In
this chapter we have, I. The prophet's humble complaint to God of the
success that wicked people had in their wicked practices (ver. 1, 2) and his
appeal to God concerning his own integrity (ver. 3), with a prayer that God
would, for the sake of the public, bring the wickedness of the wicked to an
end, ver. 3, 4. II. God's rebuke to the prophet for his uneasiness at his
present troubles, bidding him prepare for greater, ver. 5, 6. III. A sad
lamentation of the present deplorable state of the Israel of God, ver. 7-13.
IV. An intimation of mercy to God's people, in a denunciation of wrath
against their neighbours that helped forward their affliction, that they
should be plucked out; but with a promise that if they would at last join
themselves with the people of God they should come in sharers with them in
their privileges, ver. 14-17.
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The
Prophet's Appeal to God.
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B.
C. 606.
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1 Righteous art thou, O LORD,
when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments:
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they
happy that deal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them,
yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art
near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3 But thou, O LORD,
knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them
out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of
slaughter. 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of
every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the
beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our
last end. 5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have
wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the
land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then
how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? 6 For even thy
brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously
with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not,
though they speak fair words unto thee.
The prophet doubts not but it would be of use to others to know what had
passed between God and his soul, what temptations he had been assaulted with
and how he had got over them; and therefore he here tells us,
I. What liberty he humbly took, and was graciously allowed him, to reason
with God concerning his judgments, v. 1. He is about to plead
with God, not to quarrel with him, or find fault with his proceedings, but
to enquire into the meaning of them, that he might more and more see reason
to be satisfied in them, and might have wherewith to answer both his own and
others' objections against them. The works of the Lord, and the reasons of
them, are sought out even of those that have pleasure therein.
Ps. cxi. 2. We may not strive with our Maker, but we may reason with
him. The prophet lays down a truth of unquestionable certainty, which he
resolves to abide by in managing this argument: Righteous art thou, O
Lord! when I plead with thee. Thus he arms himself against the
temptation wherewith he was assaulted, to envy the prosperity of the wicked,
before he entered into a parley with it. Note, When we are most in the dark
concerning the meaning of God's dispensations we must still resolve to keep
up right thoughts of God, and must be confident of this, that he never did,
nor ever will do, the least wrong to any of his creatures; even when his judgments
are unsearchable as a great deep, and altogether unaccountable,
yet his righteousness is as conspicuous and immovable as the great
mountains, Ps. xxxvi. 6. Though sometimes clouds and darkness are
round about him, yet justice and judgment are always the
habitation of his throne, Ps. xcvii. 2. When we find it hard to
understand particular providences we must have recourse to general truths as
our first principles, and abide by them; however dark the providence may be,
the Lord is righteous; see Ps. lxxiii. 1. And we must acknowledge it
to him, as the prophet here, even when we plead with him, as those
that have no thoughts of contending but of learning, being fully assured
that he will be justified when he speaks. Note, However we may see
cause for our own information to plead with God, yet it becomes us to own
that, whatever he says or does, he is in the right.
II. What it was in the dispensations of divine Providence that he stumbled
at and that he thought would bear a debate. It was that which has been a
temptation to many wise and good men, and such a one as they have with
difficulty got over. They see the designs and projects of wicked people
successful: The way of the wicked prospers; they compass their
malicious designs and gain their point. They see their affairs and concerns
in a good posture: They are happy, happy as the world can make them,
though they deal treacherously, very treacherously, both with
God and man. Hypocrites are chiefly meant (as appears, v. 2), who
dissemble in their good professions, and depart from their good beginnings
and good promises, and in both they deal treacherously, very treacherously.
It has been said that men cannot expect to prosper who are unjust and
dishonest in their dealings; but these deal treacherously, and yet they
are happy. The prophet shows (v. 2) both their prosperity and
their abuse of their prosperity. 1. God had been very indulgent to them and
they were got beforehand in the world: "They are planted in a good
land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and thou hast planted them!
nay, thou didst cast out the heathen to plant them," Ps. xliv. 2, lxxx.
8. Many a tree is planted that yet never grows nor comes to any thing; but they
have taken root; their prosperity seems to be confirmed and settled.
