mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 42.xml

<div2 id="Jer.xliii" n="xliii" next="Jer.xliv" prev="Jer.xlii" progress="43.83%" title="Chapter XLII">
<h2 id="Jer.xliii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.xliii-p0.2">CHAP. XLII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.xliii-p1" shownumber="no">Johanan and the captains being strongly bent upon
going into Egypt, either their affections or politics advising them
to take that course, they had a great desire that God should direct
them to do so too like Balaam, who, when he was determined to go
and curse Israel, asked God leave. Here is, I. The fair bargain
that was made between Jeremiah and them about consulting God in
this matter, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.1-Jer.42.6" parsed="|Jer|42|1|42|6" passage="Jer 42:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>.
II. The message at large which God sent them, in answer to their
enquiry, in which, 1. They are commanded and encouraged to continue
in the land of Judah, and assured that if they did so it should be
well with them, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.7-Jer.42.12" parsed="|Jer|42|7|42|12" passage="Jer 42:7-12">ver.
7-12</scripRef>. 2. They are forbidden to go to Egypt, and are
plainly told that if they did it would be their ruin, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.13-Jer.42.18" parsed="|Jer|42|13|42|18" passage="Jer 42:13-18">ver. 13-18</scripRef>. 3. They are charged
with dissimulation in their asking what God's will was in this
matter and disobedience when they were told what it was; and
sentence is accordingly passed upon them, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.19-Jer.42.22" parsed="|Jer|42|19|42|22" passage="Jer 42:19-22">ver. 19-22</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.xliii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42" parsed="|Jer|42|0|0|0" passage="Jer 42" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.xliii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.1-Jer.42.6" parsed="|Jer|42|1|42|6" passage="Jer 42:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xliii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Jer.xliii-p1.8">Jeremiah Agrees to Consult
God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xliii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Then all the captains of the forces, and
Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and
all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
  2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee,
our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.1">Lord</span> thy God, <i>even</i> for all
this remnant; (for we are left <i>but</i> a few of many, as thine
eyes do behold us:)   3 That the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God may shew us the way wherein we may
walk, and the thing that we may do.   4 Then Jeremiah the
prophet said unto them, I have heard <i>you;</i> behold, I will
pray unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.3">Lord</span> your God
according to your words; and it shall come to pass, <i>that</i>
whatsoever thing the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.4">Lord</span> shall
answer you, I will declare <i>it</i> unto you; I will keep nothing
back from you.   5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.5">Lord</span> be a true and faithful witness
between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.6">Lord</span> thy God shall send thee to
us.   6 Whether <i>it be</i> good, or whether <i>it be</i>
evil, we will obey the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.7">Lord</span> our God, to whom we send thee; that it may
be well with us, when we obey the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p2.8">Lord</span> our God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p3" shownumber="no">We have reason to wonder how Jeremiah the
prophet escaped the sword of Ishmael; it seems he did escape, and
it was not the first time that the Lord hid him. It is strange also
that in these violent turns he was not consulted before now, and
his advice asked and taken. But it should seem as if they knew not
that a prophet was among them. Though this people were <i>as brands
plucked out of the fire,</i> yet have they not <i>returned to the
Lord.</i> This people has a <i>revolting and a rebellious
heart;</i> and contempt of God and his providence, God and his
prophets, is still <i>the sin that most easily besets</i> them. But
now at length, to serve a turn, Jeremiah is sought out, and <i>all
the captains, Johanan</i> himself not excepted, with <i>all the
people from the least to the greatest,</i> make him a visit; they
<i>came near</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.1" parsed="|Jer|42|1|0|0" passage="Jer 42:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), which intimates that hitherto they had kept at a
distance from the prophet and had been shy of him. Now here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p4" shownumber="no">I. They desire him by prayer to ask
direction from God what they should do in the present critical
juncture, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.2-Jer.42.3" parsed="|Jer|42|2|42|3" passage="Jer 42:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>.
