BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
J E R E M I A H.
CHAP. XVII.
In this chapter,
I. God convicts the Jews of the sin of idolatry by the notorious
evidence of the fact, and condemns them to captivity for it,
II. He shows them the folly of all their carnal confidences, which
should stand them in no stead when God’s time came to contend with
them, and that this was one of the sins upon which his controversy with
them was grounded,
III. The prophet makes his appeal and address to God upon occasion of
the malice of his enemies against him, committing himself to the divine
protection, and begging of God to appear for him,
IV. God, by the prophet, warns the people to keep holy the sabbath day,
assuring them that, if they did, it should be the lengthening out of
their tranquility, but that, if not, God would by some desolating
judgment assert the honour of his sabbaths,
| The Guilt of Judah. | B. C. 605. |
|
|
|
1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with
the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their
heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves
by the green trees upon the high hills.
3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and
all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin,
throughout all thy borders.
4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage
that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in
the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in
mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
The people had asked
(ch. xvi. 10),
What is our iniquity, and what is our sin? as if they could not
be charged with any thing worth speaking of, for which God should enter
into judgment with them; their challenge was answered there, but here
we have a further reply to it, in which,
I. The indictment is fully proved upon the prisoners, both the fact and
the fault; their sin is too plain to be denied and too bad to be
excused, and they have nothing to plead either in extenuation of the
crime or in arrest and mitigation of the judgment.
1. They cannot plead, Not guilty, for their sins are upon record
in the book of God’s omniscience and their own conscience; nay, and
they are obvious to the eye and observation of the world,
They are written before God in the most legible and indelible
characters, and sealed among his treasures, never to be
forgotten,
They are written there with a pen of iron and with the point of a
diamond; what is so written will not be worn out by time, but is,
as Job speaks, graven in the rock for ever. Note, The sin of
sinners is never forgotten till it is forgiven. It is ever before God,
till by repentance it comes to be ever before us. It is graven upon
the table of their heart; their own consciences witness against
them, and are instead of a thousand witnesses. What is graven on the
heart, though it may be covered and closed up for a time, yet,
being graven, it cannot be erased, but will be produced in evidence
when the books shall be opened. Nay, we need not appeal to the tables
of the heart, perhaps they will not own the convictions of their
consciences. We need go no further, for proof of the charge, than
the horns of their altars, on which the blood of their
idolatrous sacrifices was sprinkled, and perhaps the names of the idols
to whose honour they were erected were inscribed. Their neighbours
will witness against them, and all the creatures they have abused by
using them in the service of their lusts. To complete the evidence,
their own children shall be witnesses against them; they will tell
truth when their fathers dissemble and prevaricate; they remember
the altars and the groves to which their parents took them when
they were little,
v. 2.
It appears that they were full of them, and acquainted with them
betimes, they talked of them so frequently, so familiarly, and with so
much delight.
2. They cannot plead that they repent, or are brought to a better mind.
No, as the guilt of their sin is undeniable, so their inclination to
sin is invincible and incurable. In this sense many understand
Their sin is deeply engraven as with a pen of iron in the
tables of their hearts. They have a rooted affection to it; it is
woven into their very nature; their sin is dear to them, as that is
dear to us of which we say, It is engraven on our hearts. The
bias of their minds is still as strong as ever towards their idols, and
they are not wrought upon either by the word or rod of God to forget
them and abate their affection to them. It is written upon the horns
of their altars, for they have given up their names to their idols
and resolve to abide by what they have done; they have bound
themselves, as with cords, to the horns of their altars. And
may be read fully to this sense: As they remember their children, so
remember they their altars and their groves; they are as fond of
them and take as much pleasure in them as men do in their own children,
and are as loth to part with them; they will live and die with their
idols, and can no more forget them than a woman can forget
her sucking child.
II. The indictment being thus fully proved, the judgment is affirmed
and the sentence ratified,
Forasmuch as they are thus wedded to their sins, and will not part with
them,
1. They shall be made to part with their treasures, and those shall be
given into the hands of strangers. Jerusalem is God’s mountain in
the field; it was built on a hill in the midst of a plain. All
the treasures of that wealthy city will God give to the
spoil. Or, My mountains with the fields, thy wealth and all thy
treasures will I expose to spoil; both the products of the country
and the stores of the city shall be seized by the Chaldeans. Justly are
men stripped of that which they have served their idols with and have
made the food and the fuel of their lusts. My mountain (so the
whole land was,
Ps. lxxviii. 54, Deut. xi. 11)
you have turned into your high places for sin, have worshipped
your idols upon the high hills
(v. 2),
and now they shall be give for a spoil in all your borders. What
we make for a sin God will make for a spoil; for what comfort can we
expect in that wherewith God is dishonoured?