They take root in the earth, for there they fix themselves, and thence they
draw the sap of all their satisfaction. Many trees however take root which
yet never come on; but these grow, yea they bring forth fruit; their
families are built up, they live high, and spend at a great rate; and all
this was owing to the benignity of the divine Providence, which smiled upon
them, Ps. lxxiii. 7. 2. Thus God had favoured them, though they had dealt
treacherously with him: Thou art near in their mouth and far from their
reins. This was no uncharitable censure, for he spoke by the Spirit of
prophecy, without which it is not safe to charge men with hypocrisy whose
appearances are plausible. Observe, (1.) Thought they cared not for thinking
of God, nor had any sincere affection to him, yet they could easily persuade
themselves to speak of him frequently and with an air of seriousness. Piety
from the teeth outward is no difficult thing. Many speak the language of
Israel that are not Israelites indeed. (2.) Though they had on all occasions
the name of God ready in their mouth, and accustomed themselves to those
forms of speech that savoured of piety, yet they could not persuade
themselves to keep up the fear of God in their hearts. The form of godliness
should engage us to keep up the power of it; but with them it did not do so.
III. What comfort he had in appealing to God concerning his own integrity (v.
3): But thou, O Lord! knowest me. Probably the wicked men he
complains of were forward to reproach and censure him (ch. xviii.
18), in reference to which this was his comfort, that God was a witness of
his integrity. God knew he was not such a one as they were (who had God near
in their mouths, but far from their reins), nor such a one as they took
him to be, and represented him, a deceiver and a false prophet; those that
thus abused him did not know him, 1 Cor. ii. 8. "But thou, O Lord!
knowest me, though they think me not worth their notice." 1.
Observe what the matter is concerning which he appeals to God: Thou knowest my
heart towards thee. Note, We are as our hearts are, and our hearts are
good or bad according as they are, or are not, towards God; and this is that
therefore concerning which we should examine ourselves, that we may approve
ourselves to God. 2. The cognizance to which he appeals: "Thou
knowest me better than I know myself, not by hearsay or report, for thou
hast seen me, not with a transient glance, but thou hast tried my
heart." God's knowledge of us is as clear and exact and certain as
if he had made the most strict scrutiny. Note, The God with whom we have to
do perfectly knows how our hearts are towards him. He knows both the guile
of the hypocrite and the sincerity of the upright.
IV. He prays that God would turn his hand against these wicked people, and
not suffer them to prosper always, though they had prospered long: "Let
some judgment come to pull them out of this fat pasture as sheep
for the slaughter, that it may appear their long prosperity was but like
the feeding of lambs in a large place, to prepare them for the day of
slaughter," Hos. iv. 16. God suffered them to prosper that by their
pride and luxury they might fill up the measure of their iniquity and so be
ripened for destruction; and therefore he thinks it a piece of necessary
justice that they should fall into mischief themselves, because they had
done so much mischief to others, that they should be pulled out of their
land, because they had brought ruin upon the land, and the longer they
continued in it the more hurt they did, as the plagues of their generation (v.
4): "How long shall the land mourn. (as it does under the
judgments of God inflicted upon it) for the wickedness of those that
dwell therein? Lord, shall those prosper themselves that ruin all about
them?" 1. See here what the judgment was which the land was now
groaning under: The herbs of every field wither (the grass is burnt
up and all the products of the earth fail), and then it follows of course,
the beasts are consumed, and the birds, 1 Kings xviii. 5. This was the
effect of a long drought, or want of rain, which happened, as it should
seem, at the latter end of Josiah's reign and the beginning of Jehoiakim's;
it is mentioned ch. iii. 3, viii. 13, ix. 10, 12, and more fully
afterwards, ch. xiv. If they would have been brought to repentance by
this less judgment, the greater would have been prevented. Now why was it
that this fruitful land was turned into barrenness, but for
the wickedness of those that dwelt therein? Ps. xvii. 34. Therefore the
prophet prays that these wicked people might die for their own sin,
and that the whole nation might not suffer for it. 2. See here what was the
language of their wickedness: They said, He shall not see our last end,
either, (1.) God himself shall not. Atheism is the root of hypocrisy. God is
far from their reins, though near in their mouth, because they
say, How doth God know? Ps. lxxiii. 11; Job xxii. 13. He knows not
what way we take nor what it will end in. Or, (2.) Jeremiah shall not see
our last end; whatever he pretends, when he asks us what shall be in the
end hereof he cannot himself foresee it. They look upon him as a false
prophet. Or, "whatever it is, he shall not live to see it, for we will
be the death of him," ch. xi. 21. Note, [1.] Men's setting their
latter end at a great distance, or looking upon it as uncertain, is at the
bottom of all their wickedness, Lam. i. 9. [2.] The whole creation groans
under the burden of the sin of man, Rom. viii. 22. It is for this that the
earth mourns (so it may be read); cursed is the ground for thy sake.