They express themselves wonderfully well. 1. With great respect to
the prophet. Though he was poor and low, and under their command,
yet they apply to him with humility and submissiveness, as
petitioners for his assistance, which yet they intimate their own
unworthiness of: <i>Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be
accepted before thee.</i> They compliment him thus in hopes to
persuade him to say as they would have him say. 2. With a great
opinion of his interest in heaven: "<i>Pray for us,</i> who know
not how to pray for ourselves. <i>Pray to the Lord thy God,</i> for
we are unworthy to call him ours, nor have we reason to expect any
favour from him." 3. With a great sense of their need of divine
direction. They speak of themselves as objects of compassion:
"<i>We are but a remnant, but a few of many;</i> how easily will
such a remnant be swallowed up, and yet it is a pity that it
should. <i>Thy eyes</i> see what distress we are in, what a plunge
we are at; if thou canst do any thing, help us." 4. With desire of
divine direction: "Let <i>the Lord thy God</i> take this ruin into
his thoughts and under his hand, and <i>show us the way wherein we
may walk</i> and may expect to have his presence with us, <i>and
the thing that we may do,</i> the course we may take for our own
safety." Note, In every difficult doubtful case our eye must be up
to God for direction. They then might expect to be directed by a
<i>spirit of prophecy,</i> which has now ceased; but we may still
in faith pray to be guided by a <i>spirit of wisdom</i> in our
hearts and the hints of Providence.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p5" shownumber="no">II. Jeremiah faithfully promises them to
pray for direction for them, and, whatever message God should send
to them by him, he would deliver it to them just as he received it
without adding, altering, or diminishing, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.4" parsed="|Jer|42|4|0|0" passage="Jer 42:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. Ministers may hence learn, 1.
Conscientiously to pray for those who desire their prayers: <i>I
will pray for you according to your words.</i> Though they had
slighted him, yet, like Samuel when he was slighted, he will not
<i>sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for</i> them, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.12.23" parsed="|1Sam|12|23|0|0" passage="1Sa 12:23">1 Sam. xii. 23</scripRef>. 2. Conscientiously
to advise those who desire their advice as near as they can to the
mind of God, not <i>keeping back any thing that is profitable for
them,</i> whether it be pleasing or no, but to <i>declare to them
the whole counsel of God,</i> that they may approve themselves true
to their trust.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p6" shownumber="no">III. They fairly promise that they will be
governed by the will of God, as soon as they know what it is
(<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.5-Jer.42.6" parsed="|Jer|42|5|42|6" passage="Jer 42:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>), and
they had the impudence to appeal to God concerning their sincerity
herein, though at the same time they dissembled: "<i>The Lord be a
true and faithful witness between us;</i> do thou in the fear of
God tell us truly what his mind is and then we will in the fear of
God comply with it, and for this the Lord the Judge be Judge
between us." Note, Those that expect to have the benefit of good
ministers' prayers must conscientiously hearken to their preaching
and be governed by it, as far as it agrees with the mind of God.
Nothing could be better than this was: <i>Whether it be good, or
whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God,
that it may be well with us.</i> 1. They now call God <i>their</i>
God, for Jeremiah had encouraged them to call him so (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.4" parsed="|Jer|42|4|0|0" passage="Jer 42:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>I will pray to the
Lord your God.</i> He is ours, and therefore <i>we will obey his
voice.</i> Our relation to God strongly obliges us to obedience. 2.
They promise to <i>obey his voice</i> because they sent the prophet
to him to consult him. Note, We do not truly desire to know the
mind of God if we do not fully resolve to comply with it when we do
know it. 3. It is an implicit universal obedience that they here
promise. They will do what God appoints them to do, <i>whether it
be good or whether it be evil:</i> "Though it may seem evil to us,
yet we will believe that if God command it it is certainly good,
and we must not dispute it, but do it. Whatever God commands,
whether it be easy or difficult, agreeable to our inclinations or
contrary to them, whether it be cheap or costly, fashionable or
unfashionable, whether we get or lose by it in our worldly
interests, if it be our duty, we will do it." 4. It is upon a very
good consideration that they promise this, a reasonable and
powerful one, <i>that it may be well with us,</i> which intimates a
conviction that they could not expect it should be well with them
upon any other terms.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.xliii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.7-Jer.42.22" parsed="|Jer|42|7|42|22" passage="Jer 42:7-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.xliii-p6.4">
<h4 id="Jer.xliii-p6.5">Jeremiah's Address to the
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p6.6">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.xliii-p7" shownumber="no">7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the
word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.1">Lord</span> came unto <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8" parsed="|Jer|8|0|0|0" passage="Jeremiah. 8">Jeremiah.
