In
this chapter we have, I. A general declaration of God's ways in dealing with
nations and kingdoms, that he can easily do what he will with them, as
easily as the potter can with the clay (ver. 1-6), but that he certainly
will do what is just and fair with them. If he threaten their ruin, yet upon
their repentance he will return in mercy to them, and, when he is coming
towards them in mercy, nothing but their sin will stop the progress of his
favours, ver. 7-10. II. A particular demonstration of the folly of the men
of Judah and Jerusalem in departing from their God to idols, and so bringing
ruin upon themselves notwithstanding the fair warnings given them and God's
kind intentions towards them, ver. 11-17. III. The prophet's complaint to
God of the base ingratitude and unreasonable malice of his enemies,
persecutors, and slanderers, and his prayers against them, ver. 18-23.
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1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to
hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that
he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD
came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as
this potter? saith the LORD.
Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine
hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull
down, and to destroy it; 8 If that nation, against whom I
have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I
thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall
speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent
of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
The prophet is here sent to the potter's house (he knew where to find
it), not to preach a sermon as before to the gates of Jerusalem, but to
prepare a sermon, or rather to receive it ready prepared. Those needed not
to study their sermons that had them, as he had this, by immediate
inspiration. "Go to the potter's house, and observe how he
manages his work, and there I will cause thee, by silent whispers, to
hear my words. There thou shalt receive a message, to be delivered to
the people." Note, Those that would know God's mind must observe his
appointments, and attend where they may hear his words. The prophet was
never disobedient to the heavenly vision, and therefore went to the
potter's house (v. 3) and took notice how he wrought his work upon
the wheels, just as he pleased, with a great deal of ease, and in a
little time. And (v. 4) when a lump of clay that he designed to form
into one shape either proved too stiff, or had a stone in it, or some way or
other came to be marred in his hand, he presently turned it into
another shape; if it will not serve for a vessel of honour, it will serve
for a vessel of dishonour, just as seems good to the potter. It is
probable that Jeremiah knew well enough how the potter wrought his work, and
how easily he threw it into what form he pleased; but he must go and observe
it now, that, having the idea of it fresh in his mind, he might the
more readily and distinctly apprehend that truth which God designed thereby
to represent to him, and might the more intelligently explain it to the
people. God used similitudes by his servants the prophets (Hos. xii.
10), and it was requisite that they should themselves understand the
similitudes they used. Ministers will make a good use of their converse with
the business and affairs of this life if they learn thereby to speak more
plainly and familiarly to people about the things of God, and to expound
scripture comparisons. For they ought to make all their knowledge some way
or other serviceable to their profession.
Now let us see what the message is which Jeremiah receives, and is entrusted
with the delivery of, at the potter's house. While he looks carefully upon
the potter's work, God darts into his mind these two great truths, which he
must preach to the house of Israel:--
I. That God has both an incontestable authority and an irresistible ability
to form and fashion kingdoms and nations as he pleases, so as to serve his
own purposes: "Cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord?
v. 6. Have not I as absolute a power over you in respect both of
might and of right?" Nay, God has a clearer title to a dominion over us
than the potter has over the clay; for the potter only gives it its form,
whereas we have both matter and form from God. As the clay is in the
potter's hand to be moulded and shaped as he pleases, so are you in
my hand. This intimates, 1. That God has an incontestable sovereignty
over us, is not debtor to us, may dispose of us as he thinks fit, and is not
accountable to us, and that it would be as absurd for us to dispute this as
for the clay to quarrel with the potter. 2. That it is a very easy thing
with God to make what use he pleases of us and what changes he pleases with
us, and that we cannot resist him. One turn of the hand, one turn of the
wheel, quite alters the shape of the clay, makes it a vessel, unmakes it,
new-makes it. Thus are our times in God's hand, and not in our own, and it
is in vain for us to strive with him. It is spoken here of nations; the most
politic, the most potent, are what God is pleased to make them, and no
other. See this explained by Job (ch. xii. 23), He increaseth the
nations and destroyeth them; he enlargeth the nations and straiteneth them
again. See Ps. cvii. 33, &c., and compare Job xxxiv. 29. All
nations before God are as the drop of the bucket, soon wiped away, or
the small dust of the balance, soon blown away (Isa. xl. 15), and
therefore, no doubt, as easily managed as the clay by the potter. 3. That
God will not be a loser by any in his glory, at long run, but, if he be not
glorified by them, he will be glorified upon them. If the potter's vessel be
marred for one use, it shall serve for another; those that will not be
monuments of mercy shall be monuments of justice. The Lord has made all
things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil, Prov. xvi.