V. He acquaints us with the answer God gave to those complaints of his, v.
5, 6. We often find the prophets admonished, whose business it was to
admonish others, as Isa. viii. 11. Ministers have lessons to learn as well
as lessons to teach, and must themselves hear God's voice and preach to
themselves. Jeremiah complained much of the wickedness of the men of
Anathoth, and that, notwithstanding that, they prospered. Now, this seems to
be an answer to that complaint. 1. It is allowed that he had cause to
complain (v. 6): "Thy brethren, the priests of Anathoth,
who are of the house of thy father, who ought to have protected thee
and pretended to do so, even they have dealt treacherously with thee,
have been false to thee, and, under colour of friendship, have designedly
done thee all the mischief they could; they have called a multitude after
thee, raised the mob upon thee, to whom they have endeavoured, by all
arts possible, to render thee despicable or odious, while at the same time
they pretended that they had no design to persecute thee nor to deprive thee
of thy liberty. They are indeed such as thou canst not believe, though
they speak fair words to thee. They seem to be thy friends, but are
really thy enemies." Note, God's faithful servants must not think it at
all strange if their foes be those of their own house (Matt. x. 36),
and if those they expect kindness from prove such as they can put no
confidence in, Mic. vii. 5. 2. Yet he is told that he carried the matter too
far. (1.) He laid the unkindness of his countrymen too much to heart. They
wearied him, because it was in a land of peace wherein he trusted,
v. 5. It was very grievous to him to be thus hated and abused by his
own kindred. He was disturbed in his mind by it; his spirit was sunk and
overwhelmed with it, so that he was in great agitation and distress about
it. Nay, he was discouraged in his work by it, began to be weary of
prophesying, and to think of giving it up. (2.) He did not consider that
this was but the beginning of his sorrow, and that he had sorer trials yet
before him; and, whereas he should endeavour by a patient bearing of this
trouble to prepare himself for greater, by his uneasiness under this he did
but unfit himself for what further lay before him: If thou hast run with
the footmen and they have wearied thee, and run thee quite out of
breath, then how wilt thou contend with horses? If the injuries done
him by the men of Anathoth made such an impression upon him, what would he
do when the princes and chief priests at Jerusalem should set upon him with
their power, as they did afterwards? ch. xx. 2; xxxii. 2. If he was
so soon tired in a land of peace, where there was little noise or
peril, what would he do in the swellings of Jordan, when that
overflows all its banks and frightens even lions out of their thickets? ch.
xlix. 19. Note, [1.] While we are in this world we must expect troubles, and
difficulties. Our life is a race, a warfare; we are in danger of being run
down. [2.] God's usual method being to begin with smaller trials, it is our
wisdom to expect greater than any we have yet met with. We may be called out
to contend with horsemen, and the sons of Anak may perhaps be
reserved for the last encounter. [3.] It highly concerns us to prepare for
such trials and to consider what we should do in them. How shall we preserve
our integrity and peace when we come to the swellings of Jordan? [4.]
In order to our preparation for further and greater trials, we are concerned
to approve ourselves well in present smaller trials, to keep up our spirits,
keep hold of the promise, keep in our way, with our eye upon the prize, so
run that we may obtain it. Some good interpreters understand this as spoken
to the people, who were very secure and fearless of the threatened
judgments. If they have been so humbled and impoverished by smaller
calamities, so wasted by the Assyrians,--if the Ammonites and Moabites, who
were their brethren, and with whom they were in league, proved false to them
(as undoubtedly they would),--then how would they be able to deal with such
a powerful adversary as the Chaldeans would be? How would they bear up their
head against that invasion which should come like the swelling of Jordan?
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The
State of Judah and Israel.
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B.
C. 606.
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7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left
mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of
her enemies. 8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest;
it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. 9 Mine
heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are
against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to
devour. 10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have
trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate
wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate, and being
desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no
man layeth it to heart. 12 The spoilers are come upon all
high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one
end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall
have peace. 13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they
have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be
ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
The people of the Jews are here marked for ruin.
