J
E R E M I A H
CHAP. VI.
In
this chapter, as before, we have, I. A prophecy of the invading of the land of
Judah and the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army (ver. 1-6), with the
spoils they should make of the country (ver. 9) and the terror which all
should be seized with on that occasion, ver. 22-26. II. An account of those
sins of Judah
and Jerusalem
which provoked God to bring this desolating
judgment upon them. Their oppression (ver. 7), their contempt of the word of
God (ver. 10-12), their worldliness (ver. 13), the treachery of their prophets
(ver. 14), their impudence in sin (ver. 15), their obstinacy against reproofs
(ver. 18, 19), which made their sacrifices unacceptable to him (ver. 20), and
for which he gave them up to ruin (ver. 21), but tried them first (ver. 27)
and then rejected them as irreclaimable, ver. 28-30. III. Good counsel given
them in the midst of all this, but in vain, ver. 8, 16, 17.
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Judgments
Threatened against Israel; The Doom of
Israel.
B. C. 608.
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1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves
to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set
up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and
great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a
comely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their
flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her
round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye
war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day
goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5
Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6
For thus hath the LORD
of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is
the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of
her. 7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out
her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is
grief and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul
depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
Here is I. Judgment threatened against Judah and Jerusalem. The city and the
country were at this time secure and under no apprehension of danger; they saw
no cloud gathering, but every thing looked safe and serene: but the prophet
tells them that they shall shortly be invaded by a foreign power, an army
shall be brought against them from the north, which shall lay all
waste, and shall cause not only a general consternation, but a general
desolation. It is here foretold,
1. That the alarm of this should be loud and terrible. This is represented, v.
1. The children of Benjamin, in which tribe part of Jerusalem lay, are here
called to shift for their own safety in the country; for the city (to which it
was first thought advisable for them to flee, ch. iv. 5, 6) would soon
be made too hot for them, and they would find it the wisest course to flee out
of the midst of it. It is common, in public frights, for the people to think
any place safer than that in which they are; and therefore those in the city
are for shifting into the country, in hopes there to escape out of danger, and
those in the country are for shifting into the city, in hopes there to make
head against the danger; but it is all in vain when evil pursues sinners with
commission. They are told to send the alarm into the country, and to do what
they can for their own safety: Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, a city which
lay twelve miles north from Jerusalem. Let them be stirred up to stand upon
their guard: Set up a sign of fire (that is, kindle the beacons) in
Beth-haccerem, the house of the vineyard, which lay on a hill
between Jerusalem and Tekoa. Prepare to make a vigorous resistance, for the
evil appears out of the north. This may be taken ironically: "Betake
yourselves to the best methods you can think of for your own preservation, but
all shall be in vain; for, when you have done your best, it will be a great
destruction, for it is in vain to contend with God's judgments."
2. That the attempt upon them should be bold and formidable and such as they
should be a very unequal match for. (1.) See what the daughter of Zion
is, on whom the assault is made. She is compared to a comely and delicate
woman (v. 2), bred up in every thing that is nice and soft, that
will not set so much as the sole of her foot to the ground for tenderness
and delicacy (Deut. xxviii. 56), nor suffer the wind to blow upon her;
and, not being accustomed to hardship, she will be the less able either to
resist the enemy (for those that make war must endure hardness) or to
bear the destruction with that patience which is necessary to make it
tolerable. The more we indulge ourselves in the pleasures of this life the
more we disfit ourselves for the troubles of this life. (2.) See what the
daughter of Babylon is, by whom the assault is made. The generals and their
armies are compared to shepherds and their flocks (v. 3),
in such numbers and in such order did they come, the soldiers following their
leaders as the sheep their shepherds. The daughter of Zion dwelt at home
(so some read it), expecting to be courted with love, but was invaded with
fury. This comparing of the enemies to shepherds inclines me to embrace
another reading, which some give of v. 2, The daughter of Zion is
like a comely pasture-ground and a delicate land, which invite the
shepherds to bring their flocks thither to graze; and as the shepherds easily
make themselves masters of an open field, which (as was then usual in some
parts) lies common, owned by none, pitch their tents in it, and their
flocks quickly eat it bare, so shall the Chaldean army easily break in upon
the land of Judah, force for themselves a free quarter where they please, and
in a little time devour all. For the further illustration of this he shows,
[1.] How God shall commission them to make this destruction even of the holy
land and the holy city, which were his own possession. It is he that says (v.
