J
E R E M I A H
CHAP. IV.
It
should seem that the first two verses of this chapter might better have been
joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, for they are directed to Israel,
the ten tribes, by way of reply to their compliance with God's call, directing
and encouraging them to hold their resolution, ver. 1, 2. The rest of the
chapter concerns Judah
and
Jerusalem. I. They are called to repent and reform, ver.
3, 4. II. They are warned of the advance of Nebuchadnezzar and his forces
against them, and are told that it is for their sins, from which they are
again exhorted to wash themselves, ver. 5-18. III. To affect them the more
with the greatness of the desolation that was coming, the prophet does himself
bitterly lament it, and sympathize with his people in the calamities it
brought upon them, and the plunge
it brought them to, representing it as a
reduction of the world to its first chaos, ver. 19-31.
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Exhortation
to Repentance.
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B.
C. 620.
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1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if
thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not
remove. 2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in
judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.
When God called to backsliding Israel to return (ch. iii. 22) they
immediately answered, Lord, we return; now God here takes notice of
their answer, and, by way of reply to it,
I. He directs them how to pursue their good resolutions: "Dost thou say, I
will return?" 1. "Then thou must return unto me; make a
thorough work of it. Do not only turn from thy idolatries, but return to the
instituted worship of the God of Israel." Or, "Thou must return
speedily and not delay (as Isa. xxi. 12, If you will enquire, enquire you);
if you will return unto me, return you: do not talk of it, but do it." 2.
"Thou must utterly abandon all sin, and not retain any of the relics of
idolatry: Put away thy abominations out of my sight," that is, out
of all places (for every place is under the eye of God), especially out of the
temple, the house which he had in a particular manner his eye upon, to see
that it was kept clean. It intimates that their idolatries were not only
obvious, but offensive, to the eye of God. They were abominations which he
could not endure the sight of; therefore they must be put away out of his
sight, because they were a provocation to the pure eyes of God's glory.
Sin must be put away out of the heart, else it is not put away out of God's
sight, for the heart and all that is in it lie open before his eye. 3. They
must not return to sin again; so some understand that, Thou shalt not
remove, reading it, Thou shalt not, or must not, wander.
"If thou wilt put away thy abominations, and wilt not wander after
them again, as thou hast done, all shall be well." 4. They must give unto
God the glory due unto his name (v. 2): "Thou shalt sear, The
Lord liveth. His existence shall be with thee the most sacred fact, than
which nothing can be more sure, and his judgment the supreme court to which
thou shalt appeal, than which nothing can be more awful." Swearing is an
act of religious worship, in which we are to give honour to God three ways:--
(1.) We must swear by the true God only, and not by creatures, or any false
gods,--by the God that liveth, not by the gods that are deaf and dumb and
dead,--by him only, and not by the Lord and by Malcham, as Zech. i. 5.
(2.) We must swear that only which is true, in truth and in righteousness,
not daring to assert that which is false, or which we do not know to be true,
nor to assert that as certain which is doubtful, nor to promise that which we
mean not to perform, nor to violate the promise we have made. To say that
which is untrue, or to do that which is unrighteous, is bad, but to back
either with an oath is much worse. (3.) We must do it solemnly, swear in
judgment, that is, when judicially called to it, and not in common
conversation. Rash swearing is as great a profanation of God's name as solemn
swearing is an honour to it. See Deut. x. 20; Matt. v. 34, 37.
II. He encourages them to keep in this good mind and adhere to their
resolutions. If the scattered Israelites will thus return to God, 1. They
shall be blessed themselves; for to that sense the first words may be read:
"If thou wilt return to me, then thou shalt return, that
is, thou shalt be brought back out of thy captivity into thy own land again,
as was of old promised," Deut. iv. 29; xxx. 2. Or, "Then thou
shalt rest in me, shalt return to me as they rest, even while thou art in
the land of thy captivity." 2. They shall be blessings to others; for
their returning to God again will be a means of others turning to him who
never new him. If thou wilt own the living Lord, thou wilt thereby influence
the nations among whom thou art to bless themselves in him, to place their
happiness in his favour and to think themselves happy in being brought to the
fear of him. See Isa. lxv. 16. They shall bless themselves in the God of
truth, and not in false gods, shall do themselves the honour, and give
themselves the satisfaction, to join themselves to him; and then in him
shall they glory; they shall make him their glory, and shall please, nay,
shall pride, themselves in the blessed change they have made. Those that part
with their sins to return to God, however they scrupled at the bargain at
first, when they go away, then they boast.