2. They shall be made to part with their inheritance, and shall be
carried captives into a strange land
(v. 4):
Thou, even thyself (or thou thyself and those that are in
thee, all the inhabitants), shall discontinue from thy heritage
that I gave thee. God owns that it was their heritage, and that he
gave it to them; they had an unquestionable title to it, which was an
aggravation of their folly in throwing themselves out of the possession
of it. It is through thyself (so some read it), through thy own
default, that thou art disseised. Thou shalt discontinue, or
intermit, the occupation of thy land. The law appointed them to
let their land rest (it is the word here used) one year in
seven,
They did not observe that law, and now God would compel them to let
it rest (the land shall enjoy her sabbaths,
Lev. xxvi. 34);
and yet it shall be not rest to them; they shall serve their enemies
in a land they know not. Observe,
(1.) Sin works a discontinuance of our comforts and deprives us of the
enjoyment of that which God has given us. Yet,
(2.) A discontinuance of the possession is not a defeasance of the
right, but it is intimated that upon their repentance they shall
recover possession again. For the present, you have kindled a fire
in my anger, which burns so fiercely that it seems as if it would
burn for ever; and so it will unless you repent, for it is the
anger of an everlasting God fastening upon the immortal souls, and
who knows the power of that anger?
| True and False Confidence; Deceitfulness of the Heart; Unlawful Gains. | B. C. 605. |
|
|
|
5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the
LORD.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not
see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose
hope the LORD is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in
the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of
his doings.
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them
not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave
them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
It is excellent doctrine that is preached in these verses, and of
general concern and use to us all, and it does not appear to have any
particular reference to the present state of Judah and Jerusalem. The
prophet’s sermons were not all prophetical, but some of them practical;
yet this discourse, which probably we have here only the heads of,
would be of singular use to them by way of caution not to misplace
their confidence in the day of their distress. Let us all learn what we
are taught here,
I. Concerning the disappointment and vexation those will certainly meet
with who depend upon creatures for success and relief when they are in
trouble
(v. 5, 6):
Cursed be the man that trusts in man. God pronounces him cursed
for the affront he thereby puts upon him. Or, Cursed (that is,
miserable) is the man that does so, for he leans upon a broken
reed, which will not only fail him, but will run into his hand and
pierce it. Observe,
1. The sin here condemned; it is trusting in man, putting that
confidence in the wisdom and power, the kindness and faithfulness, of
men, which should be placed in those attributes of God only, making our
applications to men and raising our expectations from them as principal
agents, whereas they are but instruments in the hand of Providence. It
is making flesh the arm we stay upon, the arm we work with and
with which we hope to work our point, the arm under which we shelter
ourselves and on which we depend for protection. God is his people’s
arm,
Isa. xxxii. 2.
We must not think to make any creature to be that to us which God has
undertaken to be. Man is called flesh, to show the folly of
those that make him their confidence; he is flesh, weak and feeble as
flesh without bones or sinews, that has no strength at all in it; he is
inactive as flesh without spirit, which is a dead thing; he is mortal
and dying as flesh, which soon putrefies and corrupts, and is
continually wasting. Nay, he is false and sinful, and has lost his
integrity; so his being flesh signifies,
The great malignity there is in this sin; it is the departure of the
evil heart of unbelief from the living God. Those that trust in man
perhaps draw nigh to God with their mouth and honour him with their
lips, they call him their hope and say that they trust in him, but
really their heart departs from him; they distrust him, despise
him, and decline a correspondence with him. Cleaving to the cistern is
leaving the fountain, and is resented accordingly.
3. The fatal consequences of this sin. He that puts a confidence in man
puts a cheat upon himself; for
(v. 6)
he shall be like the heath in the desert, a sorry shrub, the
product of barren ground, sapless, useless, and worthless; his comforts
shall all fail him and his hopes be blasted; he shall wither, be
dejected in himself and trampled on by all about him. When good
comes he shall not see it, he shall not share in it; when
the times mend they shall not mend with him, but he shall inhabit
the parched places in the wilderness; his expectation shall be
continually frustrated; when others have a harvest he shall have none.