4), Prepare you war against her; for he is the Lord of hosts,
that has all hosts at his command, and he has said (v. 6), Hew you
down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem, in order to the attacking
of it. The Chaldeans have great power against Judah and Jerusalem, and yet
they have no power but what is given them from above. God has marked
out Jerusalem for destruction. He has said, "This is the city to be
visited, visited in wrath, visited by the divine justice, and this is the
time of her visitation." The day is coming when those that are careless
and secure in sinful ways will certainly be visited. [2.] How they shall
animate themselves and one another to execute that commission. God's counsels
being against Jerusalem, which cannot be altered or disannulled, the councils
of war which the enemies held are made to agree with his counsels. God having
said, Prepare war against her, their determinations are made
subservient to his; and, notwithstanding the distance of place and the many
difficulties that lay in the way, it is soon resolved, nemine contradicente--unanimously.
Arise, and let us go. Note, It is good to see how the counsel and decree
of God are pursued and executed in the devices and designs of men, even theirs
that know him not, Isa. x. 6, 7. In this campaign, First, They resolve
to be very expeditious. They have no sooner resolved upon it than they address
themselves to it; it shall never be said that they left any thing to be done
towards it to-morrow which they could do to-day: Arise, let us go up at
noon, though it be in the heat of the day; nay, (v. 5), Arise,
let us go up at night, though it be in the dark. Nothing shall hinder
them; they are resolved to lose no time. They are described as men in
care to make despatch (v. 4): "Woe unto us, for the day goes
away, and we are not going on with our work; the shadows of the evening
are stretched out, and we sit still, and let slip the opportunity." O
that we were thus eager in our spiritual work and warfare, thus afraid of
losing time, or any opportunity, in taking the kingdom of heaven by
violence! It is folly to trifle when we have an eternal salvation to work
out, and the enemies of that salvation to fight against. Secondly, They
confidently expect to be very successful: "Let us go up, and let
us destroy her palaces and make ourselves masters of the wealth that is in
them." It was not that they might fulfill God's counsels, but that they
might fill their own treasures, that they were thus eager; yet God thereby
served his own purposes.
II. The cause of this judgment assigned. It is all for their wickedness; they
have brought it upon themselves; they must bear it, for they must bear the
blame of it. They are thus oppressed because they have been oppressors; they
have dealt hardly with one another, each in his turn, as they have had power
and advantage, and now the enemy shall come and deal hardly with them all.
This sin of oppression, and violence, and wrong-doing, is here charged upon
them, 1. As a national sin (v. 6): Therefore this city is to
be visited, it is time to make inquisition, for she is wholly
oppression in the midst of her. All orders and degrees of men, from the
prince on the throne to the meanest master of a shop, were oppressive to those
that were under them. Look which way you might, there were causes for
complaints of this kind. 2. As a sin that had become in a manner natural to
them (v. 7): She casts out wickedness, in all the instances of
malice and mischievousness, as a fountain casts out her waters, so
plentifully and constantly, the streams bitter and poisonous, like the
fountain. The waters out of the fountain will not be restrained, but will find
or force their way, nor will they be checked by laws or conscience in their
violent proceedings. This is fitly applied to the corrupt heart of man in his
natural state; it casts out wickedness, one evil imagination or other,
as a fountain casts out her waters, naturally and easily; it is always
flowing, and yet always full. 3. As that which had become a constant practice
with them; Violence and spoil are heard in her. The cry of it had come
up before God as that of Sodom: Before me continually are grief and wounds--the
complaint of those that find themselves aggrieved, being unjustly wounded in
their bodies or spirits, in their estates or reputation. Note, He that is the
common Parent of mankind regards and resents, and sooner or later will
revenge, the mischiefs and wrongs that men do to one another.
