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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
1. A reminder of the renewal of the covenant between Jehovah and the people lately made under Josiah (Jer_11:1-8).
2. First stage of the conspiracy; all Israel, instead of keeping the covenant with Jehovah, conspires against him (Jer_11:9-13).
3. The punishment of the conspiracy is an irreversible, severe judgment (Jer_11:14 17).
4. Second stage of the conspiracy; the plot of the men of Anathoth (Jer_11:18-23).
5. Third stage; the plot in the prophet's own family (Jer_11:1-6). Naegelsbaeh, however, with violence to exegesis, continues thus (assuming the homogeneousness of Jer_12:1-6 and Jer_12:7-17):
6. Israel's conspiracy punished by a conspiracy of the neighboring peoples against Israel (Jer_12:7-13).
7. Removal of all antitheses by the final union of all in the Lord (Jer_12:14-17).
The opening verses of this chapter give us (as we have seen already in the general Introduction) a most vivid idea of the activity of Jeremiah in propagating a knowledge of the Deuteronomic Torah (i.e. the Divine "directions" with regard to the regulation of life). It may even be inferred from verse 6 that he made a missionary circuit in Judah, with the view of influencing the masses. It was, in fact, only the "elders" of the different towns who had taken part in the solemn ceremony described in 2Ki_23:1-37. "The words of this covenant" had been ratified by the national representatives; but it required a prophetic enthusiasm to carry them home to the hearts of the people. Hence it was that "the word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah," etc.
Jer_11:2
Hear ye … and speak. To whom is this addressed? To Jeremiah and his disciples. The Septuagint, indeed, followed by Hitzig and Graf, read (instead of "speak ye"), "Thou shalt speak unto them," adopting one different vowel-point. But this involves an inconsistency with the first verb, and is not at all necessary, for why should we suppose Jeremiah to have been completely isolated? If the prophet had well-wishers even among the princes, it stands to reason that he must have had more pronounced adherents in the classes less influenced by the prejudices of society.
Jer_11:3
Here begins a series of direct references to Deuteronomy, determining the date of the discourse. Cursed be the man, etc.; alluding to Deu_27:26. Nothing, perhaps, is so injurious to a correct understanding of the Scriptures as persistently rendering a Hebrew or Greek word by the same supposed equivalent. "Covenant" is no doubt appropriate in some passages (e.g. Jos_9:6; 1Sa_18:3), because an "appointment" between men, if equals, involves "giving and taking;" but is inadequate when the parties are not equals, and most of all when the superior party is the Divine Being. In these cases we must clearly recur to the original meaning of" appointment" or "ordinance;" and we have one such case here (see also Hos_6:7; 2Ki_11:4; Job_31:1.; Psa_105:10; but not Gen_17:9). Διαθήκη (1, an arrangement; 2, a will or testament; 3, a covenant) is to some extent parallel (see Cremer's 'Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek,' s.v.).
Jer_11:4
From the iron furnace; rather, out of the iron furnace. It is Egypt which is thus described (comp. Deu_4:20; 1Ki_8:51). The oppression in Egypt was like the furnace in which iron is rendered malleable by heat (so Isa_48:10, "I have tested thee in the furnace of affliction").
Jer_11:5
The oath which I have sworn (so Deu_7:8; comp. Deu_8:18). As it is this day; a Deuteronomic formula (see e.g. Deu_2:30; Deu_4:20), appealing to the test of experience. So be it, O Lord. The-Hebrew has "Amen, Jehovah." "Amen" equivalent to "true, faithful, trustworthy;" or used in this way as a formula of asseveration, "may it be verified by facts"; comp. Jer_28:6.
Jer_11:6
Proclaim all these words, etc. This command probably points to a missionary circuit of Jeremiah, as suggested above. Others render, "read aloud"; but Jeremiah receives the direction to "proclaim" or "cry" elsewhere (Jer_2:2; Jer_3:12, etc.). So Gabriel, in the Koran, directs Mohammed to "cry," i.e. to proclaim or preach.
Jer_11:7, Jer_11:8
A condensation of Jer_7:23-26. Imagination; rather, stubbornness (see on Jer_3:17). I will bring; rather, I brought. All the words. "Word" sometimes means "thing spoken of;" here, for instance, the curses specified in Deu_28:1-68.
