mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 32.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xxxiii" n="xxxiii" next="Jer.xxxiv" prev="Jer.xxxii" progress="40.82%" title="Chapter XXXII">
<h2 id="Jer.xxxiii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xxxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xxxiii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. Jeremiah imprisoned
for foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of
king Zedekiah, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.1-Jer.32.5" parsed="|Jer|32|1|32|5" passage="Jer 32:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>.
II. We have him buying land, by divine appointment, as an assurance
that in due time a happy end should be put to the present troubles,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.6-Jer.32.15" parsed="|Jer|32|6|32|15" passage="Jer 32:6-15">ver. 6-15</scripRef>. III. We have
his prayer, which he offered up to God upon that occasion,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.16-Jer.32.25" parsed="|Jer|32|16|32|25" passage="Jer 32:16-25">ver. 16-25</scripRef>. IV. We have
a message which God thereupon entrusted him to deliver to the
people. 1. He must foretel the utter destruction of Judah and
Jerusalem for their sins, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.26-Jer.32.35" parsed="|Jer|32|26|32|35" passage="Jer 32:26-35">ver.
26-35</scripRef>. But, 2. At the same time he must assure them
that, though the destruction was total, it should not be final, but
that at length their posterity should recover the peaceable
possession of their own land, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.36-Jer.32.44" parsed="|Jer|32|36|32|44" passage="Jer 32:36-44">ver.
36-44</scripRef>. The predictions of this chapter, both
threatenings and promises, are much the same with what we have
already met with again and again, but here are some circumstances
that are very particular and remarkable.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32" parsed="|Jer|32|0|0|0" passage="Jer 32" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.1-Jer.32.15" parsed="|Jer|32|1|32|15" passage="Jer 32:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.8">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.9">Judgments Predicted; Jeremiah
Imprisoned. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.1">Lord</span> in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of
Judah, which <i>was</i> the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
  2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem:
and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison,
which <i>was</i> in the king of Judah's house.   3 For
Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou
prophesy, and say, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.2">Lord</span>, Behold, I will give this city into the
hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;   4 And
Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the
Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king
of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes
shall behold his eyes;   5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to
Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.3">Lord</span>: though ye fight with the Chaldeans,
ye shall not prosper.   6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.4">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   7
Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto
thee, saying, Buy thee my field that <i>is</i> in Anathoth: for the
right of redemption <i>is</i> thine to buy <i>it.</i>   8 So
Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison
according to the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.5">Lord</span>,
and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that <i>is</i> in
Anathoth, which <i>is</i> in the country of Benjamin: for the right
of inheritance <i>is</i> thine, and the redemption <i>is</i> thine;
buy <i>it</i> for thyself. Then I knew that this <i>was</i> the
word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.6">Lord</span>.   9 And I
bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that <i>was</i> in
Anathoth, and weighed him the money, <i>even</i> seventeen shekels
of silver.   10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed
<i>it,</i> and took witnesses, and weighed <i>him</i> the money in
the balances.   11 So I took the evidence of the purchase,
<i>both</i> that which was sealed <i>according</i> to the law and
custom, and that which was open:   12 And I gave the evidence
of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah,
in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's <i>son,</i> and in the
presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase,
before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.   13
And I charged Baruch before them, saying,   14 Thus saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.7">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel;
Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is
sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen
vessel, that they may continue many days.   15 For thus saith
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p2.8">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of
Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in
this land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p3" shownumber="no">It appears by the date of this chapter that
we are now coming very nigh to that fatal year which completed the
desolations of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. God's
judgments came gradually upon them, but, they not meeting him by
repentance in the way of his judgments, he proceeded in his
controversy till all was laid waste, which was in the eleventh year
of Zedekiah; now what is here recorded happened in the tenth. The
king of Babylon's army had now invested Jerusalem and was carrying
on the siege with vigour, not doubting but in a little time to make
themselves masters of it, while the besieged had taken up a
desperate resolution not to surrender, but to hold out to the last
extremity. Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p4" shownumber="no">I. Jeremiah prophesies that both the city
and the court shall fall into the hands of the king of Babylon. He
tells them expressly that the besiegers shall take the city as a
prize, for God, whose city it was in a peculiar manner, will give
it into their hands and put it out of his protection (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.3" parsed="|Jer|32|3|0|0" passage="Jer 32:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),—that, though Zedekiah
attempt to make his escape, he shall be overtaken, and shall be
delivered a prisoner into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, shall be
brought into his presence, to his great confusion and terror, he
having made himself so obnoxious by breaking his faith with him, he
shall hear the king of Babylon pronounce his doom, and see with
what fury and indignation he will look upon him (<i>His eyes shall
behold his eyes,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.4" parsed="|Jer|32|4|0|0" passage="Jer 32:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>),—that Zedekiah shall be carried to Babylon, and
continue a miserable captive there, <i>until God visit him,</i>
that is, till God put an end to his life by a natural death, as
Nebuchadnezzar had long before put an end to his days by putting
out his eyes. Note, Those that live in misery may be truly said to
be visited in mercy when God by death takes them home to himself.