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3 For thus saith the LORD
to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not
among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and
inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that
none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
The prophet here turns his speech, in God's name, to the men of the place
where he lived. We have heard what words he proclaimed towards the north
(ch. iii. 12), for the comfort of those that were now in captivity and
were humbled under the hand of God; let us now see what he says to the men
of Judah and Jerusalem, who were now in prosperity, for their conviction
and awakening. In these two verses he exhorts them to repentance and
reformation, as the only way left them to prevent the desolating judgments
that were ready to break in upon them. Observe,
I. The duties required of them, which they are concerned to do.
1. They must do by their hearts as they do by their ground that they expect
any good of; they must plough it up (v. 3): "Break up your
fallow-ground. Plough to yourselves a ploughing (or plough up your
plough land), that you sow not among thorns, that you may not
labour in vain, for your own safety and welfare, as those do that sow good
seed among thorns and as you have been doing a great while. Put yourselves
into a frame fit to receive mercy from God, and put away all that which keeps
it from you, and then you may expect to receive mercy and to prosper in your
endeavours to help yourselves." Note, (1.) An unconvinced unhumbled heart
is like fallow-ground, ground untilled, unoccupied. It is ground capable of
improvement; it is our ground, let out to us, and we must be accountable for
it; but it is fallow; it is unfenced and lies common; it is unfruitful and of
no advantage to the owner, and (which is principally intended) it is overgrown
with thorns and weeds, which are the natural product of the corrupt heart;
and, if it be not renewed with grace, rain and sunshine are lost upon it, Heb.
vi. 7, 8. (2.) We are concerned to get this fallow-ground ploughed up. We must
search into our own hearts, let the word of God divide (as the plough does) between
the joints and the marrow, Heb. iv. 12. We must rend our hearts,
Joel ii. 13. We must pluck up by the roots those corruptions which, as thorns,
choke both our endeavours and our expectations, Hos. x. 12.
2. They must do that to their souls which was done to their bodies when they
were taken into covenant with God (v. 4): "Circumcise
yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskin of your heart. Mortify
the flesh and the lusts of it. Pare off that superfluity of naughtiness
which hinders your receiving with meekness the engrafted word, Jam. i.
21. Boast not of, and rest not in, the circumcision of the body, for that is
but a sign, and will not serve without the thing signified. It is a dedicating
sign. Do that in sincerity which was done in profession by your circumcision;
devote and consecrate yourselves unto the Lord, to be to him a peculiar
people. Circumcision is an obligation to keep the law; lay yourselves
afresh under that obligation. It is a seal of the righteousness of faith;
lay hold then of that righteousness, and so circumcise yourselves to the
Lord."
II. The danger they are threatened with, which they are concerned to avoid.
Repent and reform, lest my fury come forth like fire, which it is now
ready to do, as that fire which came forth from the Lord and consumed the
sacrifices, and which was always kept burning upon the altar and none might
quench it; such is God's wrath against impenitent sinners, because of the
evil of their doings. Note, 1. That which is to be dreaded by us more than
any thing else is the wrath of God; for that is the spring and bitterness of
all present miseries and will be the quintessence and perfection of
everlasting misery. 2. It is the evil of our doings that kindles the
fire of God's wrath against us. 3. The consideration of the imminent danger we
are in of falling and perishing under this wrath should awaken us with all
possible care to sanctify ourselves to God's glory and to see to it
that we be sanctified by his grace.
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5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in
Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and
say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil
from the north, and a great destruction. 7 The lion is come up
from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone
forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be
laid waste, without an inhabitant. 8 For this gird you with
sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD
is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that
day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the
princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall
wonder. 10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD!
surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall
have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. 11 At that
time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high
places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to
cleanse, 12 Even a full wind from those places shall
come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. 13
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a
whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are
spoiled. 14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that
thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within
thee? 15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction
from mount Ephraim. 16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold,
publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and
give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 17 As keepers of
a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious
against me, saith the LORD.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is
thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
God's usual method is to warn before he wounds. In these verses, accordingly,
God gives notice to the Jews of the general desolation that would shortly be
brought upon them by a foreign invasion. This must be declared and published
in all the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, that all might hear and
fear, and by this loud alarm be either brought to repentance or left
inexcusable. The prediction of this calamity is here given very largely, and
in lively expressions, which one would think should have awakened and affected
the most stupid. Observe,
I. The war proclaimed, and general notice given of the advance of the enemy.
It is published now, some years before, by the prophet; but, since this will
be slighted, it shall be published after another manner when the judgment is
actually breaking in, v. 5, 6. The trumpet must be blown,
the standard must be set up, a summons must be issued out to the
people to gather together and to draw towards Zion, either to
guard it or expecting to be guarded by it. There must be a general rendezvous.