Those that trust to their own righteousness and strength, and think
they can do well enough without the merit and grace of Christ, thus
make flesh their arm, and their souls cannot prosper in graces
or comforts; they can neither produce the fruits of acceptable services
to God nor reap the fruits of saving blessings from him; they dwell
in a dry land.
II. Concerning the abundant satisfaction which those have, and will
have, who make God their confidence, who live by faith in his
providence and promise, who refer themselves to him and his guidance at
all times and repose themselves in him and his love in the most unquiet
times,
Observe,
1. The duty required of us–to trust in the Lord, to do our duty
to him and then depend upon him to bear us out in doing it–when
creatures and second causes either deceive or threaten us, either are
false to us or fierce against us, to commit ourselves to God as
all-sufficient both to fill up the place of those who fail us and to
protect us from those who set upon us. It is to make the Lord our
hope, his favour the good we hope for and his power the strength we
hope in.
2. The comfort that attends the doing of this duty. He that does so
shall be as a tree planted by the waters, a choice tree, about
which great care has been taken to set it in the best soil, so far from
being like the heath in the wilderness; he shall be like a tree
that spreads out its roots, and thereby is firmly fixed, spreads
them out by the rivers, whence it draws abundance of sap, which
denotes both the establishment and the comfort which those have who
make God their hope; they are easy, they are pleasant, and enjoy a
continual security and serenity of mind. A tree thus planted, thus
watered, shall not see when heat comes, shall not sustain any
damage from the most scorching heats of summer; it is so well moistened
from its roots that it shall be sufficiently guarded against drought.
Those that make God their hope,
(1.) They shall flourish in credit and comfort, like a tree that is
always green, whose leaf does not wither; they shall be cheerful
to themselves and beautiful in the eyes of others. Those who thus give
honour to God by giving him credit God will put honour upon, and make
them the ornament and delight of the places where they live, as green
trees are.
(2.) They shall be fixed in an inward peace and satisfaction: They
shall not be careful in a year of drought, when there is want of
rain; for, as the tree has seed in itself, so it has its
moisture. Those who make God their hope have enough in him to make
up the want of all creature-comforts. We need not be solicitous about
the breaking of a cistern as long as we have the fountain.
(3.) They shall be fruitful in holiness, and in all good works. Those
who trust in God, and by faith derive strength and grace from him,
shall not cease from yielding fruit; they shall still be enabled
to do that which will redound to the glory of God, the benefit of
others, and their own account.
III. Concerning the sinfulness of man’s heart, and the divine
inspection it is always under,
It is folly to trust in man, for he is not only frail, but false and
deceitful. We are apt to think that we trust in God, and are entitled
to the blessings here promised to those who do so. But this is a thing
about which our own hearts deceive us as much as any thing. We think
that we trust in God when really we do not, as appears by this, that
our hopes and fears rise or fall according as second causes smile or
frown.
1. It is true in general.
(1.) There is that wickedness in our hearts which we ourselves are not
aware of and do not suspect to be there; nay, it is a common mistake
among the children of men to think themselves, their own hearts at
least, a great deal better than they really are. The heart, the
conscience of man, in his corrupt and fallen state, is deceitful
above all things. It is subtle and false; it is apt to
supplant (so the word properly signifies); it is that from which
Jacob had his name, a supplanter. It calls evil good and good
evil, puts false colours upon things, and cries peace to those to whom
peace does not belong. When men say in their hearts (that is, suffer
their hearts to whisper to them) that there is no God, or he does not
see, or he will not require, or they shall have peace though they go
on; in these, and a thousand similar suggestions the heart is
deceitful. It cheats men into their own ruin; and this will be the
aggravation of it, that they are self-deceivers, self-destroyers.
Herein the heart is desperately wicked; it is deadly, it is
desperate. The case is bad indeed, and in a manner deplorable and past
relief, if the conscience which should rectify the errors of the other
faculties is itself a mother of falsehood and a ring-leader in the
delusion. What will become of a man if that in him which should be
the candle of the Lord give a false light, if God’s deputy in
the soul, that is entrusted to support his interests, betrays them?