III. The counsel given them how to prevent this judgment. Fair warning is
given now upon the whole matter: "Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem!
v. 8. Receive the instruction given thee both by the law of God and by
the prophets; be wise at length for thyself." They knew very well what
they had been instructed to do; nothing remained but to do it, for till then
they could not be said to be instructed. The reason for this counsel is taken
from the inevitable ruin they ran upon if they refused to comply with the
instructions given them: Lest my soul depart, or be disjoined, from
thee. This intimates what a tender affection and concern God had had for
them; his very soul had been joined to them, and nothing but sin could disjoin
it. Note, 1. The God of mercy is loth to depart even from a provoking people,
and is earnest with them by true repentance and reformation to prevent things
coming to that extremity. 2. Their case is very miserable from whom God's soul
is disjoined; it intimates the loss not only of their outward blessings, but
of those comforts and favours which are the more immediate and peculiar tokens
of his love and presence. Compare this with that dreadful word (Heb. x. 38), If
any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 3. Those whom
God forsakes are certainly undone; when God's soul departs from Jerusalem she
soon becomes desolate and uninhabited, Matt. xxiii. 38.
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The
Universal Corruption of the Age.
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B.
C. 608.
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9 Thus saith the LORD
of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn
back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets. 10 To whom
shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is
uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD
is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore
I am full of the fury of the LORD;
I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and
upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife
shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12
And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and
wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the
land, saith the LORD.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is
given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one
dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is
no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed
abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I
visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
16 Thus saith the LORD,
Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the
good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they
said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over
you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We
will not hearken.
The heads of this paragraph are the very same with those of the last; for
precept must be upon precept and line upon line.
I. The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem is here threatened. We had before the haste
which the Chaldea army made to the war (v. 4, 5); now here we have the
havoc made by the war. How lamentable are the desolations here described! The
enemy shall so long quarter among them, and be so insatiable in their thirst
after blood and treasure, that they shall seize all they can meet with, and
what escapes them at one time shall fall into their hands another (v.
9): They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; as the
grape-gatherer, who is resolved to leave none behind, still turns
back his hand into the baskets, to put more in, till he has gathered all,
so that they be picked up by the enemy, though dispersed, though hid, and none
of them shall escape their eye and hand. Perhaps the people, being given to
covetousness (v. 13), had not observed that law of God which
forbade them to glean all their grapes (Lev. xix. 10), and now they
themselves shall be in like manner thoroughly gleaned and shall either
fall by the sword or go into captivity. This is explained v. 11, 12,
where God's fury and his hand are said to be poured out
and stretched out, in the fury and by the hand of the Chaldeans; for
even wicked men are often made use of as God's hand (Ps. xvii. 14), and in
their anger we may see God angry. Now see on whom the fury is poured out in
full vials--upon the children abroad, or in the streets, where
they are playing (Zech. viii. 5) or whither they run out innocently to look
about them: the sword of the merciless Chaldeans shall not spare them, ch.
ix. 21. The children perish in the calamity which the fathers' sins have
procured. The execution shall likewise reach the assembly of young men,
their merry meetings, their clubs which they keep up to strengthen one
another's hands in wickedness; they shall be cut off together. Nor
shall those only fall into the enemies' hands who meet for lewdness (ch.
v. 7), but even the husband with the wife shall be taken, these two in
bed together, and neither left, but both taken prisoners. And, as they have no
compassion for the weak but fair sex, so they have none for the decrepit but
venerable age: The old with the full of days, whose deaths can
contribute no more to their safety than their lives to their service, who are
not in a capacity to do them either good or harm, shall be either cut off or
carried off. Their houses shall then be turned to others (v.
12); the conquerors shall dwell in their habitations, use their goods, and
live upon their stores; their fields and vines shall fall together
into their hands, as was threatened, Deut. xxviii. 30, &c. For God stretches
out his hand upon the inhabitants of the land, and none can go out of the
reach of it. Now as to this denunciation of God's wrath, 1. The prophet
justifies himself in preaching thus terribly, for herein he dealt faithfully (v.