  8</scripRef> Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the
captains of the forces which <i>were</i> with him, and all the
people from the least even to the greatest,   9 And said unto
them, Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.3">Lord</span>, the God
of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before
him;   10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I
build you, and not pull <i>you</i> down, and I will plant you, and
not pluck <i>you</i> up: for I repent me of the evil that I have
done unto you.   11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of
whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.4">Lord</span>: for I <i>am</i> with you to save you, and
to deliver you from his hand.   12 And I will shew mercies
unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return
to your own land.   13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in
this land, neither obey the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.5">Lord</span> your God,   14 Saying, No; but we will
go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the
sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we
dwell:   15 And now therefore hear the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.6">Lord</span>, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.7">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel; If
ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn
there;   16 Then it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> the sword,
which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and
the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you
there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.   17 So shall it be
with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn
there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil
that I will bring upon them.   18 For thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.8">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine
anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall
enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an
astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this
place no more.   19 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.9">Lord</span>
hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into
Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.  
20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.10">Lord</span> your God, saying, Pray for us unto
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.11">Lord</span> our God; and according unto
all that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.12">Lord</span> our God shall say,
so declare unto us, and we will do <i>it.</i>   21 And
<i>now</i> I have this day declared <i>it</i> to you; but ye have
not obeyed the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.xliii-p7.13">Lord</span>
your God, nor any <i>thing</i> for the which he hath sent me unto
you.   22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by
the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place
whither ye desire to go <i>and</i> to sojourn.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p8" shownumber="no">We have here the answer which Jeremiah was
sent to deliver to those who employed him to ask counsel of
God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p9" shownumber="no">I. It did not come immediately, not till
<i>ten days after,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.7" parsed="|Jer|42|7|0|0" passage="Jer 42:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. They were thus long held in suspense, perhaps, to
punish them for their hypocrisy or to show that Jeremiah did not
speak of himself, nor what he would, for he could not speak when he
would, but must wait for instructions. However, it teaches us to
continue waiting upon God for direction in our way. <i>The vision
is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p10" shownumber="no">II. When it did come he delivered it
publicly, both to the <i>captains</i> and to all the <i>people,</i>
from the meanest to those in the highest station; he delivered it
fully and faithfully as he received it, as he had promised that he
would keep nothing back from them. If Jeremiah had been to direct
them by his own prudence, perhaps he could not have told what to
advise them to, the case was so difficult; but what he has to
advise is what <i>the Lord the God of Israel saith,</i> to whom
they had sent him, and therefore they were bound in honour and duty
to observe it. And this he tells them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p11" shownumber="no">1. That it is the will of God that they
should stay where they are, and his promise that, if they do so, it
shall undoubtedly be <i>well with them</i> he would have them still
to <i>abide in this land,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.10" parsed="|Jer|42|10|0|0" passage="Jer 42:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Their brethren were forced out
of it into captivity, and this was their affliction; let those
therefore count it a mercy that they may stay in it and a duty to
stay in it. Let those whose lot is in Canaan never quit it while
they can keep it. It would have been enough to oblige them if God
had only said, "I charge you upon your allegiance to <i>abide still
in the land;</i>" but he rather persuades them to it as a friend
than commands it as a prince. (1.) He expresses a very tender
concern for them in their present calamitous condition: <i>It
repenteth me of the evil that I have done unto you.</i> Though they
had shown small sign of their repenting of their sins, yet God, as
one <i>grieved for the misery of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.10.16" parsed="|Judg|10|16|0|0" passage="Jdg 10:16">Judg. x. 16</scripRef>), begins to repent of the
judgments he had brought upon them for their sins. Not that he
changed his mind, but he was very ready to change his way and to
return in mercy to them. God's time to repent himself concerning
his servants is when he sees that, as here, their strength is gone,
and <i>there is none shut up or left,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.36" parsed="|Deut|32|36|0|0" passage="De 32:36">Deut. xxxii. 36</scripRef>. (2.) He answers the argument
they had against abiding in this land. <i>They feared the king of
Babylon</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.41.18" parsed="|Jer|41|18|0|0" passage="Jer 41:18"><i>ch.</i> xli.