Such is the deceitfulness of the heart that we may truly say, Who
can know it? Who can describe how bad the heart is? We cannot know
our own hearts, not what they will do in an hour of temptation
(Hezekiah did not, Peter did not), not what corrupt dispositions there
are in them, nor in how many things they have turned aside; who can
understand his errors? Much less can we know the hearts of others, or
have any dependence upon them. But,
(2.) Whatever wickedness there is in the heart God sees it, and knows
it, is perfectly acquainted with it and apprised of it: I the Lord
search the heart. This is true of all that is in the heart, all the
thoughts of it, the quickest, and those that are most carelessly
overlooked by ourselves–all the intents of it, the closest, and those
that are most artfully disguised, and industriously concealed from
others. Men may be imposed upon, but God cannot. He not only searches
the heart with a piercing eye, but he tries the reins, to pass a
judgment upon what he discovers, to give every thing its true character
and due weight. He tries it, as the gold is tried whether it be
standard or no, as the prisoner is tried whether he be guilty or no.
And this judgment which he makes of the heart is in order to his
passing judgment upon the man; it is to give to every man according
to his ways (according to the desert and the tendency of them, life
to those that walked in the ways of life, and death to those that
persisted in the paths of the destroyer) and according to the fruit
of his doings, the effect and influence his doings have had upon
others, or according to what is settled by the word of God to be the
fruit of men’s doings, blessings to the obedient and curses to the
disobedient. Note, Therefore God is Judge himself, and he
alone, because he, and none besides, knows the hearts of the children
of men.
2. It is true especially of all the deceitfulness and wickedness of the
heart, all its corrupt devices, desires, and designs. God observes and
discerns them; and (which is more than any man can do) he judges of the
overt act by the heart. Note, God knows more evil of us than we do of
ourselves, which is a good reason why we should not flatter ourselves,
but always stand in awe of the judgment of God.
IV. Concerning the curse that attends wealth unjustly gotten. Fraud and
violence had been reigning crying sins in Judah and Jerusalem; now the
prophet would have those who had been guilty of these sins, and were
now stripped of all they had, to read their sin in their punishment
(v. 11):
He that gets riches and not by right, though he may make them
his hope, shall never have joy of them. Observe, It is possible that
those who use unlawful means to get wealth may succeed therein and
prosper for a time; and it is a temptation to many to defraud and
oppress their neighbours when there is money to be got by it. He who
has got treasures by vanity and a lying tongue may
hug himself in his success, and say, I am rich; nay, and I am
innocent too
(Hos. xii. 8),
but he shall leave them in the midst of his days; they shall be
taken from him, or he from them; God shall cut him off with some
surprising stroke then when he says, Soul, take thy ease, thou hast
goods laid up for many years,
Luke xii. 19, 20.
He shall leave them to he knows not whom, and shall not be able to take
any of his riches away with him. It intimates what a great vexation it
is to a worldly man at death that he must leave his riches behind him;
and justly may it be a terror to those who got them unjustly, for,
though the wealth will not follow them to another world, the guilt
will, and the torment of an everlasting, Son, remember,
Luke xvi. 25.
Thus, at his end, he shall be a fool, a Nabal, whose wealth did
him no good, which he had so sordidly hoarded, when his heart
became dead as a stone. He was a fool all along; sometimes
perhaps his own conscience told him so, but at his end he will
appear to be so. Those are fools indeed who are fools in their
latter end; and such multitudes will prove who were applauded as
wise men, that did well for themselves,
Ps. xlix. 13, 18.
Those that get grace will be wise in the latter end, will have
the comfort of it in death and the benefit of it to eternity
but those that place their happiness in the wealth of the world, and,
right or wrong, will be rich, will rue the folly of it when it
is too late to rectify the fatal mistake. This is like the partridge
that sits on eggs and hatches them not, but they are broken (as
or stolen (as
or they become addle: some sort of fowl there was, well known among the
Jews, whose case this commonly was. The rich man takes a great deal of
pains to get an estate together, and sits brooding upon it, but never
has any comfort nor satisfaction in it; his projects to enrich himself
by sinful courses miscarry and come to nothing. Let us therefore be
wise in time–what we get to get it honestly, and what we have to use
it charitably, that we may lay up in store a good foundation and be
wise for eternity.
| God’s Justice Acknowledged; The Prophet’s Appeal of God. | B. C. 605. |
|
|
|
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of
our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be
ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the
earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of
living waters.
14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall
be saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD?
let it come now.