11): "I am full of the fury of the Lord, full of the thoughts and
apprehensions of it, and am carried out with a powerful impulse, by the spirit
of prophecy, to speak of it thus vehemently." He took no delight in
threatening, nor was it any pleasure to him with such sermons as these to make
those about him uneasy; but he could not contain himself; he was weary with
holding in; he suppressed it as long as he could, as long as he durst, but
he was so full of power by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts that he must
speak, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Note, When
ministers preach the terrors of the Lord according to the scripture we have no
reason to be displeased at them; for they are but messengers, and must deliver
their message, pleasing or unpleasing. 2. He condemns the false prophets who
preached plausibly, for therein they flattered people and dealt unfaithfully (v.
13, 14): The priest and the prophet, who should be their watchmen and
monitors, have dealt falsely, have not been true to their trust not
told the people their faults and the danger they were in; they should have
been their physicians, but they murdered their patients by letting them have
their will, by giving them every thing that had a mind to, and flattering them
into an opinion that they were in no danger (v. 14): They have healed
the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, or according to the
cure of some slight hurt, skinning over the wound and never searching it
to the bottom, applying lenitives only, when there was need of corrosives,
soothing people in their sins, and giving them opiates to make them easy for
the present, while the disease was preying upon the vitals. They said, "Peace
peace--all shall be well." (if there were some thinking people among
them, who were awake, and apprehensive of danger, they soon stopped their
mouths with their priestly and prophetical authority, boldly averring that
neither church nor state was in any danger), when there is no peace,
because they went on in their idolatries and daring impieties. Note, Those are
to be reckoned our false friends (that is, our worst and most dangerous
enemies) who flatter us in a sinful way.
II. The sin of Judah and Jerusalem, which provoked God to bring this ruin upon
them and justified him in it, is here declared. 1. They would by no means bear
to be told of their faults, nor of the danger they were in. God bids the
prophet give them warning of the judgment coming (v. 9),
"but," says he, "to whom shall I speak and give warning?
I cannot find out any that will so much as give me a patient hearing. I may
give warning long enough, but these is nobody that will take warning. I cannot
speak that they may hear, cannot speak to any purpose, or with any hope
of success; for their ear is uncircumcised, it is carnal and fleshly,
indisposed to receive the voice of God, so that they cannot hearken.
They have, as it were, a thick skin grown over the organs of hearing, so that
divine things might to as much purpose be spoken to a stone as to them. Nay,
they are not only deaf to it, but prejudiced against it; therefore they cannot
hear, because they are resolved that they will not: The word of the Lord is
unto them a reproach; both the reproofs and the threatenings of the word
are so;" they reckoned themselves wronged and affronted by both, and
resented the prophet's plain-dealing with them as they would the most
causeless slander and calumny. This was kicking against the pricks
(Acts ix. 5), as the lawyers against the word of Christ, Luke xi. 45, Thus
saying, thou repoachest us also. Note, Those reproofs that are counted
reproaches, and hated as such, will certainly be turned into the heaviest
woes. When it is here said, They have no delight in the word, more is
implied than is expressed; "they have an antipathy to it; their hearts
rise at it; it exasperates them, and enrages their corruptions, and they are
ready to fly in the face and pull out the eyes of their reprovers." And
how can those expect that the word of the Lord should speak any comfort to
them who have no delight in it, but would rather be any where than within
hearing of it? 2. They were inordinately set upon the world, and wholly
carried away by the love of it (v. 13): "From the least of them
even to the greatest, old and young, rich and poor, high and low, those of
all ranks, professions, and employments, every one is given to
covetousness, greedy of filthy lucre, all for what they can get, per
fas per nefas--right or wrong;" and this made them oppressive and
violent (v. 6, 7), for of those evils, as well as others, the love of
money is the bitter root. Nay, and this hardened their hearts against the word
of God and his prophets. It was the covetous Pharisees that derided Christ,
Luke xvi. 14. 3. They had become impudent in sin and were past shame. After
such a high charge of flagrant crimes proved upon them, it was very proper to
ask (v. 15), Were they ashamed when they had committed all these
abominations, which are such a reproach to their reason and religion?