I. God is here brought in falling out with them and leaving them desolate;
and they could never have been undone if they had not provoked God to desert
them. It is a terrible word that God here says (v. 7): I have
forsaken my house--the temple, which had been his palace; they had
polluted it, and so forced him out of it: I have left my heritage,
and will look after it no more. His people that he has taken such delight
in, and care of, are now thrown out of his protection. They had been the
dearly beloved of his soul, precious in his sight and honourable above
any people, which is mentioned to aggravate their sin in returning him
hatred for his love and their misery in throwing themselves out of the
favour of one that had such a kindness for them, and to justify God in his
dealings with them. He sought not occasion against them, but, if they would
have conducted themselves with any tolerable propriety, he would have made
the best of them, for they were the beloved of his soul; but they had
conducted themselves so that they had provoked him to give them into the
hand of their enemies, to leave them unguarded, an easy prey to those
that bore them ill-will. But what was the quarrel God had with a people that
had been so long dear to him? Why, truly, they had degenerated. 1. They had
become like beasts of prey, which nobody loves, but every body avoids
and gets as far off from as he can (v. 8): My heritage is unto me
as a lion in the forest. Their sins cry to heaven for vengeance as loud
as a lion roars. Nay, they cry out against God in the threatenings
and slaughter which they breathe against his prophets that speak to them in
his name; and what is said and done against them God takes as said and done
against himself. They blaspheme his name, oppose his authority, and bid
defiance to his justice, and so cry out against him as a lion in the
forest. Those that were the sheep of God's pasture had become
barbarous and ravenous, and as ungovernable as lions in the forest; therefore
he hated them; for what delight could the God of love take in a people
that had now become as roaring lions and raging beasts, fit to be taken and
shot at, as a vexation and torment to all about them? 2. They had become
like birds of prey, and therefore also unworthy a place in God's
house, where neither beasts nor birds of prey were admitted to be offered in
sacrifice (v. 9): My heritage is unto me as a bird with talons
(so some read it, and so the margin); they are continually pulling and
pecking at one another; they have by their unnatural contentions made their
country a cock-pit. Or as a speckled bird, dyed, or sprinkled, or
bedewed with the blood of her prey. The shedding of innocent blood was
Jerusalem's measure-filling sin, and hastened their ruin, not only as it
provoked their neighbours likewise; for those that have their hand
against every man shall have every man's hand against them (Gen.
xvi. 12), and so it follows here: The birds round about are against her.
Some make her a speckled, pied, or motley bird, upon the
account of their mixing the superstitious customs and usages of the heathen
with divine institutions in the worship of God; they were fond of a
party-coloured religion, and thought it made them fine, when really it made
them odious. God's turtle-dove is no speckled bird.
II. The enemies are here brought in falling upon them and laying them
desolate. And some think it is upon this account that they are compared to a
speckled bird, because fowls usually make a noise about a bird of an odd
unusual colour. God's people are, among the children of this world, as men
wondered at, as a speckled bird; but this people had by their own
folly made themselves so; and the beasts and birds are called and
commissioned to prey upon them. Let all the birds round be against
her, for God has forsaken her, and with them let all the beasts of
the field come to devour. Those that have made a prey of others shall
themselves be preyed upon. It did not lessen the sin of the nations, but
very much increased the misery of Judah and Jerusalem, that the desolation
brought upon them was by order from heaven. The birds and beasts are perhaps
called to feast upon the bodies of the slain, as in St. John's vision, Rev.
xix. 17, 18. The utter desolation of the land by the Chaldean army is here
spoken of as a thing done, so sure, so near, was it. God speaks of it as a
thing which he had appointed to be done, and yet which he had no pleasure
in, any more than in the death of other sinners.
1. See with what a tender affection he speaks of this land, notwithstanding
the sinfulness of it, in remembrance of his covenant, and the tribute of
honour and glory he had formerly had from it: It is my vineyard, my
portion, my pleasant portion, v. 10. Note, God has a kindness and
concern for his church, though there be much amiss in it; and his correcting
it will every way consist with his complacency in it.
2. See with what a tender compassion he speaks of the desolations of this
land: Many pastors (the Chaldean generals that made themselves
masters of the country and ate it up with their armies as easily as the
Arabian shepherds with their flocks eat up the fruits of a piece of ground
that lies common) have destroyed my vineyard, without any
consideration had either of the value of it or of my interest in it; they
have with the greatest insolence and indignation trodden it under foot,
and that which was a pleasant land they have made a desolate wilderness.
The destruction was universal: The whole land is made desolate, v.