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to
follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest:
that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of
evil.
18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be
confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed:
bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double
destruction.
Here, as often before, we have the prophet retired for private
meditation, and alone with God. Those ministers that would have
comfort in their work must be much so. In his converse here with God
and his own heart he takes the liberty which devout souls sometimes use
in their soliloquies, to pass from one thing to another, without tying
themselves too strictly to the laws of method and coherence.
I. He acknowledges the great favour of God to his people in setting up
a revealed religion among them, and dignifying them with divine
institutions
(v. 12):
A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary. The temple at Jerusalem, where God manifested his
special presence, where the lively oracles were lodged, where the
people paid their homage to their Sovereign, and whither they fled for
refuge in distress, was the place of their sanctuary. That was a
glorious high throne. It was a throne of holiness, which made it
truly glorious; it was God’s throne, which made it truly high.
Jerusalem is called the city of the great King, not only
Israel’s King, but the King of the whole earth, so that it might justly
be deemed the metropolis, or royal city, of the world. It was from
the beginning, so, from the first projecting of it by David and
building of it by Solomon,
It was the honour of Israel that God set up such a glorious throne
among them. As the glorious and high throne (that is, heaven)
is the place of our sanctuary; so some read it. Note, All good
men have a high value and veneration for the ordinances of God, and
reckon the place of the sanctuary a glorious high throne. Jeremiah here
mentions this either as a plea with God for mercy to their land, in
honour of the throne of his glory
(ch. xiv. 21),
or as an aggravation of the sin of his people in forsaking God though
his throne was among them, and so profaning his crown and the place of
his sanctuary.
II. He acknowledges the righteousness of God in abandoning those to
ruin that forsook him and revolted from their allegiance to him,
He speaks it to God, as subscribing both to the certainty and to the
equity of it: O Lord! the hope of those in Israel that adhere to
thee, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed. They must of
necessity be so, for they forsake thee for lying vanities, which will
deceive them and make them ashamed. They will be ashamed, for they
shame themselves. They will justly be put to shame, for they have
forsaken him who alone can keep them in countenance when troubles come.
Let them be ashamed (so some read it); and so it is a pious
imprecation of the wrath of God upon them, or a petition for his grace,
to make them penitently ashamed. “Those that depart from me,
from the word of God which I have preached, do in effect depart from
God;” as those that return to God are said to return to the prophet,
Those that depart from thee (so some read it) shall be
written in the earth. They shall soon be blotted out, as that is
which is written in the dust. They shall be trampled upon and exposed
to contempt. They belong to the earth, and shall be numbered among
earthly people, who lay up their treasure on earth and whose names are
not written in heaven. And they deserve to be thus written with
the fools in Israel, that their folly may be made manifest unto all,
because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living
waters (that is, spring waters), and that for broken cisterns.
Note, God is to all that are his a fountain of living waters.
There is a fulness of comfort in him, an over-flowing ever-flowing
fulness, like that of a fountain; it is always fresh, and clear, and
clean, like spring water, while the pleasures of sin are puddle-waters.
They are free to it; it is not a fountain sealed. They deserve
therefore to be condemned, as Adam, to red earth, to which by
the corruption of their nature they are allied, because they have
forsaken the garden of the Lord, which is so well-watered. Those
that depart from God are written in the earth.
III. He prays to God for healing saving mercy for himself. “If the case
of those that depart from God be so miserable, let me always draw nigh
to him
and, in order to do that, Lord, heal me, and save me,
v. 14.
Heal my backslidings, my bent to backslide, and save me from being
carried away by the strength of the stream to forsake thee.” He was
wounded in spirit with grief upon many accounts. “Lord, heal me
with thy comforts, and make me easy.” He was continually exposed to the
malice of unreasonable men. “Lord, save me from them, and let me
not fall into their wicked hands. Heal me, that is, sanctify me
by thy grace; save me, that is, bring me to thy glory.” All that
shall be saved hereafter are sanctified now; unless the disease of sin
be purged out the soul cannot live. To enforce this petition he pleads,
1. The firm belief he had of God’s power: Heal thou me, and then I
shall be healed; the cure will certainly be wrought if thou
undertake it; it will be a thorough cure and not a palliative one.
Those that come to God to be healed ought to be abundantly satisfied in
the all-sufficiency of their physician. Save me, and then I
shall certainly be saved, be my dangers and enemies ever so
threatening. If God hold us up, we shall live; if he protect us, we
shall be safe.