18</scripRef>), lest he should come and avenge the death of
Gedaliah upon them, though they were no way accessory to it, nay,
had witnessed against it. The surmise was foreign and unreasonable;
but, if there had been any ground for it, enough is here said to
remove it (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.11" parsed="|Jer|42|11|0|0" passage="Jer 42:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
"<i>Be not afraid of the king of Babylon,</i> though he is a man of
great might and little mercy, and a very arbitrary prince, whose
will is a law, and therefore you are afraid he will upon this
pretence, though without colour of reason, take advantage against
you; <i>be not afraid of him,</i> for that fear will bring a snare:
fear not him, for <i>I am with you;</i> and, if God be for you to
save you, who can be against you to hurt you?" Thus has God
provided to obviate and silence even the causeless fears of his
people, which discourage them in the way of their duty; there is
enough in the promises to encourage them. (3.) He assures them that
if they will still abide in this land they shall not only be safe
from the king of Babylon, but be made happy by the King of kings:
"<i>I will build you and plant you;</i> you shall take root again,
and be the new foundation of another state, a phoenix-kingdom,
rising out of the ashes of the last." It is added (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.12" parsed="|Jer|42|12|0|0" passage="Jer 42:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), <i>I will show
mercies unto you.</i> Note, In all our comforts we may read God's
mercies. God will show them mercy in this, that not only the king
of Babylon shall not destroy them, but he shall <i>have mercy upon
them</i> and help to settle them. Note, Whatever kindness men do us
we must attribute it to God's kindness. He makes those whom he
pities to be pitied even by <i>those who carried them captives,</i>
<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.46" parsed="|Ps|16|46|0|0" passage="Ps 16:46">Ps. xvi. 46</scripRef>. "The king of
Babylon, having now the disposal of the country, shall <i>cause you
to return it to your own land,</i> shall settle you again in your
own habitations and put you in possession of the lands that
formerly belonged to you." Note, God has made that our duty which
is really our privilege, and our obedience will be its own
recompence. "<i>Abide in this land,</i> and it shall be your own
land again and you shall continue in it. Do not quit it now that
you stand so fair for the enjoyment of it again. Be no so unwise as
to <i>forsake your own mercies</i> for <i>lying vanities.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p12" shownumber="no">2. That as they tender the favour of God
and their own happiness they must by no means think of going into
Egypt, not thither of all places, not to that land out of which God
had delivered their fathers and which he had so often warned them
not to make alliance with nor to put confidence in. Observe here,
(1.) The sin they are supposed to be guilty of (and to him that
knew their hearts it was more than a supposition): "You begin to
say, <i>We will not dwell in this land</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.13" parsed="|Jer|42|13|0|0" passage="Jer 42:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); we will never think that we
can be safe in it, no, not though God himself undertake our
protection. We will not continue in it, no, not <i>in obedience to
the voice of the Lord our God.</i> He may say what he please, but
we will do what we please. We will <i>go into the land of
Egypt,</i> and <i>there will we dwell,</i> whether God give us
leave and go along with us or no," <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.14" parsed="|Jer|42|14|0|0" passage="Jer 42:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. It is supposed that their
hearts were upon it: "<i>If you wholly set your faces to enter into
Egypt,</i> and are obstinately resolved that you will go and
<i>sojourn there,</i> though God oppose you in it both by his word
and by his providence, then take what follows." Now the reason they
go upon in this resolution is that "<i>in Egypt we shall see no
war, nor have hunger of bread,; as we have had for a long time in
this land," <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.14" parsed="|Jer|42|14|0|0" passage="Jer 42:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
Note, It is folly to quit our place, especially to quit the holy
land, because we meet with trouble in it; but greater folly to
think by changing our place to escape the judgments of God, and
that evil which pursues sinners in every way of disobedience, and
which there is no escaping but by returning to our allegiance. (2.)