Did they blush at the conviction, and acknowledge that confusion of face
belonged to them? If so, there is some hope of them yet. But, alas! there did
not appear so much as this colour of virtue among them; their hearts were so
hardened that they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush,
they had so brazened their faces. They even gloried in their wickedness, and
openly confronted the convictions which should have humbled them and brought
them to repentance. They resolved to face it out against God himself and not
to own their guilt. Some refer this to the priests and prophets, who had
healed the people slightly and told them that they should have peace, and yet
were not ashamed of their treachery and falsehood, no, not when the event
disproved them and gave them the lie. Those that are shameless are graceless
and their case is hopeless. But those that will not submit to a penitential
shame, nor take that to themselves as their due, shall not escape an utter
ruin; for so it follows: Therefore they shall fall among those that
fall; they shall have their portion with those that are quite undone; and,
when God visits the nation in wrath, they shall be sure to be cast down and be
made to tremble, because they would not blush. Note, Those that sin and cannot
blush for it are in an evil case now, and it will be worse with them shortly.
At first they hardened themselves and would not blush, afterwards they were so
hardened that they could not. Quod unum habebant in malis bonum perdunt,
peccandi verecundiam--they have lost the only good property which once blended
itself with many bad ones, that is, shame for having done amiss.--Senec.
De Vit. Beat.
III. They are put in mind of the good counsel which had been often given them,
but in vain. They had a great deal said to them to little purpose,
1. By way of advice concerning their duty, v. 16. God had been used to
say to them, Stand in the ways and see. That is, (1.) He would have
them to consider, not to proceed rashly, but to do as travellers in the road,
who are in care to find the right way which will bring them to their journey's
end, and therefore pause and enquire for it. If they have any reason to think
that they have missed their way, they are not easy till they have obtained
satisfaction. O that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would
ponder the path of their feet, as those that believe lawful and unlawful are
of no less consequence to us than the right way and the wrong are to a
traveller! (2.) He would have them to consult antiquity, the observations and
experiences of those that went before them: "Ask for the old paths,
enquire of the former age (Job viii. 8), ask thy father, thy elders
(Deut. xxxii. 7), and thou wilt find that the way of godliness and
righteousness has always been the way which God has owned and blessed and in
which men have prospered. Ask for the old paths, the paths prescribed
by the law of God, the written word, that true standard of antiquity. Ask for
the paths that the patriarchs travelled in before you, Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob; and, as you hope to inherit the promises made to them, tread in their
steps. Ask for the old paths, Where is the good way?" We must not
be guided merely by antiquity, as if the plea of prescription and long usage
were alone sufficient to justify our path. No; there is an old way which
wicked men have trodden, Job xxii. 15. But, when we ask for the old paths,
it is only in order to find out the good way, the highway of the
upright. Note, The way of religion and godliness is a good old way, the way
that all the saints in all ages have walked in. (3.) He would have them to
resolve to act according to the result of these enquiries: "When you have
found out which is the good way, walk therein, practise accordingly,
keep closely to that way, proceed, and persevere in it." Some make this
counsel to be given them with reference to the struggles that were between the
true and false prophets, between those that said they should have peace and
those that told them trouble was at the door; they pretended they knew not
which to believe: "Stand in the way," says God, "and
see, and enquire, which of these two agrees with the written word and the
usual methods of God's providence, which of these directs you to the good way,
and do accordingly." (4.) He assures them that, if they do thus, it will
secure the welfare and satisfaction of their own souls: "Walk in the
good old way and you will find your walking in that way will be easy and
pleasant; you will enjoy both your God and yourselves, and the way will lead
you to true rest. Though it cost you some pains to walk in that way, you will
find an abundant recompence at your journey's end." (5.) He laments that
this good counsel, which was so rational in itself and so proper for them,
could not find acceptance: "But they said, We will not walk therein,
not only we will not be at the pains to enquire which is the good way,
the good old way; but when it is told us, and we have nothing to say to
the contrary but that it is the right way, yet we will not deny ourselves and
our humours so far as to walk in it." Thus multitudes are ruined
for ever by downright wilfulness.