2. The sincere regard he had to God’s glory: “For thou art my
praise, and for that reason I desire to be healed and saved,
that I may live and praise thee,
Ps. cxix. 175.
Thou art he whom I praise, and the praise due to thee I never gave to
another. Thou art he whom I glory in, and boast of, for on thee do I
depend. Thou art he that furnishes me with continual matter for praise,
and I have given thee the praise of the favours already bestowed upon
me. Thou shalt be my praise” (so some read it); “heal me, and
save me, and thou shalt have the glory of it. My praise shall be
continually of thee,”
IV. He complains of the infidelity and daring impiety of the people to
whom he preached. It greatly troubled him, and he shows before God this
trouble, as the servant that had slights put upon him by the guests he
was sent to invite came and showed his Lord these things. He had
faithfully delivered God’s message to them; and what answer has he to
return to him that sent him? Behold, they say unto me, Where is the
word of the Lord? Let it come now,
v. 15, Isa. v. 19.
They bantered the prophet, and made a jest of that which he delivered
with the greatest seriousness.
1. They denied the truth of what he said: “If that be the word of
the Lord which thou speakest to us, where is it? Why is it
not fulfilled?” Thus the patience of God was impudently abused as a
ground to question his veracity.
2. They defied the terror of what he said. “Let God Almighty do his
worst; let all he has said come to pass; we shall do well enough; the
lion is not so fierce as he is painted,”
“Lord, to what purpose is it to speak to men that will neither believe
nor fear?”
V. He appeals to God concerning his faithful discharge of the duty to
which he was called,
The people did all they could to make him weary of his work, to
exasperate him and make him uneasy, and to tempt him to prevaricate and
alter his message for fear of displeasing them; but, “Lord,” says he,
“thou knowest I have not yielded to them.”
1. He continued constant to his work. His office, instead of being his
credit and protection, exposed him to reproach, contempt, and injury.
“Yet,” says he, “I have not hastened from being a pastor after
thee; I have not left my work, nor sued for a discharge or a
quietus.” Prophets were pastors to the people, to feed them with
the good word of God; but they were to be pastors after God, and
all ministers must be so, according to his heart
(ch. iii. 15),
to follow him and the directions and instructions he gives. Such a
pastor Jeremiah was; and, though he met with as much difficulty and
discouragement as ever any man did, yet he did not fly off as Jonah
did, nor desire to be excused from going any more on God’s errands.
Note, Those that are employed for God, though their success answer nor
their expectations, must not therefore throw up their commission. but
continue to follow God, though the storm be in their faces.
2. He kept up his affection to the people. Though they were very
abusive to him, he was compassionate to them: I have not desired the
woeful day. The day of the accomplishment of his prophecies would
be a woeful day indeed to Jerusalem, and therefore he deprecated it,
and wished it might never come, though, as to himself, it would be the
avenging of him upon his persecutors and the proving of him a true
prophet (which they had questioned,
v. 15),
and upon those accounts he might be tempted to desire it. Note, God
does not, and therefore ministers must not, desire the death of
sinners, but rather that they may turn and live. Though we warn of the
woeful day, we must not wish for it, but rather weep because of it, as
Jeremiah did.
3. He kept closely to his instructions. Though he might have curried
favour with the people, or at least have avoided their displeasure, if
he had not been so sharp in his reproofs and severe in his
threatenings, yet he would deliver his message faithfully; and that he
had done so was a comfort to him. “Lord, thou knowest that that
which came out of my lips was right before thee; it exactly agreed
with what I received from thee, and therefore thou art reflected upon
in their quarrelling with me.” Note, If what we say and do be right
before God, we may easily despise the reproaches and censures of men.
It is a small thing to be judged of their judgment.