The militia must be raised and all the forces mustered. Those that are able
men, and fit for service, must go into the defenced cities, to garrison
them; those that are weak, and would lessen their provisions, but not increase
their strength, must retire, and not stay.
II. An express arrived with intelligence of the approach of the king of
Babylon and his army. It is an evil that God will bring from the north
(as he had said, ch. i. 15), even a great destruction, beyond
all that had yet come upon the nation of the Jews. The enemy is here compared,
1. To a lion that comes up from his thicket, when he is hungry,
to seek his prey, v. 7. The helpless beasts are so terrified with his
roaring (as some report) that they cannot flee from him, and so become an easy
prey to him. Nebuchadnezzar is this roaring tearing lion, the destroyer of
the nations, that has laid many countries waste, and now is on his way
in full speed towards the land of Judah. The destroyer of the Gentiles
shall be the destroyer of the Jews too, when they have by their
idolatry made themselves like the Gentiles. "He has gone forth from
his place, from Babylon, or the place of the rendezvous of his army, on
purpose against this land; that is the prey he has now his eye upon,
not to plunder it only, but to make it desolate, and herein he shall succeed
to such a degree that the cities shall be laid waste, without inhabitants,
shall be overgrown with grass as a field;" so some read it. 2. To
a drying blasting wind (v. 11), a parching scorching
wind, which spoils the fruits of the earth and withers them, not a wind which
brings rain, but such as comes out of the north, which drives away
rain (Prov. xxv. 23), but brings something worse instead of it; such shall
this evil out of the north be to this people, a black freezing wind,
which they can neither fence against nor flee from, but, wherever they go, it
shall surround and pursue them; and they cannot see it before it comes, but,
when it comes, they shall feel it. It is a wind of the high places in the
wilderness, or plain, that beats upon the tops of the hills or that
carries all before it in the plain, where there is no shelter, but the ground
is all champaign. It shall come in its full force towards the daughters of
my people, that have been brought up so tenderly and delicately that they
could not endure to have the wind blow upon them. Now this fierce wind shall
come against them, not to fan, nor cleanse them, not such a gentle wind
as is used in winnowing corn, but a full wind (v. 12), a strong
and violent wind, blowing full upon them. This shall come to me, or
rather for me; it shall come with commission from God and shall
accomplish that for which he sends it; for this, as other stormy winds,
fulfills his word. 3. To clouds and whirlwinds for swiftness, v.
13. The Chaldean army shall come up as clouds driven with the wind, so
thick shall they stand, so fast shall they march, and it shall be to no
purpose to offer to stop them or make head against them, any more than to
arrest a cloud or give check to a whirlwind. The horses are swifter than
eagles when they fly upon their prey; it is in vain to think either of
opposing them or of outrunning them. 4. To watchers and the keepers of a
field, v. 15-17. The voice declares from Dan, a city which lay
furthest north of all the cities of Canaan, and therefore received the first
tidings of this evil from the north and hastened it to Mount Ephraim,
that part of the land of Israel which lay next to Judea; they received the
news of the affliction and transmitted it to Jerusalem. Ill news flies apace;
and an impenitent people, that hates to be reformed, can expect no other that
ill news. Now, what is the news? "Tell the nations, those mixed
nations that now inhabit the cities of the ten tribes, mention it to them,
that they may provide for their own safety; but publish it against
Jerusalem, that is the place aimed at, the game shot at, let them know
that watchers have come from a far country, that is, soldiers, that
will watch all opportunities to do mischief." Private soldiers we call private
sentinels, or watchmen. "They are coming in full career, and give
out their voice against the cities of Judah; they design to invest them,
to make themselves masters of them, and to attack them with loud shouts, as
sure of victory. As keepers of a field surround it, to keep all out
from it, so shall they surround the cities of Judah, to keep all in them, till
they be constrained to surrender at discretion; they are against her round
about, compassing her in on every side." See Luke xix. 43. As
formerly the good angels, those watchers, and holy ones, were
like keepers of a field to Jerusalem, watching about it, that nothing
might go in to its prejudice, so now their enemies were as watchers and
keepers of a field, surrounding it that nothing might go in to its relief and
succour.