2. By way of admonition concerning their danger. Because they would not be
ruled by fair reasoning, God takes another method with them; by less judgments
he threatens greater, and sends his prophets to give them this explication of
them, and to frighten them with an apprehension of the danger they were in (v.
17); Also I set watchmen over you. God's ministers are watchmen, and it
is a great mercy to have them set over us in the Lord. Now observe here, (1.)
The fair warning given by these watchmen. This was the burden of their song;
they cried again and again, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. God,
in his providence, sounds the trumpet (Zech. ix. 14); the watchmen hear it
themselves and are affected with it (Jer. iv. 19), and they are to call upon
others to hearken to it too, to hear the Lord's controversy, to observe the
voice of Providence, to improve it, and answer the intentions of it. (2.) This
fair warning slighted: "But they said, We will not hearken; we
will not hear, we will not heed, we will not believe; the prophets may as well
save themselves and us the trouble." The reason why sinners perish is
because they do not hearken to the sound of the trumpet; and the reason
why they do not is because they will not; and they have no reason to give why
they will not but because they will not, that is, they are herein most
unreasonable. One may more easily deal with ten men's reasons than one man's
will.
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Equity
of Divine Judgments; Punishment Predicted.
B. C. 608.
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18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O
congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: behold,
I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts,
because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected
it. 20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and
the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not
acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. 21 Therefore thus
saith the LORD,
Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and
the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall
perish. 22 Thus saith the LORD,
Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be
raised from the sides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow
and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like
the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee,
O daughter of Zion. 24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands
wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in
travail. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for
the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. 26
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself
in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter
lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 27 I
have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that
thou mayest know and try their way. 28 They are all
grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron;
they are all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned, the
lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are
not plucked away. 30 Reprobate silver shall men call them,
because the LORD
hath rejected them.
Here, I. God appeals to all the neighbours, nay, to the whole world,
concerning the equity of his proceedings against Judah and Jerusalem (v.
18, 19): "Hear, you nations, and know particularly, O
congregation of the mighty, the great men of the nations, that take
cognizance of the affairs of states about you and make remarks upon them.
Observe now what is doing among those of Judah and Jerusalem; you hear of the
desolations brought upon them, the earth rings of it, trembles under it; you
all wonder that I should bring evil upon this people, that are
in covenant with me, that profess relation to me, that have worshipped me, and
been highly favoured by me; you are ready to ask, Wherefore has the Lord
done thus to this land? Deut. xxix. 24. Know then," 1. "That it
is the natural product of their devices. The evil brought upon them is the
fruit of their thought. They thought to strengthen themselves by their
alliance with foreigners, and by that very thing they weakened and diminished
themselves, they betrayed and exposed themselves." 2. "That it is
the just punishment of their disobedience and rebellion. God does but execute
upon them the curse of the law for their violation of its commands. It is
because they have not hearkened to my words nor to my law, nor regarded
a word I have said to them, but rejected it all. They would never have been
ruined thus by the judgments of God's hand if they had not refused to be ruled
by the judgments of his mouth: therefore you cannot say that they have any
wrong done them."
II. God rejects their plea, by which they insisted upon their external
services as sufficient to atone for all their sins. Alas! it is a frivolous
plea (v. 20): "To what purpose come there to me incense and
sweet cane, to be burnt for a perfume on the golden altar, though it was
the best of the kind, and far-fetched? What care I for your burnt-offerings
and your sacrifices?" They not only cannot profit God (no
sacrifice does, Ps. l. 9), but they do not please him, for none does this but
the sacrifice of the upright; that of the wicked is an abomination to him.