4. God formed us out of the clay (Job xxxiii. 6), nay, and we are still as
clay in his hands (Isa. lxiv. 8); and has not he the same power over us that
the potter has over the clay? (Rom. ix. 21), and are not we bound to submit,
as the clay to the potter's wisdom and will? Isa. xxix. 15, 16; xlv. 9.
II. That, in the exercise of this authority and ability, he always goes by
fixed rules of equity and goodness. He dispenses favours indeed in a way of
sovereignty, but never punishes by arbitrary power. High is his right
hand, yet he rules not with a high hand, but, as it follows
there, Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne, Ps.
lxxxix. 13, 14. God asserts his despotic power, and tells us what he might
do, but at the same time assures us that he will act as a righteous and
merciful Judge. 1. When God is coming against us in ways of judgment we may
be sure that it is for our sins, which shall appear by this, that national
repentance will stop the progress of the judgments (v. 7, 8): If
God speak concerning a nation to pluck up its fences that secure it, and
so lay it open, its fruit-trees that adorn and enrich it, and so leave it
desolate--to pull down its fortifications, that the enemy may have liberty
to enter in, its habitations, that the inhabitants may be under a necessity
of going out, and so destroy it as either a vineyard or a city is
destroyed--in this case, if that nation take the alarm, repent of
their sins and reform their lives, turn every one from his evil way and
return to God, God will graciously accept them, will not proceed in his
controversy, will return in mercy to them, and, though he cannot change his
mind, he will change his way, so that it may be said, He repents him of
the evil he said he would do to them. Thus often in the time of the
Judges, when the oppressed people were penitent people, still God raised
them up saviours; and, when they turned to God, their affairs immediately
took a new turn. It was Nineveh's case, and we wish it had oftener been
Jerusalem's; see 2 Chron. vii. 14. It is an undoubted truth that a sincere
conversion from the evil of sin will be an effectual prevention of the evil
of punishment; and God can as easily raise up a penitent people from their
ruins as the potter can make anew the vessel of clay when it was marred
in his hand. 2. When God is coming towards us in ways of mercy, if any
stop be given to the progress of that mercy, it is nothing but sin that
gives it (v. 9, 10): If God speak concerning a nation to build and
to plant it, to advance and establish all the true interests of it, it
is his husbandly and his building (1 Cor. iii. 9), and, if he
speak in favour of it, it is done, it is increased, it is enriched, it is
enlarged, its trade flourishes, its government is settled in good hands, and
all its affairs prosper and its enterprises succeed. But if this nation,
which God is thus loading with benefits, do evil in his sight and obey
not his voice,--if it lose its virtue, and become debauched and
profane,--if religion grow into contempt, and vice to get to be fashionable,
and so be kept in countenance and reputation, and there be a general decay
of serious godliness among them,--then God will turn his hand against them,
will pluck up what he was planting, and pull down what he was building (ch.
xlv. 4); the good work that was in the doing shall stand still and be let
fall, and what favours were further designed shall be withheld; and this is
called his repenting of the good wherewith he said he would benefit them,
as he changed his purpose concerning Eli's house (1 Sam. ii. 30) and hurried
Israel back into the wilderness when he had brought them within sight of
Canaan. Note, Sin is the great mischief-maker between God and a people; it
forfeits the benefit of his promises and spoils the success of their
prayers. It defeats his kind intentions concerning them (Hos. vii. 1) and
baffles their pleasing expectations from him. It ruins their comforts,
prolongs their grievances, brings them into straits, and retards their
deliverances, Isa. lix. 1, 2.
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11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of
Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye
now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings
good. 12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after
our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil
heart. 13 Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of
Israel hath done a very horrible thing. 14 Will a man
leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or
shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be
forsaken? 15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have
burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways
from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast
up; 16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual
hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his
head. 17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the
enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their
calamity.
These verses seem to be the application of the general truths laid down in
the foregoing part of the chapter to the nation of the Jews and their
present state.