III. The lamentable cause of this judgment. How is it that Judah and Jerusalem
come to be thus abandoned to ruin? See how it came to this. 1. They sinned
against God; it was all owing to themselves: She has been rebellious
against me, saith the Lord, v. 17. Their enemies surrounded them as
keepers of a field, because they had taken up arms against their rightful Lord
and sovereign, and were to be seized as rebels. The Chaldeans were breaking in
upon them, and it was sin that opened the gap at which they entered: Thy
way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee (v. 18),
thy evil way and thy doings that have not been good. It was not a false step
or two that did them this mischief, but their way and course of living were
bad. Note, Sin is the procuring cause of all our troubles. Those that go on in
sin while they are endeavouring to ward off mischiefs with one hand are at the
same time pulling them upon their own heads with the other. 2. God was angry
with them for their sin. It is the fierce anger of the Lord that makes
the army of the Chaldeans thus fierce, thus furious; that is kindled against
us, and is not turned back from us, v. 8. Note, In men's anger
against us, and the violence of that, we must see and own God's anger and the
power of that. If that were turned back from us, our enemies could not come
forward against us. 3. In his just and holy anger he condemned them to this
dreadful punishment: Now also will I give sentence against them, v.
12. The execution was done, not in a heat, but in pursuance of a sentence
solemnly passed, according to equity, and upon mature deliberation. Some read
it, Now will I do execution upon them, according to the doom formerly
passed; and we are sure that the judgment of God is according to the truth,
and the execution of that judgment.
IV. The lamentable effects of this judgment, upon the first alarm given of it.
1. The people that should fight shall quite despair and shall not have a heart
to make the least stand against the enemy (v. 8): "For this
gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and howl," that is, "you
will do so. When the cry is made through the kingdom, Arm, arm! all
will be seized with a consternation, and all put into confusion. Instead of
girding on the sword, they will gird on the sackcloth; instead of animating
one another to a vigorous resistance, they will lament and howl, and so
dishearten one another. While the enemy is yet at a distance they will give up
all for gone, and cry, Woe unto us! for we are spoiled, v. 13.
We are all undone, the spoilers will certainly carry the day, and it is in
vain to make head against them." Judah and Jerusalem had been famed for
valiant men; but see what is the effect of sin: by depriving men of their
confidence towards God, it deprives them of their courage towards men. 2.
Their great men, who should contrive for the public safety, shall be at their
wits' end (v. 9): At that day the heart of the king shall perish,
both his wisdom and his courage. Despairing of success, he shall have no
spirit to do any thing, and, if he had, he will not know what to do. His
princes and privy-counsellors, who should animate and advise him, shall be as
much at a loss and as much in despair as he. See how easily, how effectually,
God can bring ruin upon a people that are doomed to it, merely by dispiriting
them, taking away the heart of the chief of them (Job xii. 20, 24), cutting
off the spirit of princes, Ps. lxxvi. 12. The business of the priests was
to encourage the people in the time of war; they were to say to the people, Fear
not, and let not your hearts faint, Deut. xx. 2, 3. They were to blow the
trumpets, for an assurance to them that in the day of battle they should be remembered
before the Lord their God, Num. x. 9. But now the priests
themselves shall be astonished, and shall have no heart themselves to
do their office, and therefore shall not be likely to put spirit into the
people. The prophets too, the false prophets, who had cried peace
to them, shall be put into the greatest amazement imaginable, seeing their own
guilty blood ready to be shed by that sword which they had often told the
people there was no danger of. Note, God's judgments come with the greatest
terror upon those that have been most secure. Our Saviour foretels that at the
last destruction of Jerusalem men's hearts should fail them for
fear, Luke xxi. 26. And it is common for those who have cheated and
flattered people into a carnal security not only to fail them, but to
discourage them, when the trouble comes.
V. The prophet's complaint of the people's being deceived, v. 10. It is
expressed strangely, as we read it: Ah! Lord God, surely thou hast greatly
deceived this people, saying, You shall have peace. We are sure that God
deceives none. Let no man say, when he is tempted or deluded, that God
has tempted or deluded him. But, 1. The people deceived themselves with the
promises that God had made in general of his favour to that nation, and the
many peculiar privileges with which they were dignified, building upon them,
though they took no care to perform the conditions on which the accomplishment
of those promises and the continuance of those privileges did depend; and they
had no regard to the threatenings which in the law were set over-against those
promises. Thus they cheated themselves and then wickedly complained that God
had cheated them. 2. The false prophets deceived them with promises of peace,
which they made them in God's name. ch. xxiii. 17; xxvii. 9. If God had
sent them, he had indeed greatly deceived the people, but he had not. It was
the people's fault that they gave them credit; and here also they deceived
themselves. 3. God had permitted the false prophets to deceive, and the people
to be deceived by them, giving both up to strong delusions, to punish
them for not receiving the truth in the love of it. Herein the Lord was
righteous; but the prophet complains of it as the sorest judgment of all, for
by this means they had been hardened in their sins. 4. It may be read with an
interrogation, "Hast thou indeed thus deceived this people? It is
plain that they are greatly deceived, for they expect peace, whereas the
sword reaches unto the soul; that is, it is a killing sword, abundance of
lives are lost, and more likely to be." Now, was it God that deceived
them? No, he had often given them warning of judgments in general and of this
in particular; but their own prophets deceive them, and cry peace to those to
whom the God of heaven does not speak peace. It is a pitiable thing, and that
which every good man greatly laments, to see people flattered into their own
ruin, and promising themselves peace when war is at the door; and this we
should complain of to God, who alone can prevent such a fatal delusion.