And, <i>lastly,</i> he foretels that all their attempts to force
the besiegers from their trenches shall be ineffectual: <i>Though
you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper;</i> how should
they, when God did not fight for them? <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.5" parsed="|Jer|32|5|0|0" passage="Jer 32:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.2-Jer.34.3" parsed="|Jer|34|2|34|3" passage="Jer 34:2,3"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv. 2, 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p5" shownumber="no">II. For prophesying thus he is imprisoned,
not in the common gaol, but in the more creditable prison that was
within the verge of the palace, <i>in the king of Judah's
house,</i> and there not closely confined, but in <i>custodia
libera—in the court of the prison,</i> where he might have good
company, good air, and good intelligence brought him, and would be
sheltered from the abuses of the mob; but, however, it was a
prison, and Zedekiah shut him up in it for prophesying as he did,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.2-Jer.32.3" parsed="|Jer|32|2|32|3" passage="Jer 32:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. So far
was he from <i>humbling himself before Jeremiah,</i> as he ought to
have done (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.36.12" parsed="|2Chr|36|12|0|0" passage="2Ch 36:12">2 Chron. xxxvi.
12</scripRef>), that he <i>hardened himself</i> against him. Though
he had formerly so far owned him to be a prophet as to desire him
to <i>enquire of the Lord for them</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.21.2" parsed="|Jer|21|2|0|0" passage="Jer 21:2"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 2</scripRef>), yet now he chides him for
prophesying (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.3" parsed="|Jer|32|3|0|0" passage="Jer 32:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
and shuts him up in prison, perhaps not with design to punish him
any further, but only to restrain him from prophesying any further,
which was crime enough. Silencing God's prophets, though it is not
so bad as mocking and killing them, is yet a great affront to the
God of heaven. See how wretchedly the hearts of sinners are
hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Persecution was one of the
sins for which God was now contending with them, and yet Zedekiah
persists in it even now that he was in the depth of distress. No
providences, no afflictions, will of themselves part between men
and their sins, unless the grace of God work with them. Nay, some
are made worse by those very judgments that should make them
better.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p6" shownumber="no">III. Being in prison, he purchases from a
near relation of his a piece of ground that lay in Anathoth,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.6-Jer.32.7" parsed="|Jer|32|6|32|7" passage="Jer 32:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>,
&amp;c.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p7" shownumber="no">1. One would not have expected, (1.) That a
prophet should concern himself so far in the business of this
world; but why not? Though ministers must not entangle themselves,
yet they may concern themselves in the affairs of this life. (2.)
That one who had neither wife nor children should buy land. We find
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.16.2" parsed="|Jer|16|2|0|0" passage="Jer 16:2"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 2</scripRef>) that he
had no family of his own; yet he may purchase for his own use while
he lives, and leave it to the children of his relations when he
dies. (3.) One would little have thought that a prisoner should be
a purchaser; how should he get money beforehand to buy land with?