VI. He humbly begs of God that he would own him, and protect him, and
carry him on cheerfully in that work to which God had so plainly called
him and to which he had so sincerely devoted himself. Two things he
here desires:–
1. That he might have comfort in serving the God that sent him
(v. 17):
Be not thou a terror to me. Surely more is implied than is
expressed. “Be thou a comfort to me, and let thy favour rejoice my
heart and encourage me, when my enemies do all they can to terrify me
and either to drive me from my work or to make me drive on heavily in
it.” Note, The best have that in them which might justly make God a
terror to them, as he was for some time to Job
(ch. vi. 4),
to Asaph
to Heman,
And this is that which good men, knowing the terrors of the
Lord, dread and deprecate more than any thing; nay, whatever
frightful accidents may befal them, or how formidable soever their
enemies may appear to them, they can do well enough so long as God is
not a terror to them. He pleads, “Thou art my hope; and then
nothing else is my fear, no, not in the day of evil, when it is
most threatening, most pressing. My dependence is upon thee; and
therefore be not a terror to me.” Note, Those that by faith make
God their confidence shall have him for their comfort in the worst of
times, if it be not their own fault: if we make him our trust, we shall
not find him our terror.
2. That he might have courage in dealing with the people to whom he was
sent,
Those persecuted him who should have entertained and encouraged him.
“Lord,” says he, “let them be confounded (let them be
overpowered by the convictions of the word and made ashamed of their
obstinacy, or else let the judgments threatened be at length executed
upon them), but let not me confounded, let not me be terrified
by their menaces, so as to betray my trust.” Note, God’s ministers have
work to do which they need not be either ashamed or afraid to go on in,
but they do need to be helped by the divine grace to go on in it
without shame or fear. Jeremiah had not desired the woeful day upon
his country in general; but as to his persecutors, in a just and holy
indignation at their malice, he prays, Bring upon them the day of
evil, in hope that the bringing of it upon them might prevent the
bringing of it upon the country; if they were taken away, the people
would be better; “therefore destroy them with a double
destruction; let them be utterly destroyed, root and branch, and
let the prospect of that destruction be their present confusion.” This
the prophet prays, not at all that he might be avenged, nor so much
that he might be eased, but that the Lord may be known by the
judgments which he executes.
| Sabbath-Sanctification. | B. C. 600. |
|
|
|
19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the
children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and
by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of
Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that
enter in by these gates:
21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no
burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of
Jerusalem;
22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the
sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath
day, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made
their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction.
24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me,
saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this
city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no
work therein;
25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and
princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and
on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the
places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from
the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing
burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense,
and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.
27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath
day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of
Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the
gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and
it shall not be quenched.
These verses are a sermon concerning sabbath-sanctification. It is a
word which the prophet received from the Lord, and was ordered
to deliver in the most solemn and public manner to the people; for they
were sent not only to reprove sin, and to press obedience, in general,
but they must descend to particulars. This message concerning the
sabbath was probably sent in the days of Josiah, for the furtherance of
that work of reformation which he set on foot; for the promises here
are such as I think we scarcely find when things come nearer to the
extremity. This message must be proclaimed in all the places of
concourse, and therefore inthe gates, not only because through
them people were continually passing and repassing, but because in them
they kept their courts and laid up their stores. It must be proclaimed
(as the king or queen is usually proclaimed) at the court-gate first,
the gate by which the kings of Judah come in and go out,
v. 19.
Let them be told their duty first, particularly this duty; for, if
sabbaths be not sanctified as they should be, the rulers of Judah
are to be contended with (so they were,
for they are certainly wanting in their duty. He must also preach it
in all the gates of Jerusalem. It is a matter of great and
general concern; therefore let all take notice of it. Let the kings
of Judah hear the word of the Lord (for, high as they are,
he is above them), and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for,
mean as they are, he takes notice of them, and of what they say and do
on sabbath days. Observe,
I. How the sabbath is to be sanctified, and what is the law concerning
it,
1. They must rest from their worldly employment on the sabbath day,
must do no servile work. They must bear no burden into the city
nor out of it, into their houses nor out of them; husbandmen’s burdens
of corn must not be carried in, nor manure carried out; nor must
tradesmen’s burdens of wares or merchandises be imported or exported.
There must not a loaded horse, or cart, or wagon, be seen on the
sabbath day either in the streets or in the roads; the porters must not
ply on that day, nor must the servants be suffered to fetch in
provisions or fuel. It is a day of rest, and must not be made a day of
labour, unless in case of necessity.
2. They must apply themselves to that which is the proper work and
business of the day: “Hallow you the sabbath, that is,
consecrate it to the honour of God and spend it in his service and
worship.” It is in order to this that worldly business must be laid
aside, that we may be entire for, and intent upon, that work, which
requires and deserves the whole man.