I. God was now speaking concerning them to pluck up, and to pull
down, and to destroy; for it is that part of the rule of judgment
that their case agrees with (v. 11): "Go, and tell
them" (saith God), "Behold I frame evil against you and devise
against you. Providence in all its operations is plainly working towards
your ruin. Look upon your conduct towards God, and you cannot but see that
you deserve it; look upon his dealings with you, and you cannot but see that
he designs it." He frames evil, as the potter frames the vessel, so as
to answer the end.
II. He invites them by repentance and reformation to meet him in the way of
his judgments and so to prevent his further proceedings against them: "Return
you now every one from his evil ways, that so (according to the rule
before laid down) God may turn from the evil he had purported to do unto
you, and that providence which seemed to be framed like a vessel on the
wheel against you shall immediately be thrown into a new shape, and the
issue shall be in favour of you." Note, The warnings of God's word, and
the threatenings of his providence, should be improved by us as strong
inducements to us to reform our lives, in which it is not enough to turn
from our evil ways, but we must make our ways and our doings good,
conformable to the rule, to the law.
III. He foresees their obstinacy, and their perverse refusal to comply with
this invitation, though it tended so much to their own benefit (v.
12): They said, "There is no hope. If we must not be delivered
unless we return from our evil ways, we may even despair of ever being
delivered, for we are resolved that we will walk after our own devices.
It is to no purpose for the prophets to say any more to us, to use any more
arguments, or to press the matter any further; we will have our way,
whatever it cost us; we will do every one the imagination of his own evil
heart, and will not be under the restraint of the divine law."
Note, That which ruins sinners is affecting to live as they list. They call
it liberty to live at large; whereas for a man to be a slave to his lusts is
the worst of slaveries. See how strangely some men's hearts are hardened by
the deceitfulness of sin that they will not so much as promise amendment;
nay, they set the judgments of God at defiance: "We will go on with our
own devices, and let God go on with his; and we will venture the
issue."
IV. He upbraids them with the monstrous folly of their obstinacy, and their
hating to be reformed. Surely never were people guilty of such an absurdity,
never any that pretended to reason acted so unreasonably (v. 13): Ask
you among the heathen, even those that had not the benefit of divine
revelation, no oracles, no prophets, as Judah and Jerusalem had, yet, even
among them, who hath heart such a thing? The Ninevites, when thus
warned, turned from their evil ways. Some of the worst of men, when they are
told of their faults, especially when they begin to smart for them, will at
least promise reformation and say that they will endeavour to mend. But the
virgin of Israel bids defiance to repentance, is resolved to go on
frowardly, whatever conscience and Providence say to the contrary, and thus has
done a horrible thing. She should have preserved herself pure and chaste
for God, who had espoused her to himself; but she has alienated herself from
him, and refuses to return to him. Note, It is a horrible thing,
enough to make one tremble to think of it, that those who have made their
condition sad by sinning should make it desperate by refusing to reform.
Wilful impenitence is the grossest self-murder; and that is a horrible
thing, which we should abhor the thought of.
V. He shows their folly in two things:--
1. In the nature of the sin itself that they were guilty of. They forsook
God for idols, which was the most horrible thing that could be, for they put
a most dangerous cheat upon themselves (v. 14, 15): Will a
thirsty traveller leave the snow, which, being melted, runs down from
the mountains of Lebanon, and, passing over the rock of the field,
flows in clear, clean, crystal streams? Will he leave these, pass these by,
and think to better himself with some dirty puddle-water? Or shall the
cold flowing waters that come from any other place be forsaken in the
heat of summer? No; when men are parched with heat and drought, and meet
with cooling refreshing streams, they will make use of them, and not turn
their backs upon them. The margin reads it, "Will a man that is
travelling the road leave my fields, which are plain and level, for
a rock, which is rough and hard, or for the snow of Lebanon,
which, lying in great drifts, makes the road impassable? Or shall the
running waters be forsaken for the strange cold waters? No; in these
things men know when they are well off, and will keep so; they will not
leave a certainty for an uncertainty. But my people have forgotten me
(v. 15), have quitted a fountain of living waters for broken
cisterns. They have burnt incense to idols, that are as vain as vanity
itself, that are not what they pretend to be nor can perform what is
expected from them." They had not the common wit of travellers, but
even their leaders caused them to err, and they were content to be misled.