It is probably that he lived frugally, and saved something out of
what belonged to him as a priest, which is no blemish at all to his
character; but we have no reason to think that the people were
kind, or that his being beforehand was owing to their generosity.
Nay, (4.) It was most strange of all that he should buy a <i>piece
of land</i> when he himself knew that the whole land was now to be
laid waste and fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and then what
good would this do him? But it was the will of God that he should
buy it, and he submitted, though the money seemed to be thrown
away. His kinsman came to offer it to him; it was not of his own
seeking; he coveted not to lay house to house and field to field,
but Providence brought it to him, and it was probably a good
bargain; besides, the <i>right of redemption</i> belonged to him
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.8" parsed="|Jer|32|8|0|0" passage="Jer 32:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and if he
refused he would not do the kinsman's part. It is true he might
lawfully refuse, but, being a prophet, in a thing of this nature he
must do that which would be for the honour of his profession. <i>It
became him to fulfil all righteousness.</i> It was land that lay
within the suburbs of a priests' city, and, if he should refuse it,
there was danger lest, in these times of disorder, it might be sold
to one of another tribe, which was contrary to the law, to prevent
which it was convenient for him to buy it. It would likewise be a
kindness to his kinsman, who probably was at this time in great
want of money. Jeremiah had but a little, but what he had he was
willing to lay out in such a manner as might tend most to the
honour of God and the good of his friends and country, which he
preferred before his own private interests.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p8" shownumber="no">2. Two things may be observed concerning
this purchase:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p9" shownumber="no">(1.) How fairly the bargain was made. When
Jeremiah knew by Hanameel's coming to him, as God had foretold he
would, that <i>it was the word of the Lord,</i> that it was his
mind that he should make this purchase, he made no more difficulty
of it, but <i>bought the field.</i> And, [1.] He was very honest
and exact in paying the money. He <i>weighted him the money,</i>
did not press him to take it upon his report, though he was his
near kinsman, but weighed it to him, current money. It was
<i>seventeen shekels of silver,</i> amounting to about forty
shillings of our money. The land was probably but a little field
and of small yearly value, when the purchase was so low; besides,
the <i>right of inheritance</i> was in Jeremiah, so that he had
only to buy out his kinsman's life, the reversion being his
already. Some think this was only the earnest of a greater sum; but
we shall not wonder at the smallness of the price if we consider
what scarcity there was of money at this time and how little lands
were counted upon. [2.] He was very prudent and discreet in
preserving the writings. They were subscribed <i>before
witnesses.</i> One copy was <i>sealed up,</i> the other was
<i>open.</i> One was the original, the other the counterpart; or
perhaps that which was <i>sealed up</i> was for his own private
use, the other that was <i>open</i> was to be laid up in the public
register of conveyances, for any person concerned to consult. Due
care and caution in things of this nature might prevent a great
deal of injustice and contention. The deeds of purchase were lodged
in the hands of Baruch, before witnesses, and he was ordered to lay
them up in an <i>earthen vessel</i> (an emblem of the nature of all
the securities this world can pretend to give us, brittle things
and soon broken), that they might <i>continue many days,</i> for
the use of Jeremiah's heirs, after the return out of captivity; for
they might then have the benefit of this purchase. Purchasing
reversions may be a kindness to those that come after us, and a
good man thus <i>lays up an inheritance for his children's
children.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p10" shownumber="no">(2.) What was the design of having this
bargain made. It was to signify that though Jerusalem was now
besieged, and the whole country was likely to be laid waste, yet
the time should come when <i>houses, and fields, and vineyards
should be again possessed in this land,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.15" parsed="|Jer|32|15|0|0" passage="Jer 32:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. As God appointed Jeremiah to
confirm his predictions of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem
by his own practice in living unmarried, so he now appointed him to
confirm his predictions of the future restoration of Jerusalem by
his own practice in purchasing this field. Note, It concerns
ministers to make it to appear in their whole conversation that
they do themselves believe that which they preach to others; and
that they may do so, and impress it the more deeply upon their
hearers, they must many a time deny themselves, as Jeremiah did in
both these instances. God having promised that this land should
again come into the possession of his people, Jeremiah will, on
behalf of his heirs, put in for a share. Note, It is good to manage
even our worldly affairs in faith, and to do common business with
an eye to the providence and promise of God. Lucius Florus relates
it as a great instance of the bravery of the Roman citizens that in
the time of the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Rome and
was very near making himself master of 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 valour would raise the
siege, <i>lib. ii. cap.</i> 6. And have not we much more reason to
venture our all upon the word of God, and to embark in Zion's
interests, which will undoubtedly be the prevailing interests at
last? <i>Non si male nunc et olim sic erit—Though now we suffer,