VI. The prophet's endeavour to undeceive them. When the prophets they loved
and caressed dealt falsely with them, he whom they hated and persecuted dealt
faithfully. 1. He shows them their wound. They were loth to see it, very loth
to have it searched into; but, if they will allow themselves the liberty of a
free thought, they might discover their punishment in their sin (v.
18): "This is thy wickedness because it is bitter. Now thou seest
that it is a bitter thing to depart from God, and will certainly be bitterness
in the latter end, ch. ii. 19. It produces bitter effects, and
grief that reaches unto the heart, touches to the quick, and in the
most tender part; the sword reaches to the soul," v. 10.
God can make trouble reach the heart even of those that would lay nothing to
heart. "And by this thou mayest see what is thy wickedness, that
it is a bitter thing, a root of bitterness, that bears gall and wormwood,
and that it has reached to the heart; it is the corruption of the soul,
of the imagination of the thought of the heart." If the heart were
not polluted with sin, it would not be disturbed and disquieted as it is with
trouble. 2. He shows them the cure, v. 14. "Since thy
wickedness reaches to the heart, there the application must be made. O
Jerusalem! wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved."
By Jerusalem he means each one of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; for every man
has a heart of his own to take care of, and it is personal reformation that
must help the public. Every one must return from his own evil way, and,
in order to that, cleanse his own evil heart. "And let the
heart of the city too be purified, not the suburbs only, the outskirts of
it." The vitals of a state must be amended by the reformation of those
that have the commanding influence upon it. Note, (1.) Reformation is
absolutely necessary to salvation. There is no other way of preventing
judgments, or turning them away when we are threatened with them, but taking
away the sin by which we have procured them to ourselves. (2.) No reformation
is saving but that which reaches the heart. There is heart-wickedness that is
defiling to the soul, from which we must wash ourselves. By repentance and
faith we must wash our hearts from the guilt we have contracted by spiritual
wickedness, by those sins which begin and end in the heart and go no further;
and by mortification and watchfulness we must suppress and prevent this
heart-wickedness for the future. The tree must be made good, else the fruit
will not. Jerusalem was all overspread with the leprosy of sin. Now as the
physicians agree with respect to the body when afflicted with leprosy that
external applications will do no good, unless physic be taken inwardly to
carry off the humours that lurk there and to change the mass of the blood, so
it is with the soul, so it is with the state: there will be no effectual
reformation of the manners without a reformation of the mind; the mistakes
there must be rectified, the corruptions there must be mortified, and the evil
dispositions there changed. "Though thou art Jerusalem, called a holy
city, that will not save thee, unless thou wash thy heart from
wickedness." In the latter part of the verse he reasons with them: How
long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? He complains here [1.] Of
the delays of their reformation: "How long shall that filthy heart
of thine continue unwashed? When shall it once be?" Note, The God of
heaven thinks the time long that his room is usurped, and his interest
opposed, in our souls, ch. xiii. 27. [2.] Of the root of their
corruption, the vain thoughts that lodged within them and defiled their
hearts, from which they must wash their hearts. Thoughts of iniquity or
mischief, these are the evil thoughts that are the spawn of the evil heart,
from which all other wickedness is produced, Matt. xv. 19. These are our own,
the conceptions of our own lusts (Jam. i. 15), and they are the most dangerous
when they lodge within us, when they are admitted and entertained as guests,
and are suffered to continue. Some read it thoughts of affliction, such
thoughts as will bring nothing but affliction and misery. Some by the vain
thoughts here understand all those frivolous pleas and excuses with which they
turned off the reproofs and calls of the word and rendered them ineffectual,
and bolstered themselves up in their wickedness. Wash thy heart from
wickedness, and think not to say, We are not polluted (ch.
ii. 23), or, "We are Jerusalem; we have Abraham to our father,"
Matt. iii. 8, 9.
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19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very
heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou
hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:
suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet? 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known
me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are
wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23 I
beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains,
and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25 I
beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens
were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a
wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the
LORD,
and by his fierce anger. 27 For thus hath the LORD
said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I
have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither
will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city shall flee for the
noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up
upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell
therein. 30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt
thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee
with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain
shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will
seek thy life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in
travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that
spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is
wearied because of murderers.
