
|
went from him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:2">Hos. xi. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>They have not hearkened to receive instruction;</I> they regarded
|
|
not a word that was said to them, though it was designed for their own
|
|
good.
|
|
|
|
(6.) There was in their idolatries an impious contempt of God; for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>they set their abominations</I> (their idols, which they knew to be
|
|
in the highest degree abominable to God) <I>in the house which is
|
|
called by my name, to defile it.</I> They had their idols not only in
|
|
their high places and groves, but even in God's temple.
|
|
|
|
(7.) They were guilty of the most unnatural cruelty to their own
|
|
children; for they <I>sacrificed them to Moloch,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus because they <I>liked not to retain God in their knowledge,</I>
|
|
but <I>changed his glory</I> into shame, they were justly given up to
|
|
vile affections and stripped of natural ones, and their glory was
|
|
turned into shame. And,
|
|
|
|
(8.) What was the consequence of all this?
|
|
|
|
[1.] They <I>caused Judah to sin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
The whole country was infected with the contagious idolatries and
|
|
iniquities of Jerusalem.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They brought ruin upon themselves. It was as if they had done it
|
|
on purpose that God <I>should remove them from before his face</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>);
|
|
|
|
they would throw themselves out of his favour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem is here promised,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. God will in judgment remember mercy, and there will a time come, a
|
|
set time, to favour Zion. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The despair to which this people were now at length brought. When
|
|
the judgment was threatened at a distance they had no fear; when it
|
|
attacked them they had no hope. They said concerning the city
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon,</I> not
|
|
by any cowardice or ill conduct of ours, but by <I>the sword, famine,
|
|
and pestilence.</I> Concerning the country they said, with vexation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>It is desolate, without man or beast;</I> there is no relief, there
|
|
is no remedy. <I>It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.</I> Note,
|
|
Deep security commonly ends in deep despair; whereas those that keep up
|
|
a holy fear at all times have a good hope to support them in the worst
|
|
of times.
|
|
|
|
2. The hope that God gives them of mercy which he had in store for them
|
|
hereafter. Though their carcases must fall in captivity, yet their
|
|
children after them shall again see this good land and the goodness of
|
|
God in it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They shall be brought up from their captivity and shall come and
|
|
settle again in this land,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had been under God's <I>anger and fury, and great wrath;</I> but
|
|
now they shall partake of his grace, and love, and great favour. He had
|
|
dispersed them, and <I>driven them into all countries.</I> Those that
|
|
fled dispersed themselves; those that fell into the enemies; hands were
|
|
dispersed by them, in policy, to prevent combinations among them. God's
|
|
hand was in both. But now God will find them out, and <I>gather them
|
|
out of all the countries whither they were driven,</I> as he promised
|
|
in the law
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+30:3,4">Deut. xxx. 3, 4</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the saints had prayed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:47,Ne+1:9">Ps. cvi. 47; Neh. i. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He had banished them, but he will <I>bring them again to this
|
|
place,</I> which they could not but have an affection for. For many
|
|
years past, while they were in their own land, they were continually
|
|
exposed, and terrified with the alarms of war; but now <I>I will cause
|
|
them to dwell safely.</I> Being reformed, and having returned to God,
|
|
neither their own consciences within nor their enemies without shall be
|
|
a terror to them. He promises
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will plant them in this land assuredly;</I> not only I will
|
|
certainly do it, but they shall here enjoy a holy a security and
|
|
repose, and they shall take root here, shall be <I>planted in
|
|
stability,</I> and not again be unfixed and shaken.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God will renew his covenant with them, a covenant of grace, the
|
|
blessings of which are spiritual, and such as will work good things in
|
|
them, to qualify them for the great things God intended to do for them.