(1.) They left the ancient paths, which were appointed by the divine
law, which had been walked in by all the saints, which were therefore the
right way to their journey's end, a safe way, and, being well-tracked, were
both easy to hit and easy to walk in. But, when they were advised to keep to
the good old way, they positively said that they would not, ch. vi.
16. (2.) They chose by-paths; they walked in a way not cast up, not
in the highway, the King's highway, in which they might travel safely, and
which would certainly lead them to their right end, but in a dirty way, a
rough way, a way in which they could not but stumble; such was the
way of idolatry (such is the way of all iniquity--it is a false way, it is a
way full of stumbling-blocks) and yet this way they chose to walk in and
lead others in.
2. In the mischievous consequences of it. Though the thing itself were bad,
they might have had some excuse for it if they could have promised
themselves any good out of it. But the direct tendency of it was to make
their land desolate, and, consequently, themselves miserable (for so the
inhabitants must needs be if their country be laid waste), and both
themselves and their land a perpetual hissing. Those deserve to be
hissed that have fair warning given them and will not take it. Every one
that passes by their land shall make his remarks upon it, and shall
be astonished, and way his head, some wondering, others commiserating,
others triumphing in the desolations of a country that had been the glory
of all lands. They shall wag their heads in derision, upbraiding them
with their folly in forsaking God and their duty, and so pulling this misery
upon their own heads. Note, Those that revolt from God will justly be made
the scorn of all about them, and, having reproached the Lord, will
themselves be a reproach. Their land being made desolate, in
pursuance of their destruction, it is threatened (v. 17), I will
scatter them as with an east wind, which is fierce and violent; by it
they shall be hurried to and fro before the enemy, and find no way
open to escape. They shall not only flee before the enemy (that they might
do and yet make an orderly retreat), but they shall be scattered, some one
way and some another. That which completes their misery is, I will show
them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Our
calamities may be easily borne if God look towards us, and smile upon us,
when we are under them, if he countenance us and show us favour; but if he
turn the back upon us, if he show himself displeased, if he be deaf
to our prayers and refuse us his help, if he forsake us, leave us to
ourselves, and stand at a distance from us, we are quite undone. If he
hide his face, who then can behold him? Job xxxiv. 29. Herein God would
deal with them as they had dealt with him (ch. ii. 27), They have
turned their back unto me, and not their face. It is a righteous thing
with God to show himself strange to those in the day of their trouble who
have shown themselves rude and undutiful to him in their prosperity. This
will have its full accomplishment in that day when God will say to those
who, though they have been professors of piety, were yet workers of
iniquity, Depart from me, I know you not, nay, I never knew you.
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18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise
devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor
counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite
him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
19 Give heed to me, O LORD,
and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20 Shall
evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul.
Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn
away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children
to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword;
and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and
let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by
the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit
to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, LORD,
thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not
their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be
overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine
anger.
The prophet here, as sometimes before, brings in his own affairs, but very
much for instruction to us.
I. See here what are the common methods of the persecutors. We may see this
in Jeremiah's enemies, v. 18.
1. They laid their heads together to consult what they should do against
him, both to be revenged on him for what he had said and to stop his mouth
for the future: They said, Come and let us devise devices against
Jeremiah. The enemies of God's people and ministers have been often very
crafty themselves, and confederate with one another, to do them mischief.
What they cannot act to the prejudice of religion separately they will try
to do in concert. The wicked plots against the just. Caiaphas, and
the chief priests and elders, did so against our blessed Saviour himself.
The opposition which the gates of hell give to the kingdom of heaven is
carried on with a great deal of cursed policy. God had said (v. 11), I
devise a device against you; and now, as if they resolved to be quits
with him and to outwit Infinite Wisdom itself, they resolve to devise
devices against God's prophet, not only against his person, but against
the word he delivered to them, which they thought by their subtle management
to defeat. O the prodigious madness of those that hope to disannul God's
counsel!