we shall not suffer always.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xxxiii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.16-Jer.32.25" parsed="|Jer|32|16|32|25" passage="Jer 32:16-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxiii-p10.3">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxiii-p10.4">Jeremiah's Prayer. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p10.5">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxiii-p11" shownumber="no">16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the
purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p11.1">Lord</span>, saying,   17 Ah Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p11.2">God</span>! 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p11.3">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p11.4">God</span>, Buy thee
the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p12" shownumber="no">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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p13" shownumber="no">In this prayer, or meditation,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p14" shownumber="no">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, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.17-Jer.32.19" parsed="|Jer|32|17|32|19" passage="Jer 32:17-19"><i>v.</i> 17-19</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p15" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.19" parsed="|Jer|32|19|0|0" passage="Jer 32:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p16" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.21" parsed="|Jer|32|21|0|0" passage="Jer 32:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), 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 <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.34" parsed="|Deut|4|34|0|0" passage="De 4:34">Deut. iv. 34</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.22" parsed="|Jer|32|22|0|0" passage="Jer 32:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>) <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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p17" shownumber="no">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,
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.56" parsed="|1Kgs|8|56|0|0" passage="1Ki 8:56">1 Kings viii. 56</scripRef>), but they
had <i>done nothing of all that he commanded them to do</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.23" parsed="|Jer|32|23|0|0" passage="Jer 32:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>); 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> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.24" parsed="|Jer|32|24|0|0" passage="Jer 32:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>); it is <i>given into their
hands,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.25" parsed="|Jer|32|25|0|0" passage="Jer 32:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>.
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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.24" parsed="|Jer|32|24|0|0" passage="Jer 32:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>):
<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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p18" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.25" parsed="|Jer|32|25|0|0" passage="Jer 32:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>): "<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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.20" parsed="|Deut|6|20|0|0" passage="De 6:20">Deut. vi.
20</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.26-Jer.32.44" parsed="|Jer|32|26|32|44" passage="Jer 32:26-44" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.4">
<h4 id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.5">Judgments Predicted; Restoration of the
Jews; Encouraging Promises. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p18.6">b. c.</span> 589.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19" shownumber="no">26 Then came the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.1">Lord</span> unto Jeremiah, saying,   27 Behold, I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.2">Lord</span>, the God of all
flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?   28 Therefore thus
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.3">Lord</span>; 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.4">Lord</span>.   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
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.5">Lord</span>, 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.6">Lord</span>;
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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xxxiii-p19.7">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p20" shownumber="no">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 class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p21" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.27" parsed="|Jer|32|27|0|0" passage="Jer 32:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): <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
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.4" parsed="|Ps|56|4|0|0" passage="Ps 56:4">Ps. lvi. 4</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.28" parsed="|Jer|32|28|0|0" passage="Jer 32:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>):
<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, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.29" parsed="|Jer|32|29|0|0" passage="Jer 32:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. <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> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.29" parsed="|Jer|32|29|0|0" passage="Jer 32:29"><i>v.</i>
29</scripRef>), in defiance of God's justice. (2.) They designed an
affront to God herein. They did it <i>to provoke me to anger,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.29" parsed="|Jer|32|29|0|0" passage="Jer 32:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. <i>They have
only provoked me to anger with the works of their hands,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.30" parsed="|Jer|32|30|0|0" passage="Jer 32:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. They could