11. It is made so by the sword of war: The spoilers, the Chaldean
soldiers, have come through the plain upon all high places; they have
made themselves masters of all the natural fastnesses and artificial
fortresses, v. 12. The sword devours from one end of the land to
the other; all places lie exposed, and the numerous army of the invaders
disperse themselves into every corner of that fruitful country, so that no
flesh shall have peace, none shall be exempt from the calamity nor be
able to enjoy any tranquillity. When all flesh have corrupted their way, no
flesh shall have peace; those only have peace that walk after the Spirit.
3. See whence all this misery comes. (1.) It comes from the displeasure of
God. It is the sword of the Lord that devours, v. 12.
While God's people keep close to him the sword of their protectors and
deliverers is the sword of the Lord, witness that of Gideon; but when they
have forsaken him, so that he has become their enemy and fights against
them, then the sword of their invaders and destroyers becomes the sword
of the Lord; witness this of the Chaldeans. It is because of the
fierce anger of the Lord (v. 13); it was this that kindled this
fire among them and made their enemies so furious. And who may stand
before him when he is angry? (2.) It is their sin that has made God
their enemy, particularly their incorrigibleness under former rebukes (v.
11): The land mourns unto me; the country that lies desolate does, as
it were, pour out its complaint before God and humble itself under his hand;
but the inhabitants are so senseless and stupid that none of them lays it
to heart; they do not mourn to God, but are unaffected with his
displeasure, while the very ground they go upon shames them. Note, When
God's hand is lifted up, and men will not see, it shall be laid on, and they
shall be made to feel, Isa. xxvi. 11.
4. See how unable they should be to guard against it (v. 13): "They
have sown wheat, that is, they have taken a great deal of pains for
their own security and promised themselves great matters from their endeavours,
but it is all in vain; they shall reap thorns, that is, that which
shall prove very grievous and vexatious to them. Instead of helping
themselves, they shall but make themselves more uneasy. They have put
themselves to pain, both with their labour and with their expectations, but
it shall not profit; they shall not prevail to extricate themselves out
of the difficulties into which they have plunged themselves. They shall
be ashamed of your revenues, ashamed that they have depended so much
upon their preparations for war and particularly upon their ability to bear
the charges of it." Money constitutes the sinews of war; they thought
they had enough of that, but shall be ashamed of it; for their silver and
gold shall not profit them in the day of the Lord's anger.
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Predictions
of Mercy.
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B.
C. 606.
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14 Thus saith the LORD
against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have
caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their
land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 And
it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and
have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his
heritage, and every man to his land. 16 And it shall come to
pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my
name, The LORD
liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built
in the midst of my people. 17 But if they will not obey, I will
utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
The prophets sometimes, in God's name, delivered messages both of judgment
and mercy to the nations that bordered on the land of Israel: but here is a
message to all those in general who had in their turns been one way or other
injurious to God's people, had either oppressed them or triumphed in their
being oppressed. Observe,
I. What the quarrel was that God had with them. They were his evil
neighbours (v. 14), evil neighbours to his church, and what they
did against it he took as done against himself, and therefore called them his
evil neighbours, that should have been neighbourly to Israel, but were
quite otherwise. Note, It is often the lot of good people to live among bad
neighbours, that are unkind and provoking to them; and it is bad indeed when
they are all so. These evil neighbours were the Moabites, Ammonites Syrians,
Edomites, Egyptians, that had been evil neighbours to Israel in helping to
debauch them and draw them from God (therefore God calls them his evil
neighbours), and now they helped to make them desolate, and joined with the
Chaldeans against them. It is just with God to make those the instruments of
trouble to us whom we have made instruments of sin. That which God lays to
their charge is: They have meddled with the inheritance which I have
caused my people Israel to inherit; they unjustly seized that which was
none of their own: nay, they sacrilegiously turned that to their own use
which was given to God's peculiar people. He that said, Touch not my
anointed, said also, "Touch not their inheritance; it is at
your peril if you do." Not only the persons but the estates of God's
people are under his protection.
II. What course he would take with them. 1. He would break the power they
had got over his people, and force them to make restitution: I will pluck
out the house of Judah from among them. This would be a great favour to
God's people, who had either been taken captive by them, or, when they fled
to them for shelter, had been detained and made prisoners; but it would be a
great mortification to their enemies, who would be like a lion disappointed
of his prey. The house of Judah either cannot or will not make any bold
struggles towards their own liberty; but God will with a gracious violence
pluck them out, will by his Spirit compel them to come out and by his power
compel their task-masters to let them go, as he plucked Israel out of Egypt.
2. He would bring upon them the same calamities that they had been
instrumental to bring upon his people: I will pluck them out of their
land. Judgment began at the house of God, but it did not end there.