2. Herein they pretended a mighty zeal for the church, which, they
suggested, was in danger if Jeremiah was tolerated to preach as he did:
"Come," say they, "let us silence and crush him, for
the law shall not perish from the priest; the law of truth is in their
mouths (Mal. ii. 6) and there we will seek it; the administration of
ordinances according to the law is in their hands, and neither the one nor
the other shall be wrested from them. Counsel shall not perish from the
wise; the administration of public affairs shall always be lodged with
the privy-counsellors and ministers of state, to whom it belongs; nor
shall the word perish from the prophets" --they mean
those of their own choosing, who prophesied to them smooth things, and
flattered them with visions of peace. Two things they insinuated:-- (1.)
That Jeremiah could not be himself a true prophet, but was a pretender and a
usurper, because he neither was commissioned by the priests, nor concurred
with the other prophets, whose authority therefore will be despised if he be
suffered to go on. "If Jeremiah be regarded as an oracle, farewell the
reputation of our priests, our wise men, and prophets; but that must
be supported, which is reason enough why he must be suppressed." (2.)
That the matter of his prophecies could not be from God, because it
reflected sometimes upon the prophets and priests; he had charged them with
being the ringleaders of all the mischief (ch. v. 31) and deceiving
the people (ch. xiv. 14); he had foretold that their heart should
perish, and be astonished (ch. iv. 9), that the wise
men should be dismayed (ch. viii. 9, 10), that the priests and
prophets should be intoxicated, ch. xiii. 13. Now this galled them
more than any thing else. Presuming upon the promise of God's presence with
their priests and prophets, they could not believe that he would ever leave
them. The guides of the church must needs be infallible, and therefore he
who foretold their being infatuated must be condemned as a false prophet.
Thus, under colour of zeal for the church, have its best friends been run
down.
3. They agreed to do all they could to blast his reputation: "Come,
let us smite him with the tongue, put him into an ill name, fasten a bad
character upon him, represent him to some as despicable and fit to be
prosecuted, to all as odious and not fit to be tolerated." This was
their device, fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhærebit--to throw the
vilest calumnies at him, in hopes that some would adhere to him. to
dress him up in bearskins, otherwise they could not bait him. Those who
projected this, it is likely, were men of figure, whose tongue was no small
slander, whose representations, though ever so false, would be credited both
by princes and people, to make him obnoxious to the justice of the one and
the fury of the other. The scourge of such tongues will give not only smart
lashes, but deep wounds; it is a great mercy therefore to be hidden from
it, Job v. 21.
4. To set others an example, they resolved that they would not themselves
regard any thing he said, though it appeared ever so weighty and ever so
well confirmed as a message from God: Let us not give heed to any of his
words; for, right or wrong, they will look upon them to be his words,
and not the words of God. What good can be done with those who hear the word
of God with a resolution not to heed it or believe it? Nay,
5. That they may effectually silence him, they resolve to be the death of
him (v. 23): All their counsel against me is to slay me.
They hunt for the precious life; and a precious life indeed it was
that they hunted for. Long was this Jerusalem's wretched character, Thou
that killedst many of the prophets, and wouldst have killed them
all.
II. See here what is the common relief of the persecuted. This we may see in
the course that Jeremiah took when he met with this hard usage. He
immediately applied to his God by prayer, and so gave himself ease.
1. He referred himself and his cause to God's cognizance, v. 19. They
would not regard a word he said, would not admit his complaints, nor take
any notice of his grievances; but, Lord (says he), do thou give
heed to me. It is matter of comfort to faithful ministers that, if men
will not give heed to their praying. He appeals to God as an impartial
Judge, that will hear both sides, as every judge ought to do. "Do not
only give heed to me, but hearken to the voice of those that
contend with me; hear what they have to say against me and for
themselves, and then make it to appear that thou sittest in the throne,
judging right. Hear the voice of my contenders, how noisy and clamorous
they are, how false and malicious all they say is, and let them be judged
out of their own mouth; cause their own tongues to fall upon them."