|
|
It is called an <I>everlasting covenant</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>),
|
|
|
|
not only because God will be for ever faithful to it, but because the
|
|
consequences of it will be everlasting. For, doubtless, here the
|
|
promises look further than to Israel according to the flesh, and are
|
|
sure to all believers, to every Israelite indeed. Good Christians may
|
|
apply them to themselves and plead them with God, may claim the benefit
|
|
of them and take the comfort of them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] God will own them for his, and make over himself to them to be
|
|
theirs
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They shall be my people.</I> He will make them his by working in
|
|
them all the characters and dispositions of his people, and then he
|
|
will protect, and guide, and govern them as his people. "And, to make
|
|
them truly, completely, and eternally happy, <I>I will be their
|
|
God.</I>" They shall serve and worship God as theirs and cleave to him
|
|
only, and he will approve himself theirs. All he is, all he has, shall
|
|
be engaged and employed for their good.
|
|
|
|
[2.] God will give them a heart to fear him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
That which he requires of those whom he takes into covenant with him as
|
|
his people is that they fear him, that they reverence his majesty,
|
|
dread his wrath, stand in awe of his authority, pay homage to him, and
|
|
give him the glory due unto his name. Now what God requires of them he
|
|
here promises to work in them, pursuant to his choice of them as his
|
|
people. Note, As it is God's prerogative to fashion men's hearts, so it
|
|
is his promise to his people to fashion theirs aright; and a heart to
|
|
fear God is indeed a good heart, and well fashioned. It is repeated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will put my fear in their hearts,</I> that is, work in them
|
|
gracious principles and dispositions, that shall influence and govern
|
|
their whole conversation. Teachers may put good things into our heads,
|
|
but it is God only that can put them into our hearts, that can work in
|
|
us <I>both to will and to do.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] He will <I>give them one heart and one way.</I> In order to their
|
|
walking in one way, he will give them one heart: as the heart is, so
|
|
will the way be, and both shall be one; that is <I>First,</I> They
|
|
shall be each of them one with themselves. <I>One heart</I> is the same
|
|
with a <I>new heart,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+11:19">Ezek. xi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
The heart is <I>then</I> one when it is fully determined for God and
|
|
entirely devoted to God. When the eye is single and God's glory alone
|
|
aimed at, when our hearts are fixed, trusting in God, and we are
|
|
uniform and universal in our obedience to him, then the heart is one
|
|
and way one; and, unless the heart be thus steady, the goings will not
|
|
be stedfast. From this promise we may take direction and encouragement
|
|
to pray, with David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+86:11">Ps. lxxxvi. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Unite my heart to fear thy name;</I> for God says, <I>I will give
|
|
them one heart, that they may fear me. Secondly,</I> They shall be all
|
|
of them one with each other. All good Christians shall be incorporated
|
|
into one body; Jews and Gentiles shall become <I>one sheep-fold;</I>
|
|
and they shall all, as far as they are sanctified, have a disposition
|
|
to love one another, the gospel they profess having in it the strongest
|
|
inducements to mutual love, and the Spirit that dwells in them being
|
|
the Spirit of love. Though they may have different apprehensions about
|
|
minor things, they shall be all one in the great things of God, being
|
|
renewed after the same image. Though they may have many paths, they
|
|
have but <I>one way,</I> that of serious godliness.
|
|
|
|
[4.] He will effectually provide for their perseverance in grace and
|
|
the perpetuating of the covenant between himself and them. They would
|
|
have been happy when there were first planted in Canaan, like Adam in
|
|
paradise, if they had not departed from God. And therefore, now that
|
|
they are restored to their happiness, they shall be confirmed in it by
|
|
the preventing of their departures from God, and this will complete
|
|
their bliss. <I>First,</I> God will never leave nor forsake them: <I>I
|
|
will not turn away from them to do them good.</I> Earthly princes are
|
|
fickle, and their greatest favourites have fallen under their frowns;
|
|
but God's <I>mercy endures for ever. Whom he loves he loves to the
|
|
end.</I> God may seem to turn from this people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:8">Isa. liv. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
but even then he does not turn from doing and designing them good.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> They shall never leave nor forsake him; that is the
|
|
thing we are in danger of. We have no reason to distrust God's fidelity
|
|
and constancy, but our own; and therefore it is here promised that God
|
|
will <I>give them a heart to fear him for ever,</I> all days, to be in
|
|
his fear every day and all the day long
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:17">Prov. xxiii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to continue so to the end of their days. He will put such a
|
|
principle into their hearts that they <I>shall not depart from him.</I>
|
|
Even those who have given up their names to God, if they be left to
|
|
themselves, will depart from him; but the fear of God ruling in the
|
|
heart, will prevent their departure. That, and nothing else, will do
|
|
it. If we continue close and faithful to God, it is owing purely to his
|
|
almighty grace and not to any strength or resolution of our own.