3. They must herein be very circumspect: “Take heed to
yourselves, watch against every thing that borders upon the
profanation of the sabbath.” Where God is jealous we must be cautious.
“Take heed to yourselves, for it is at your peril if you rob God
of that part of your time which he has reserved to himself.” Take
heed to your souls (so the word is); in order to the right
sanctifying of sabbaths, we must look well to the frame of our spirits
and have a watchful eye upon all the motions of the inward man. Let not
the soul be burdened with the cares of this world on sabbath days, but
let that be employed, even all that is within us, in the work of the
day. And,
4. He refers them to the law, the statute in this case made and
provided: “This is no new imposition upon you, but is what I
commanded your fathers; it is an ancient law; it was an article of
the original contract; nay, it was a command to the patriarchs.”
II. How the sabbath had been profaned
(v. 23):
“Your fathers were required to keep holy the sabbath day, but they
obeyed not; they hardened their necks against this as well
as other commands that were given them.” This is mentioned to show that
there needed a reformation in this matter, and that God had a just
controversy with them for the long transgression of this law which they
had been guilty of. They hardened their necks against this command,
that they might not hear and receive instruction concerning other
commands. Where sabbaths are neglected all religion sensibly goes to
decay.
III. What blessings God had in store for them if they would make
conscience of sabbath-sanctification. Though their fathers had been
guilty of the profanation of the sabbath they should not only not smart
for it, but their city and nation should recover its ancient glory, if
they would keep sabbaths better,
Let them take care to hallow the sabbath and do no work
therein; and then,
1. The court shall flourish. Kings in succession, or the many
branches of the royal family at the same time, all as great as kings,
with the other princes that sit upon the thrones of
judgment, the thrones of the house of David
(Ps. cxxii. 5),
shall ride in great pomp through the gates of Jerusalem, some in
chariots and some on horses, attended with a numerous retinue of the
men of Judah. Note, The honour of the government is the joy of the
kingdom; and the support of religion would contribute greatly to both.
2. The city shall flourish. Let there be a face of religion kept up in
Jerusalem, by sabbath-sanctification, that it may answer to its title,
the holy city, and then it shall remain for ever, shall for
ever be inhabited (so the word may be rendered); it shall not be
destroyed and dispeopled, as it is threatened to be. Whatever supports
religion tends to establish the civil interests of a land.
3. The country shall flourish: The cities of Judah and the land of
Benjamin shall be replenished with vast numbers of inhabitants, and
those abounding in plenty and living in peace, which will appear by the
multitude and value of their offerings, which they shall present to
God. By this the flourishing of a country may be judged of, What does
it do for the honour of God? Those that starve their religion either
are poor or are in a fair way to be so.
4. The church shall flourish: Meat-offerings, and incense, and
sacrifices of praise, shall be brought to the house of the
Lord, for the maintenance of the service of that house and the
servants that attend it. God’s institutions shall be conscientiously
observed; no sacrifice nor incense shall be offered to idols, nor
alienated from God, but every thing shall go in the right channel. They
shall have both occasion and hearts to bring sacrifices of praise to
God. This is made an instance of their prosperity. Then a people truly
flourish when religion flourishes among them. And this is the effect of
sabbath-sanctification; when that branch of religion is kept up other
instances of it are kept up likewise; but, when that is lost, devotion
is lost either in superstition or in profaneness. It is a true
observation, which some have made, that the streams of all religion run
either deep or shallow according as the banks of the sabbath are kept
up or neglected.
IV. What judgments they must expect would come upon them if they
persisted in the profanation of the sabbath
(v. 27):
“If you will not hearken to me in this matter, to keep the gates
shut on sabbath days, so that there may be no unnecessary entering
in, or going out, on that day–if you will break through the
enclosure of the divine law, and lay that day in common with other
days–know that God will kindle a fire in the gates of your
city,” intimating that it shall be kindled by an enemy besieging the
city and assaulting the gates, who shall take this course to force an
entrance. Justly shall those gates be fired that are not used as they
ought to be to shut out sin and to keep people in to an attendance on
their duty. This fire shall devour even the palaces of
Jerusalem, where the princes and nobles dwelt, who did not use
their power and interest as they ought to have done to keep up the
honour of God’s sabbaths; but it shall not be quenched until it
has laid the whole city in ruins. This was fulfilled by the army of
the Chaldeans,
The profanation of the sabbath is a sin for which God has often
contended with a people by fire.
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.