2. He complains of their base ingratitude to him (v. 20): "Shall
evil be recompensed for good, and shall it go unpunished? Wilt not thou
recompense me good for that evil?" 2 Sam. xvi. 12. To render good for
good is human, evil for evil is brutish, good for evil is Christian, but
evil for good is devilish; it is so very absurd and wicked a thing that we
cannot think but God will avenge it. See how great the evil was that they
did against him: They have dug a pit for my soul; they aimed to take
away his life (no less would satisfy them), and that not in a generous way,
by an open assault, against which he might have an opportunity of defending
himself, but in a base, cowardly, clandestine way: they dug pits for
him, which there was no fence against, Ps. cxix. 85. But see how great the
good was which he had done for them: Remember that I stood before thee to
speak good for them; he had been an intercessor with God for them, had
used his interest in heaven on their behalf, which was the greatest kindness
they could expect from one of his character. He is a prophet and he shall
pray for thee, Gen. xx. 7. Moses often did this for Israel, and yet they
quarrelled with him, and sometimes spoke of stoning him. He did them
this kindness when they were in imminent danger of destruction and most
needed it. They had themselves provoked God's wrath against them, and it was
ready to break in upon them, but he stood in the gap (as Moses, Ps. cvi. 23)
and turned away that wrath. Now, (1.) This was very base in
them. Call a man ungrateful and you can call him no worse. But it was not
strange that those who had forgotten their God did not know their best
friends. (2.) It was very grievous to him, as the like was to David. Ps.
xxxv. 13; cix. 4, For my love they are my adversaries. Thus
disingenuously do sinners deal with the great intercessor, crucifying him
afresh, and speaking against him on earth, while his blood is speaking for
them in heaven. See John x. 32. But, (3.) It was a comfort to the prophet
that, when they were so spiteful against him, he had the testimony of his
conscience for him that he had done his duty to them; and the same will be
our rejoicing in such a day of evil. The blood-thirsty hate the upright,
but the just seek his soul, Prov. xxix. 10.
3. He imprecates the judgments of God upon them, not from a revengeful
disposition, but in a prophetical indignation against their horrid
wickedness, v. 21-23. He prays, (1.) That their families might be
starved for want of bread: "Deliver up the children to the famine,
to the famine in the country for want of rain, and that in the city through
the straitness of the siege. Thus let this iniquity of the fathers be
visited upon the children." (2.) That they might be cut off by the
sword of war, which, whatever it was in the enemy's hand, would be, in
God's hand, a sword of justice: "Pour them out (so the word is) by
the hands of the sword; let their blood be shed as profusely as
water, that their wives may be left childless and widows,
their husbands being taken away by death" (some think that the
prophet refers to pestilence); let their young men, that are
the strength of this generation and the hope of the next, be slain by the
sword in battle. (3.) That the terrors and desolations of war might
seize them suddenly and by surprise, that thus their punishment might answer
to their sin (v. 22): "Let a cry be heard from their houses,
loud shrieks, when thou shalt bring a troop of the Chaldeans suddenly
upon them, to seize them and all they have, to make them prisoners and
their estates a prey;" for thus they would have done by Jeremiah; they
aimed to ruin him at once ere he was aware: "They have dug a pit
for me, as for a wild beast, and have hid snares for
me, as for some ravenous noxious fowl." Note, Those that think to
ensnare others will justly be themselves ensnared in an evil time. (4.) That
they might be dealt with according to the desert of this sin, which was
without excuse: "Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their
sin from thy sight; that is, let them not escape the just punishment of
it; let them lie under all the miseries of those whose sins are
unpardoned." (5.) That God's wrath against them might be their ruin: Let
them be overthrown before thee. This intimates that justice was in
pursuit of them, that they endeavoured to make their escape from it, but in
vain; "they shall be made to stumble in their flight, and being
overthrown they will certainly be overtaken." And then, Lord, in the
time of thy anger, do to them (he does not say what he would have done
to them, but) do to them as thou thinkest fit, as thou usest to do with
those whom thou art angry with--deal thus with them. Now this is not
written for our imitation. Jeremiah was a prophet, and by the impulse of the
spirit of prophecy, in the foresight of the ruin certainly coming upon his
persecutors, might pray such prayers as we may not; and, if we think by this
example to justify ourselves in such imprecations, we know not what
manner of spirit we are of; our Master has taught us, by his precept and
pattern, to bless those that curse us and pray for those that
despitefully use us. Yet it is written for our instruction, and is of
use to teach us, [1.] That those who have forfeited the benefit of the
prayers of God's prophets for them may justly expect to have their prayers
against them. [2.] That persecution is a sin that fills the measure of a
people's iniquity very fast, and will bring as sure and sore a destruction
upon them as any thing. [3.] Those who will not be won upon by the kindness
of God and his prophets will certainly at length feel the just resentments
of both.