Sacrifice and incense were appointed to excite their repentance, and to direct
them to a Mediator, and assist their faith in him. Where this good use was
made of them they were acceptable, God had respect to them and to those that
offered them. But when they were offered with an opinion that thereby they
made God their debtor, and purchased a license to go on in sin, they were so
far from being pleasing to God that they were a provocation to him.
III. He foretels the desolation that was now coming upon them. 1. God designs
their ruin because they hate to be reformed (v. 21): I will lay
stumbling-blocks before this people, occasions of falling not into sin,
but into trouble. Those whom God has marked for destruction he perplexes and
embarrasses in their counsels, and obstructs and retards all the methods they
take for their own safety. The parties of the enemy, which they met with
wherever they went, were stumbling-blocks to them; in ever corner they
stumbled upon them and were dashed to pieces by them: The fathers and the
sons together shall fall upon them; neither the fathers with their wisdom,
nor the sons with their strength and courage, shall escape them, or get over
them. The sons that sinned with their fathers fall with them. Even the neighbour
and his friend shall perish and not be able to help either themselves or
one another. 2. He will make use of the Chaldeans as instruments of it; for
whatever work God has to do he will find out proper instruments for the doing
of it. This is a people fetched from the north, from the sides of the
earth. Babylon itself lay a great way off northward; and some of the
countries that were subject to the king of Babylon, out of which his army was
levied, lay much further. These must be employed in this service, v.
22, 23. For, (1.) It is a people very numerous, a great nation, which
will make their invasion the more formidable. (2.) It is a warlike people. They
lay hold on bow and spear, and at this time know how to use them, for they
are used to them. They ride upon horses, and therefore they march the
more swiftly, and in battle press the harder. No nation had yet brought into
the field a better cavalry that the Chaldeans. (3.) It is a barbarous people.
They are cruel and have no mercy, being greedy of prey and flushed with
victory. They take a pride in frightening all about them; their voice roars
like the sea. And, (4.) They have a particular design upon Judah and
Jerusalem, in hopes greatly to enrich themselves with the spoil of that famous
country. They are set in array against thee, O daughter of Zion! The
sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to those that are God's
enemies as well as theirs.
IV. He describes the very great consternation which Judah and Jerusalem should
be in upon the approach of this formidable enemy, v. 24-26. 1. They own
themselves in a fright, upon the first intelligence brought them of the
approach of the enemy: "When we have but heard the fame thereof our
hands wax feeble, and we have no heart to make any resistance; anguish
has taken hold of us, and we are immediately in an extremity of pain, like
that of a woman in travail." Note, Sense of guilt quite dispirits
men, upon the approach of any threatening trouble. What can those hope to do
for themselves who have made God their enemy? 2. They confine themselves by
consent to their houses, not daring to show their heads abroad; for, though
they could not but expect that the sword of the enemy would at last find them
out there, yet they would rather die tamely and meanly there than run any
venture, either by fight or flight, to help themselves. Thus they say one to
another, "Go not forth into the field, no not to fetch in your
provision thence, nor walk by the way; dare not to go to church or
market, it is at your peril if you do, for the sword of the enemy, and
the fear of it, are on every side; the highways are unoccupied,
as in Jael's time," Judg. v. 6. Let this remind us, when we travel the
roads in safety and there is none to make us afraid, to bless God for our
share in the public tranquillity. 3. The prophet calls upon them sadly to
lament the desolations that were coming upon them. He was himself the
lamenting prophet, and called upon his people to join with him in his
lamentations: "O daughter of my people, hear they God calling thee
to weeping and mourning, and answer his call: do not only put on sackcloth for
a day, but gird it on for thy constant wear; do not only put ashes on thy
head, but wallow thyself in ashes; put thyself into close mourning, and
use all the tokens of bitter lamentation, not forced and for show only, but
with the greatest sincerity, as parents mourn for an only son, and
think themselves comfortless because they are childless. Thus do thou lament
for the spoiler that suddenly comes upon us. Though he has not come
yet, he is coming, the decree has gone forth: let us therefore
meet the execution of it with a suitable sadness." As saints may rejoice
in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise, so sinners
must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the
threatenings.