The prophet is here in an agony, and cries out like one upon the rack of pain
with some acute distemper, or as a woman in travail. The expressions are very
pathetic and moving, enough to melt a heart of stone into compassion: My
bowels! my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; and yet well, and in
health himself, and nothing ails him. Note, A good man, in such a bad world as
this is, cannot but be a man of sorrows. My heart makes a noise in me,
through the tumult of my spirits, and I cannot hold my peace. Note, The
grievance and the grief sometimes may be such that the most prudent patient
man cannot forbear complaining.
Now, what is the matter? What is it that puts the good man into such
agitation? It is not for himself, or any affliction in his family that he
grieves thus; but it is purely upon the public account, it is his people's
case that he lays to heart thus.
I. They are very sinful and will not be reformed, v. 22. These are the
words of God himself, for so the prophet chose to give this character of the
people, rather than in his own words, or as from himself: My people are
foolish. God calls them his people, though they are foolish. They have
cast him off, but he has not cast them off, Rom. xi. 1. "They are my
people, whom I have been in covenant with, and still have mercy in store
for. They are foolish, for they have not known me." Note,
Those are foolish indeed that have not known God, especially that call
themselves his people, and have the advantages of coming into acquaintance
with him, and yet have not known him. They are sottish children, stupid
and senseless, and have no understanding. They cannot distinguish
between truth and falsehood, good and evil; they cannot discern the mind of
God either in his word or in his providence; they do not understand what their
true interest is, nor on which side it lies. They are wise to do evil,
to plot mischief against the quiet in the land, wise to contrive the
gratification of their lusts, and then to conceal and palliate them. But to
do good they have no knowledge, no contrivance, no application of mind;
they know not how to make a good use either of the ordinances or of the
providences of God, nor how to bring about any design for the good of their
country. Contrary to this should be our character. Rom. xvi. 19, I would
have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
II. They are miserable, and cannot be relieved.
1. He cries out, Because thou hast heard, O my soul! the sound of the
trumpet, and seen the standard, both giving the alarm of war,
v. 19, 21. He does not say, Thou hast heard, O my ear!
but, O my soul! because the event was yet future, and it is by the
spirit of prophecy that he see it and receives the impression of it. His soul
heard it from the words of God, and therefore he was as well assured of it,
and as much affected with it, as if he had heard it with his bodily ears. He
expresses this deep concern, (1.) To show that, though he foretold this
calamity, yet he was far from desiring the woeful day; for a woeful day
it would be to him. It becomes us to tremble at the thought of the misery that
sinners are running themselves into, though we have good hopes, through grace,
that we ourselves are delivered from the wrath to come. (2.) To awaken
them to a holy fear, and so to a care to prevent so great a judgment by a true
and timely repentance. Note, Those that would affect other with the word of
God should evidence that they are themselves affected with it. Now,
2. Let us see what there is in the destruction here foreseen and foretold that
is so very affecting.
(1.) It is a swift and sudden destruction; it comes upon Judah and
Jerusalem ere they are aware, and pours in so fast upon them that they have
not the east breathing time. They have no time to recollect their thoughts,
much less to recruit or recover their strength: Destruction upon
destruction is cried (v. 20), breach upon breach, one sad
calamity, like Job's messengers, treading upon the heels of another. The death
of Josiah breaks the ice, and plucks up the flood-gates; within three months
after that his son and successor Jehoahaz is deposed by the king of Egypt;
within two or three years after Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took it,
and thenceforward he was continually making descents upon the land of Judah
with his armies during the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, till
about nineteen years after he completed their ruin in the destruction of
Jerusalem: but suddenly were their tents spoiled and their curtains in a
moment. Though the cities held out for some time, the country was laid
waste at the very first. The shepherds and all that lived in tents were
plundered immediately; they and their effects fell into the enemies' hands;
therefore we find the Rechabites, who dwelt in tents, upon the first coming of
the army of the Chaldees into the land retiring to Jerusalem, Jer. xxxv. 11.
The inhabitants of the villages soon ceased: Suddenly were the tents
spoiled. The plain men that dwelt in tents were first made a prey of.
(2.) This dreadful war continued a great while, not in the borders, but in the
bowels of the country; for the people were very obstinate, and would not
submit to the king of Babylon, but took all opportunities to rebel against
him, which did but lengthen out the calamity; they might as well have yielded
at first as at last. This is complained of (v. 21): How long shall I
see the standard? Shall the sword devour for ever? Good men are none of
those that delight in war, for they know not how to fish in troubled
waters; they are for peace (Ps. cxx. 7), and will heartily say Amen
to that prayer, "Give peace in out time, O Lord!" O thou sword of
the Lord! when wilt thou be quiet?