not promise themselves any pleasure, profit, or honour out of it,
but did it on purpose to offend God. And again (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.32" parsed="|Jer|32|32|0|0" passage="Jer 32:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), <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>" <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.31" parsed="|Jer|32|31|0|0" passage="Jer 32:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. 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
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.30" parsed="|Jer|32|30|0|0" passage="Jer 32:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.31" parsed="|Jer|32|31|0|0" passage="Jer 32:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.33" parsed="|Jer|32|33|0|0" passage="Jer 32:33"><i>v.</i>
33</scripRef>. "<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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.13" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.2" parsed="|Hos|11|2|0|0" passage="Ho 11:2">Hos. xi. 2</scripRef>. <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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.14" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.34" parsed="|Jer|32|34|0|0" passage="Jer 32:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>)
<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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.15" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.35" parsed="|Jer|32|35|0|0" passage="Jer 32:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.16" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.35" parsed="|Jer|32|35|0|0" passage="Jer 32:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. 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>
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p21.17" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.31" parsed="|Jer|32|31|0|0" passage="Jer 32:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>); they would
throw themselves out of his favour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xxxiii-p22" shownumber="no">II. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem
is here promised, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.36" parsed="|Jer|32|36|0|0" passage="Jer 32:36"><i>v.</i>
36</scripRef>, &amp;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
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.36" parsed="|Jer|32|36|0|0" passage="Jer 32:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>), <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
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.43" parsed="|Jer|32|43|0|0" passage="Jer 32:43"><i>v.</i> 43</scripRef>), <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, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.37" parsed="|Jer|32|37|0|0" passage="Jer 32:37"><i>v.</i>
37</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.30.3-Deut.30.4" parsed="|Deut|30|3|30|4" passage="De 30:3,4">Deut. xxx. 3, 4</scripRef>) and the saints had
prayed, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.47 Bible:Neh.1.9" parsed="|Ps|106|47|0|0;|Neh|1|9|0|0" passage="Ps 106:47,Ne 1:9">Ps. cvi. 47; Neh. i.
9</scripRef>. 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
(<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.41" parsed="|Jer|32|41|0|0" passage="Jer 32:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>): <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> (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.40" parsed="|Jer|32|40|0|0" passage="Jer 32:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.38" parsed="|Jer|32|38|0|0" passage="Jer 32:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>): <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, <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.39" parsed="|Jer|32|39|0|0" passage="Jer 32:39"><i>v.</i> 39</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.40" parsed="|Jer|32|40|0|0" passage="Jer 32:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>):
<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> <scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.19" parsed="|Ezek|11|19|0|0" passage="Eze 11:19">Ezek. xi.
19</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.86.11" parsed="|Ps|86|11|0|0" passage="Ps 86:11">Ps. lxxxvi. 11</scripRef>), <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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.8" parsed="|Isa|54|8|0|0" passage="Isa 54:8">Isa. liv. 8</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.15" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.17" parsed="|Prov|23|17|0|0" passage="Pr 23:17">Prov. xxiii. 17</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.16" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.41" parsed="|Jer|32|41|0|0" passage="Jer 32:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>): <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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.17" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.42" parsed="|Jer|32|42|0|0" passage="Jer 32:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>): <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 (<scripRef id="Jer.xxxiii-p22.18" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.43-Jer.32.44" parsed="|Jer|32|43|32|44" passage="Jer 32:43,44"><i>v.</i>
43, 44</scripRef>): <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. Husbandry shall
revive, for those that have money shall covet to lay it out upon
lands. Laws shall again have their due course, for they shall
<i>subscribe evidences and seal them.</i> This is mentioned to
reconcile Jeremiah to his new purchase. Though he had bought a
piece of ground and could not go to see it, yet he must believe
that this was the pledge of many a purchase, and those but faint
resemblances of the purchased possessions in the heavenly Canaan,
reserved for all those who have God's fear in their hearts and do
not depart from him.</p>
</div></div2>