Nebuchadnezzar, when he had wasted the land of Israel, turned his hand
against their evil neighbours and was a scourge to them.
III. What mercy God had in store for such of them as would join themselves
to him and become his people, v. 15, 16. They had drawn in God's
backsliding people to join with them in the service of idols. If now they
would be drawn by a returning people to join with them in the service of the
true and living God, they should not only have their enmity to the people of
God forgiven them, but the distance which they had been kept at before
should be removed, and they should be received to stand upon the same level
with the Israel of God. This had its accomplishment in part when, after the
return out of captivity, many of the people of the lands that had been evil
neighbours to Israel became Jews; and it was to have its accomplishment in
the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ. Let not Israel,
though injured by them, be implacable towards them, for God is not: After
that I have plucked them out, in justice for their sins and in jealousy
for the honour of Israel, I will return, will change my way, and
have compassion on them. Though, being heathen, they can lay no claim to
the mercies of the covenant, yet they shall have benefit by the compassions
of the Creator, who will notwithstanding look upon them as the work of his
hands. Note, God's controversies with his creatures, though they cannot be
disputed, may be accommodated. Those who (as these) have been not only
strangers, but enemies in their minds by wicked works, may be reconciled,
Col. i. 21. Observe here,
1. What were the terms on which God would show favour to them. It is always
provided that they will diligently learn the ways of my people, that
is, in general, the ways that they walk in when they conduct themselves as my
people (not the crooked ways into which they have turned aside), the
ways which my people are directed to take. Note, (1.) There are good ways
that are peculiarly the ways of God's people, which however they may
differ in the choice of their paths, they are all agreed to walk in. The
ways of holiness and heavenly-mindedness, of love and peaceableness, the
ways of prayer and sabbath-sanctification, and diligent attendance on
instituted ordinances--these, and the like, are the ways of God's people.
(2.) Those that would have their lot with God's people, and their last end
like theirs, must learn their ways and walk in them, must observe the rule
they walk by and conform to that rule they walk by and conform to that rule
and go forth by those footsteps. By an intimate conversation with God's
people they must learn to do as they do. (3.) It is impossible to learn the
ways of God's people as they should be learnt, without a great deal of care
and pains. We must diligently observe these ways and diligently obliges
ourselves to walk in them, must look diligently (Heb. xii. 15), and work
diligently, Luke xiii. 24. In particular, they must learn to give honour to
God's name by making all their solemn appeals to him. They must learn to
say, The Lord liveth (to own him, to adore him, and to abide by his
judgment), as they taught my people to swear by Baal. It was bad
enough that they did themselves swear by Baal, worse that they taught God's
own people, who had been better taught; and yet, if they will at length
reform, they shall be accepted. Observe, [1.] We must not despair of the
conversion of the worst; no, not of those who have been instrumental to
pervert and debauch others; even they may be brought to repentance, and, if
they be, shall find mercy. [2.] Those whom we have been industrious to draw
to that which is evil, when God opens their eyes and ours, we should be as
industrious to follow in that which is good. It will be a holy revenge upon
ourselves to become pupils to those in the way of duty to whom we have been
tutors in the was of sin. [3.] The conversion of the deceived may prove a
happy occasion of the conversion even of the deceivers. Thus those who fall
together into the ditch are sometimes plucked together out of it.
2. What should be the tokens and fruits of this favour when they return to
God and God to them. (1.) They shall be restored to and re-established in
their own land (v. 15): I will bring them again every man to his
heritage. The same hand that plucked them up shall plant them again.
(2.) They shall become entitled to the spiritual privileges of God's Israel:
"If they will be towardly, and learn the ways of my people, will
conform to the rules and confine themselves to the restraints of my family, then
shall they be built in the midst of my people. They shall not only be
brought among them, to have a name and a place in the house of the Lord,
where there was a court for the Gentiles, but they shall be built among
them; they shall unite with them; the former enmities shall be slain; they
shall be both edified and settled among them." See Isa. lvi. 5-7. Note,
Those that diligently learn the ways of God's people shall enjoy the
privileges and comforts of his people.
IV. What should become of those that were still wedded to their own evil
ways, yea, though many of those about them turned to the Lord (v.
17): If there will not obey, if any of them continue to stand it out,
I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, that family, that
particular person, saith the Lord. Those that will not be ruled by
the grace of God shall be ruined by the justice of God. And, if disobedient
nations shall be destroyed, much more disobedient churches from whom better
things are expected.