Jer_11:9
A conspiracy. The language is figurative. Jehovah is the King of Israel; to commit sin is "to rebel against" him (Authorized Version sometimes weakens this into "transgress'); and to encourage one another in wickedness is "to conspire against" God. We need not suppose any open combination against spiritual religion; it is enough if" the spirit of the time" was directly contrary to it.
Jer_11:10
Their forefathers. The Hebrew has "their fathers, the former ones." The allusion is to the sins of the Israelites in the wilderness, and in Canaan under the judges. The prophets are constantly pointing their hearers back to those early times, either for warning (as here) or for encouragement (Jer_2:1; Hos_2:15; Isa_1:26; Isa_63:11, Isa_63:13). And they went after; rather and they (themselves) have gone after. The pronoun is expressed in the Hebrew, to indicate that the prophet's contemporaries are now the subject.
Jer_11:11-13
A summary of Jeremiah's usual prophecies (comp. Jer_4:6; Jer_6:19; Jer_19:3; and especially Jer_2:28; Jer_7:17).
Jer_11:13
That shameful thing; rather, the shame. The name Baal is changed, to mark the abhorrence of the speaker, into Bosheth (see Jer_3:24). Manasseh, we are told, "raised up altars for Baal" (2Ki_21:3).
Jer_11:14
Therefore pray not thou, etc. First Jehovah declares that even the intercession of the prophet will be of no avail (see on Jer_7:16), and then that the belated supplications of the people themselves will be ineffectual to avert the calamity. For their trouble. The four most ancient versions, and some of the extant Hebrew manuscripts, read "in the time of their trouble" (as in Jer_11:12). The confusion between the two readings is easy, and the reading of the versions is to be preferred.
Jer_11:15
What hath my beloved to do in mine house? "My beloved" is evidently the Jewish people, who in Jer_12:7 is called "the dearly beloved of my soul." The Divine Speaker expresses surprise that one who has now so poor a claim to the title of "my beloved" should appear in his holy house. It is spoken in the spirit of that earlier revelation of Isaiah, "When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?" (Isa_1:12). The Jews, it would seem, came to the temple to pray, but their prayer is not accepted, because it is associated with unholy practices. They thought by formal prayers and sacrifices to pay off their debt to the Deity, and so be free to go on with their old devices (as in Jer_7:15). This seems the best view of the difficult words which follow, but it implies a correction of the certainly ungrammatical rendering of the Authorized Version—seeing she hath wrought lewdness—into to work the wicked device. But here begins the most obscure part of the verse. With many cannot be right; for "with" has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew; the word in the original simply means "the many," and as it is immediately followed by a noun in the singular with "and," and a verb in the plural, it is plain that it must (if correctly read) be part of the subject of the latter. The Septuagint, however, has a different reading, which may very well be correct, and out of which the received Hebrew reading may easily have grown—"Can vows and holy [i.e. hallowed] flesh remove from thee thy wickedness [or perhaps, 'thy calamity']?" The connection thus becomes easy. "Vows and holy flesh" (i.e. the flesh of sacrifices, Hag_2:12), naturally go together; the only other possible way of taking the passage (assuming the correctness of the 'received text)—" the great ones and the holy flesh shall pass away from thee"—is obviously inadmissible. "Vows and sacrifices," however, precisely express the true association of ideas. A man made a vow, and he generally paid it in the form of a sacrifice. But, inquires Jehovah, "Can such vows and such Victims please God, and expiate thy wickedness [or, 'avert thy calamity']? Then thou mightest rejoice." The latter words are not, indeed, more exact than those of the Authorized Version, but are in accordance with grammar, and suit the preceding question. It is not certain, however, that the text is right here; the Septuagint has ἢτούτοις διαφεύξῃ . (Notice that Keil, conservative to a fault in matters affecting the received text, agrees with the above correction, which is also adopted by Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf.)
Jer_11:16
A green olive tree. The olive tree is "one of the most thriving, hardy, and productive trees in the East" (it was the first tree elected king in the parable, Jdg_9:8), and with its "foliage of a deep, perennial green," furnishes a striking symbol of healthful beauty. A psalmist, speaking in the character of the typical righteous man, compares himself to a "green olive tree in the house of God' (Psa_52:8). The word rendered "green "is one of those which are the despair of translators (see on Jer_2:20). It gives a picture in itself. We seem to see a flourishing, sappy tree, with abundance of pliant, gracefully moving, perennially green branches. With the noise of a great tumult. Either the tumult of the melee of battle is meant (the same uncommon word is used with such a reference in Eze_1:24) or the crashing of thunder. "With a rushing mighty sound" would be a more forcible rendering. (For the concluding figure, comp. Eze_31:12.) He hath kindled fire, etc. There is no occasion to explain this as merely the perfect of prophetic certitude. It was literally true that the fire of war had already devastated the fairest portion of the Holy Land. Israel (expressly referred to in Jer_11:17) had already been carried into captivity, and Judah was, to the prophetic eye, as good as destroyed. Here, no doubt, that wonderful perfect of faith does come in.