(3.) The desolations made by it in the land were general and universal: The
whole land is spoiled, or plundered (v. 20); so it was at first,
and at length it became a perfect chaos. It was such a desolation as amounted
in a manner to a dissolution; not only the superstructure, but even the
foundations, were all out of course. The prophet in vision saw the
extent and extremity of this destruction, and he here gives a most lively
description of it, which one would think might have made those uneasy in their
sins who dwelt in a land doomed to such a ruin, which might yet have been
prevented by their repentance. [1.] The earth is without form, and void
(v. 23), as it was Gen. i. 2. It is Tohu and Bohu, the
words there used, as far as the land of Judea goes. It is confusion and
emptiness, stripped of all its beauty, void of all its wealth, and,
compared with what it was, every thing out of place and out of shape. To a
worse chaos than this will the earth be reduced at the end of time, when it, and
all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. [2.] The heavens
too are without light, as the earth is without fruits. This alludes to
the darkness that was upon the face of the deep (Gen. i. 2), and
represents God's displeasure against them, as the eclipse of the sun did at
our Saviour's death. It was not only the earth that failed them, but heaven
also frowned upon them; and with their trouble they had darkness, for they
could not see through their troubles. The smoke of their houses and cities
which the enemy burnt, and the dust which their army raised in its march, even
darkened the sun, so that the heavens had no light. Or it may be taken
figuratively: The earth (that is, the common people) was impoverished
and in confusion; and the heavens (that is, the princes and rulers) had
no light, no wisdom in themselves, nor were any comfort to the people, nor
a guide to them. Comp. Matt. xxiv. 29. [3.] The mountains trembled, and the
hills moved lightly, v. 24. So formidable were the appearances of
God against his people, as in the days of old they had been for them, that the
mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs, Ps. cxiv. 4.
The everlasting mountains seemed to be scattered, Hab. iii. 6.
The mountains on which they had worshipped their idols, the mountains over
which they had looked for succours, all trembled, as if they had been
conscious of the people's guilt. The mountains, those among them that seemed
to the highest and strongest, and of the firmest resolution, trembled at the
approach of the Chaldean army. The hills moved lightly, as being eased of the
burden of a sinful nation, Isa. i. 24. [4.] Not the earth only, but the air,
was dispeopled, and left uninhabited (v. 25): I beheld the
cities, the countries that used to be populous, and, lo, there was no man
to be seen; all the inhabitants were either killed, or fled, or taken
captives, such a ruining depopulating thing is sin: nay, even the birds of
the heavens, that used to fly about and sing among the branches,
had now fled away, and were no more to be seen or heard. The land of
Judah had now become like the lake of Sodom, over which (they say)
no bird flies; see Deut. xxix. 23. The enemies shall make such havoc of the
country that they shall not so much as leave a bird alive in it. [5.] Both the
ground and the houses shall be laid waste (v. 26): Lo, the fruitful
place was a wilderness, being deserted by the inhabitants that should
cultivate it, and then soon overgrown with thorns and briers, or being trodden
down by the destroying army of the enemy. The cities also and their
gates and walls are broken down and levelled with the ground. Those
that look no further than second causes impute it to the policy and fury of
the invaders; but the prophet, who looks to the first cause, says that it is at
the presence of the Lord, at his face (that is, the anger of his
countenance), even by his fierce anger, that this was done. Even angry
men cannot do us any real hurt, unless God be angry with us. If our ways
please him, all is well. [6.] The meaning of all this is that the nation
shall be entirely ruined, and every part of it shall share in the destruction;
neither town nor country shall escape. First, Not the country, for the
whole land shall be desolate, corn land and pasture land, both common and
enclosed, it shall be laid waste (v. 27); the conquerors will have
occasion for it all. Secondly, Not the men, for (v. 29) the
whole city shall flee, all the inhabitants of the town shall quit their
habitations by consent, for fear of the horsemen and bowmen. Rather
than lie exposed to their fury, they shall go into the thickets, where
they are in danger of being torn by briers, nay, to be torn in pieces by wild
beasts; and they shall climb up upon the rocks, where their lodging
will be hard and cold, and the precipice dangerous. Let us not be over-fond of
our houses and cities; for the time may come when rocks and thickets may be
preferable, and chosen rather. This shall be the common case, for every
city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall be left that dares dwell
therein. Both government and trade shall be at an end, and all civil
societies and incorporations dissolved. It is a very dismal idea which this
gives of the approaching desolation; but in the midst of all these
threatenings comes in one comfortable word (v. 27): Yet will not I
make a full end--not a total consumption, for God will reserve a remnant
to himself, that shall be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger--not a final
consumption, for Jerusalem shall again be built and the land inhabited. This
comes in here, in the midst of the threatenings, for the comfort of those that
trembled at God's word; and it intimates to us the changeableness of
God's providence; as it breaks down, so it raises up again; every end of our
comforts is not a full end, however we may be ready to think it so. It also
intimates the unchangeableness of God's covenant, which stands so firmly,
that, though he may correct his people severely, yet he will not cast them
off, ch. xxx. 11.