The sentence passed upon them for this sin, if they will persist in
it. It is pronounced in God's name (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.15" parsed="|Jer|42|15|0|0" passage="Jer 42:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): "Hear the word of the Lord,
you remnant of Judah,</i> who think that because you are a remnant
you must be spared of course (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.2" parsed="|Jer|42|2|0|0" passage="Jer 42:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) and indulged in your own
humour." [1.] Did the sword and famine frighten them? Those very
judgments shall pursue them into Egypt, shall overtake them, and
overcome them there (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.16-Jer.42.17" parsed="|Jer|42|16|42|17" passage="Jer 42:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16,
17</scripRef>): "You think, because war and famine have long been
raging in this land, that they are entailed upon it; whereas, if
you trust in God, he can make even this land a land of peace to
you; you think they are confined to it, and, if you can get clear
of this land, you shall get out of the reach of them, but God will
send them after you wherever you go." Note, the evils we think to
escape by sin we certainly and inevitably run ourselves upon. The
men that go to Egypt in contradiction to God's will, to escape
<i>the sword and famine,</i> shall <i>die in Egypt by sword and
famine.</i> We may apply it to the common calamities of human life;
those that are impatient of them, and think to avoid them by
changing their place, will find that they are deceived and that
they do not at all better themselves. The grievances common to men
will meet them wherever they go. All our removes in this world are
but from one wilderness to another; still we are where we were.
[2.] Did the desolations of Jerusalem frighten them? Were they
willing to get as far as they could from them? They shall meet with
the second part of them too in Egypt (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.18" parsed="|Jer|42|18|0|0" passage="Jer 42:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>As my anger and fury have
been poured out</i> here upon Jerusalem, so they shall be <i>poured
out upon you in Egypt.</i> Note, Those that have by sin made God
their enemy will find him a consuming fire wherever they go. And
then you shall be <i>an execration and an astonishment.</i> The
Hebrews were of old an abomination to the Egyptians (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.43.32" parsed="|Gen|43|32|0|0" passage="Ge 43:32">Gen. xliii. 32</scripRef>), and now they shall
be made more so than ever. When God's professing people mingle with
infidels, and make their court to them, they lose their dignity and
make themselves a reproach.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.xliii-p13" shownumber="no">3. That God knew their hypocrisy in their
enquiries of him, and that when they asked what he would have them
to do they were resolved to take their own way; and therefore the
sentence which was before pronounced conditionally is made
absolute. Having set before them good and evil, the blessing and
the curse, in the close he makes application of what he had said.
And here, (1.) He solemnly protests that he had faithfully
delivered his message, <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.19" parsed="|Jer|42|19|0|0" passage="Jer 42:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. The conclusion of the whole matter is, "<i>Go not
down into Egypt;</i> you disobey the command of God if you do, and
what I have said to you will be a witness against you; for <i>know
certainly</i> that, <i>whether you will hear or whether you will
forbear,</i> I have plainly <i>admonished you;</i> you cannot now
plead ignorance of the mind of God." (2.) He charges them with base
dissimulation in the application they made to him for divine
direction (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.20" parsed="|Jer|42|20|0|0" passage="Jer 42:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>):
"<i>You dissembled in your hearts;</i> you professed one thing and
intended another, promising what you never meant to perform."
<i>You have used deceit against your soul</i> (so the margin reads
it); for those that think to put a cheat upon God will prove in the
end to have put a damning cheat upon themselves. (3.) He is already
aware that they are determined to go contrary to the command of
God; probably they discovered it in their countenance and secret
mutterings already, before he had finished his discourse. However,
he spoke from him who knew their hearts: "<i>You have not obeyed
the voice of the Lord your God;</i> you have not a disposition to
obey it." Thus Moses, in the close of his farewell sermon, had told
them (<scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.31.27 Bible:Deut.31.29" parsed="|Deut|31|27|0|0;|Deut|31|29|0|0" passage="De 31:27,29">Deut. xxxi. 27,
29</scripRef>), <i>I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck,</i> and
<i>that you will corrupt yourselves.</i> Admire the patience of
God, that he is pleased to speak to those who, he knows, will not
regard him, and deal with those who, he knows, will <i>deal very
treacherously,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.8" parsed="|Isa|48|8|0|0" passage="Isa 48:8">Isa. xlviii.
8</scripRef>. (4.) He therefore reads them their doom, ratifying
what he had said before: <i>Know certainly that you shall die by
the sword,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.xliii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.42.22" parsed="|Jer|42|22|0|0" passage="Jer 42:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. God's threatenings may be vilified, but cannot be
nullified, by the unbelief of man. <i>Famine and pestilence</i>
shall pursue these sinners; for there is no place privileged from
divine arrests, nor can any malefactors go out of God's
jurisdiction. <i>You shall die in the place whither you desire to
go.</i> Note, We know not what is good for ourselves; and that
often proves afflictive, and sometimes fatal, which we are most
fond of and have our hearts most set upon.</p>
</div></div2>