Jer_11:17
The Lord of hosts, that planted thee; He who "planted" Israel (comp. Jer_2:21) could also uproot it; and though, for the sake of his covenant with Abraham, he would not destroy it utterly, yet he could not but interpose as Judge to punish its manifold transgressions. Israel and Judah are mentioned together; for the prophets, so far as we know them from their works, did not recognize the separation of the two kingdoms. Against themselves; rather, for themselves; i.e. to please themselves.
Jer_11:18
Here, as Naegelsbaeh puts it, begins the second stage of the "conspiracy." Hath given me knowledge, etc.; rather, gave me knowledge, and I knew it. Then; i.e. when I was in utter unconsciousness. Jeremiah had no presentiment of the murderous purpose of his townsmen, till by some "special providence" it came to his knowledge.
Jer_11:19
Like a lamb or an ox; rather, as a mild lamb (as one of the old translations has it), equivalent to quasi agaus mansuetus (Vulgate). Jeremiah says that he was as unsuspicious as a tame lamb which has grown up with its master's family (2Sa_12:3). The Arabs use the very same adjective in a slightly different form as an epithet of such tame lambs. It is impossible to help thinking of that "Servant of Jehovah," of whom Jeremiah was a type, who is said, in prophetic vision, to have been "brought as a lamb to the slaughter," and "not to have opened his mouth "(Isa_53:7). The tree with the fruit thereof; apparently a proverbial expression. Giving the words their ordinary meaning, the rendering would be, the tree with its bread (b'lakhmo). Our translators appear to have thought that the transition from "bread" to "fruit" was as justifiable in Hebrew as it is in Arabic (in which 'uklu means properly "food" in general, but also "date fruit"). Fruit, however, was not such an important article of food with the Israelites as with the Arabs; and we must either, with Hitzig, suppose a letter to have intruded into the text, and render (from a corrected reading b'lekho), with its sap (comp. Deu_34:7, Hebrew), or else appeal to the etymology of lekhem (commonly "bread"), which is "firm, consistent," and render, the tree with its pith (Hence lahmu in Arabic means "flesh," and luhmatu, "a woof"). It is no credit to St. Jerome that he followed the absurd version of the Septuagint, "Let us put wood into his bread."
Jer_11:20
(Parallel passage, Jer_20:12.) Unto thee have I revealed my cause. This is the literal rendering, but a comparison of Psa_22:8 and Pro_16:3, suggests that the In meaning is Upon thee have I rolled my cause." This expression is certainly not only more forcible, but more appropriate than the other. Jeremiah's cause was not a secret which needed to be "revealed" to Jehovah, but a burden too heavy for so finely strung a nature to bear alone. Grammatically, the preferred meaning is quite justifiable, though less obvious, as there are other instances of an interchange of meanings between two classes of verbs (see on Jer_33:6).
Jer_11:21
Prophesy not, etc. The men of Anathoth tried first of all to effect their object by threatening. In the name of the Lord should be rather, by the name, etc. The phrase is exactly parallel to Psa_55:1, "Save me, O God, by thy Name, and judge me by thy strength." The Name of God is equivalent to his revealed presence or personality. Baal's prophets prophesied "by Baal" (Jer_2:8), i.e. by an impulse thought to proceed from Baal; Jehovah's by the consciousness of his revealed presence.
Jer_11:22
Their sons and their daughters, etc. The lot of the weaker sex and of the male children under the military age is contrasted with that of the young warriors.
Jer_11:23
Even the year, etc.; better, in the year of their visitation (or, punishment), taking the accusative as that of time.
II. THE SANCTIONS OF THE COVENANT.
1. The obligations of gratitude. The past mercies of God are recited; e.g. deliverance from Egypt.
2. Promises of future good. If faithful, Israel was to take possession of the "land flowing with milk and honey."
3. Threats in ease of disobedience. If they proved unfaithful, the people were to find the land of premise full of troubles, and ultimately to be expelled from it (Deu_28:15).