|
|
|
|
[5.] He will entail a blessing upon their seed, will give them grace to
|
|
fear him, <I>for the good of them and of their children after them.</I>
|
|
As their departures from God had been to the prejudice of their
|
|
children, so their adherence to God should be to the advantage of their
|
|
children. We cannot better consult the good of posterity than by
|
|
setting up, and keeping up, the fear and worship of God in our
|
|
families.
|
|
|
|
[6.] He will take a pleasure in their prosperity and will do every
|
|
thing to advance it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will rejoice over them to do them good.</I> God will certainly do
|
|
them good because he rejoices over them. They are dear to him; he makes
|
|
his boast of them, and therefore will not only do them good, but will
|
|
delight in doing them good. When he punishes them it is with
|
|
reluctance. <I>How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?</I> But, when he
|
|
restores them, it is with satisfaction; he rejoices in doing them good.
|
|
We ought therefore to serve him with pleasure and to rejoice in all
|
|
opportunities of serving him. He is himself a cheerful giver, and
|
|
therefore loves a cheerful servant. <I>I will plant them</I> (says God)
|
|
<I>with my whole heart and with my whole soul.</I> He will be intent
|
|
upon it, and take delight in it; he will make it the business of his
|
|
providence to settle them again in Canaan, and the various
|
|
dispensations of providence shall concur to it. All things shall appear
|
|
at last so to have been working for the good of the church that it will
|
|
be said, The governor of the world is entirely taken up with the care
|
|
of his church.
|
|
|
|
[7.] These promises shall as surely be performed as the foregoing
|
|
threatenings were; and the accomplishment of those, notwithstanding the
|
|
security of the people, might confirm their expectation of the
|
|
performance of these, notwithstanding their present despair
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As I have brought all this great evil upon them,</I> pursuant to the
|
|
threatenings, and for the glory of divine justice, <I>so I will bring
|
|
upon them all this good,</I> pursuant to the promise, and for the glory
|
|
of divine mercy. He that is faithful to his threatenings will much
|
|
more be so to his promises; and he will comfort his people <I>according
|
|
to the time that he has afflicted them.</I> The churches shall have
|
|
rest after the days of adversity.
|
|
|
|
[8.] As an earnest of all this, houses and lands shall again fetch a
|
|
good price in Judah and Jerusalem, and, though now they are a drug,
|
|
there shall again be a sufficient number of purchasers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:43,44"><I>v.</I> 43, 44</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Fields shall be bought in this land,</I> and people will covet to
|
|
have lands here rather than any where else. Lands, wherever they lie,
|
|
will go off, not only in <I>the places about Jerusalem,</I> but <I>in
|
|
the cities of Judah</I> and of Israel, too, whether they lie <I>on
|
|
mountains,</I> or in valleys, or <I>in the south,</I> in all parts of
|
|
the country, <I>men shall buy fields, and subscribe evidences.</I>
|
|
Trade shall revive, for they shall have money enough to buy land with.
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Husbandry shall revive, for those that have money shall covet to lay it
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out upon lands. Laws shall again have their due course, for they shall
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<I>subscribe evidences and seal them.</I> This is mentioned to
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reconcile Jeremiah to his new purchase. Though he had bought a piece of
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ground and could not go to see it, yet he must believe that this was
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the pledge of many a purchase, and those but faint resemblances of the
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purchased possessions in the heavenly Canaan, reserved for all those
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who have God's fear in their hearts and do not depart from him.</P>
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