(4.) Their case was helpless and without remedy. [1.] God would not help them;
so he tells them plainly, v. 28. And, if the Lord do not help them, who
can? This is that which makes their case deplorable. "For this the
earth mourns and the heavens above are black (there are no prospects but
what are very dismal), because I have spoken it; I have given the word
which shall not be called back; I have purposed it (it is a consumption
decreed, determined) and I will not repent, not change this way, but
proceed in it, and will not turn back from it." They would not
repent and turn back from the way of their sins (ch. ii. 25), and
therefore God will not repent and turn back from the way of his judgments.
[2.] They could not help themselves, v. 30, 31. When the thing appeared
at a distance they flattered themselves with hopes that, though God should not
appear for them as he had done for Hezekiah against the Assyrian army, yet
they should find some means or other to secure themselves and give check to
the forces of the enemy. But the prophet tells them that, when it comes to the
setting to, they will be quite at a loss: "When thou art spoiled, what
wilt thou do? What course wilt thou take? Sit down now, and consider this
in time." He assures them that, whatever were now their contrivances and
confidences, First, They will then be despised by their allies whom
they depended upon for assistance. He had often compared the sin of Jerusalem
to whoredom, not only her idolatry, but her trust in creatures, in the
neighbouring powers. Now here he compares her to a harlot abandoned by all the
lewd ones that used to make court to her. She is supposed to do all she can to
keep up her interest in their affections. She does what she can to make
herself appear considerable among the nations, and a valuable ally. She
compliments them by her ambassadors to the highest degree, to engage them to
stand by her now in her distress. She clothes herself with crimson, as
if she were rich, and decks herself with ornaments of gold, as if her
treasuries were still as full as ever they had been. She rents her face
with painting, puts the best colours she can upon her present distresses
and does her utmost to palliate and extenuate her losses, sets a good face
upon them. But this painting, though it beautifies the face for the present,
really rends it; the frequent use of paint spoils the skin, cracks it, and
makes it rough; so the case which by false colours has been made to appear
better than really it was, when truth comes to light, will look so much the
worse. "And, after all, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; all
thy neighbours are sensible how low thou art brought; the Chaldeans will strip
thee of thy crimson and ornaments, and then thy confederates will not only
slight thee and refuse to give thee any succour, but they will join with those
that seek thy life, that they may come in for a share in the prey of so
rich a country." Here seems to be an allusion to the story of Jezebel,
who thought, by making herself look fair and fine, to outface her doom, but in
vain, 2 Kings ix. 30, 33. See what creatures prove when we confide in them,
how treacherous they are; instead of saving the life, they seek the life; they
often change, so that they will sooner do us an ill turn than any service. And
see to how little purpose it is for those that have by sin deformed themselves
in God's eyes to think by any arts they can use to beautify themselves in the
eye of the world. Secondly, They will then be themselves in despair;
they will find their troubles to be like the pains of a woman in travail,
which she cannot escape: I have heard the voice of the daughter of Zion,
her groans echoing to the triumphal shouts of the Chaldean army, which he
heard, v. 15. It is like the voice of a woman in travail, whose
pain is exquisite, and the fruit of sin and the curse too (Gen. iii. 16), and
exhorts lamentable outcries, especially of a woman in travail of her first
child, who, having never known before what that pain is, is the more
terrified by it. Troubles are most grievous to those that have not been used
to them. Zion, in this distress, since her neighbours refuse to pity her, bewails
herself, fetching deep sighs (so the word signifies), and she spreads
her hands, either wringing them for grief or reaching them forth for
succour. All the cry is, Woe is me now! (now that the decree has gone
forth against her and is past recall), for my soul is wearied because of
murderers. The Chaldean soldiers put all to the sword that gave them any
opposition, so that the land was full of murders. Zion was weary of hearing
tragical stories from all parts of the country, and cried out, Woe is me!
It was well if their sufferings put them in mind of their sins, the murders
committed upon them of the murders committed by them; for God was now making
inquisition for the innocent blood shed in Jerusalem, which the Lord
would not pardon, 2 Kings xxiv. 4. Note, As sin will find out the sinner,
so sorrow will, sooner or later, find out the secure.
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