V. He constitutes the prophet a judge over this people that now stand upon
their trial: as ch. i. 10, I have set thee over the nations; so
here, I have set thee for a tower, or as a sentinel, or a watchman,
upon a tower, among my people, as an inspector of their actions, that
thou mayest know, and try their way, v. 27. Not that God needed any
to inform him concerning them; on the contrary, the prophet knew little of
them in comparison but by the spirit of prophecy. But thus God appeals to the
prophet himself, and his own observation concerning their character, that he
might be fully satisfied in the equity of God's proceedings against them and
with the more assurance give them warning of the judgments coming. God set him
for a tower, conspicuous to all and attacked by many, but made him a fortress,
a strong tower, gave him courage to stem the tide and bear the shock of
their displeasure. Those that will be faithful reprovers have need to be firm
as fortresses. Now in trying their way he will find two things:-- 1. That they
are wretchedly debauched (v. 28): They are all grievous revolters,
revolters of revolters (so the word is), the worst of revolters, as a servant
of servants is the meanest servant. They have a revolting heart, have
deeply revolted, and revolt more and more. They seemed to start fair, but they
revolt and start back. They walk with slanders; they make nothing of
belying and backbiting one another, nay, they make a perfect trade of it; it
is their constant course, and they govern themselves by the slanders they
hear, hating those that they hear ill-spoken of, though ever so unjustly. They
are brass and iron, base metals, and there is nothing in them that is
valuable. They were as silver and gold, but they have degenerated. Nay, as they
are all revolters, so they are all corrupters, not only debauched
themselves, but industrious to debauch others, to corrupt them as they
themselves are corrupt; nay, to make them seven times more the children of
hell than themselves. It is often so; sinners soon become tempters. 2. That
they would never be reclaimed and reformed; it was in vain to think of
reforming them, for various methods had been tried with them, and all to no
purpose, v. 29, 30. He compares them to ore that was supposed to have
some good metal in it, and was therefore put into the furnace by the refiner,
who used all his art, and took abundance of pains, about it, but it proved all
dross, nothing of any value could be extracted out of it. God by his prophets
and by his providences had used the most proper means to refine this people
and to purify them from their wickedness; but it was all in vain. By the
continual preaching of the word, and in a series of afflictions, they had been
kept in a constant fire, but all to no purpose. The bellows have been
still kept so near the fire, to blow it, that they are burnt with the
heat of it, or they are quite worn out with long use and thrown into the fire
as good for nothing. The prophets have preached their throats sore with crying
aloud against the sins of Israel, and yet they are not convinced and humbled.
The lead, which was then used in refining silver, as quicksilver is
now, is consumed of the fire, and has not done its work. The founder
melts in vain; his labour is lost, for the wicked are not plucked away,
no care is taken to separate between the precious and the vile, to purge out
the old leaven, to cast out of communion those who, being corrupt themselves,
are in danger of infecting others. Or, Their wickednesses are not removed
(so some read it); they are still as bad as ever, and nothing will prevail to
part between them and their sins. They will not be brought off from their
idolatries and immoralities by all they have heard, and all they have felt, of
the wrath of God against them; and therefore that doom is passed upon them (v.
30): Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless; they
glitter as if they had some silver in them, but there is nothing of real
virtue or goodness to be found among them; and for this reason the Lord has
rejected them. He will no more own them as his people, nor look for any
good from them; he will take them away like dross (Ps. cxix. 119), and
prepare a consuming fire for those that would not be purified by a refining
fire. By this it appears, (1.) That God has no pleasure in the death
and ruin of sinners, for he tries all ways and methods with them to prevent
their destruction and qualify them for salvation. Both his ordinances and his
providences have a tendency this way, to part between them and their sins; and
yet with many it is all lost labour. We have piped unto you, and you have
not danced; we have mourned unto you, and you have not wept. Therefore,
(2.) God will be justified in the death of sinners and all the blame will lie
upon themselves. He did not reject them till he had used all proper means to
reform them; did not cast them off so long as there was any hope of them, nor
abandon them as dross till it appeared that they were reprobate silver.
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