4. Constant Divine pleading. The covenant could not lapse through forgetfulness. Prophets were sent again and again to urge its claims on the people (Jer_11:7).
III. THE OBLIGATION OF THE COVENANT. This was an ancient covenant; yet it was still binding. God was still fulfilling his part in blessing his people. The obligation was not such as time could affect. What is inherently right once is right eternally. Truth does not lose force with age. The Bible contains covenants which age has made venerable, but not feeble. Its commands and promises are eternally fresh and living, and when the merely local and personal exterior is laid aside, the essence of them applies as much to us as to the Jews. The appetite for mere novelty which characterizes much intellectual inquiry in the present day, as it did that of the Athenians of St. Paul's age (Act_17:21), ignores the fact that the most important question is "What is true?" not "What is new?" Old familiar truths must be noticed that they may be remembered and practiced, though of course not to the exclusion of new truths. The New Testament does not abolish but perfects the spiritual truth of the old. It contains that and more.
IV. THE BREACH OF THE COVENANT. The people are accused of disobeying the precepts of the covenant (Jer_11:8). Disobedience involved both the loss of the promised blessings and the execution of the threatened curses. They who accept special privileges incur special obligations. They who enter into a Divine covenant will be judged by the terms of that covenant. Christians will be judged, not simply by the common law of righteousness in conscience and nature, but by the special requirements of the New Testament, i.e. of the covenant of Christianity.
Jer_11:11-13
1. The ground of confidence which gives way in the hour of need is worse than useless; it is treacherous and ruinous, and the discovery of its true character confounds those who have relied on it. A religion which will not stand the test of trouble is a mockery.
2. Trouble reveals the vanity of an insincere faith. In trouble we need the true, the real; all false religiousness, all playing at devotion, breaks down then. If our religion has been vain and ill founded, we are then discovered and made to be ashamed, "like a thief when he is found" (Jer_2:26).
3. There is a deep instinct which cries out for the true God in the hour of distress. Old memories then revive, scouted faiths reassert themselves, the first cry of the child to his Parent breaks out again involuntarily, and the godless man in his agony groans, "O my God!"
II. IF WE HAVE FORSAKEN GOD IN PROSPERITY WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO EXPECT HIM TO SAVE US IN ADVERSITY. The religion which we accept in our general life is that to which we should justly look in our hours of need. Here is the natural irony of religion. A man is punished by being left to the protection of the creed of his own choice. It must always be remembered, indeed, that whenever we truly repent and seek God spiritually he will receive and save us (Hos_6:1). But the mere cry for God's help in distress is not repentance, nor is it a spiritual return to God. It is a selfish utterance, and may be made while the heart is still far from God, and the sins which drove us from him still unrepented of. It would be neither just nor good for us that God should respond to so degraded and unspiritual a prayer.
III. ALL GROUNDS OF RELIGIOUS CONFIDENCE EXCEPT FAITH IN THE TRUE GOD PROVE FALSE AT THE TEST OF TROUBLE. This is the result of applying the touchstone of trouble; this is the lesson of bitter experience when men are left to cry to their false gods in the hour of need.
1. If there were any worth in these grounds of confidence it would be seen then.
(1) They should answer to men's requirements, for men have made them to suit their own wishes.
(2) They should be sufficient in number for help. "According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah." How many religious refuges have men made for themselves! Shall all these human inventions fail?
(3) They should be sufficiently various to afford the required help. Every city had its peculiar cult. The human notions of religion are infinitely various. Cannot a man find one to meet his need out of the whole catalogue of creeds?
2. Experience famishes the answer to these questions, and shows the certain failure of all the creeds of human invention. They must fail:
(1) Because they are human. How can the god whom a man has made save him?
(2) Because they are commonly materialistic—the stock and stone of the Hebrew idolatry find their counterparts in the materialistic philosophy and schemes of merely physical amelioration of modern men.
(3) Because they are numerous, and therefore none of infinite value, but all limited in range.
(4) Because they are reflections of our own thought, not higher influences to lead that thought. Every city had its god embodying the ideas of the city. Men have their separate creeds corresponding to their inclinations and prejudices. Such creeds afford no refuge when deeper questions open up in the dark nights of distress.
Jer_11:16, Jer_11:17
I. THE HAPPY PROSPERITY.
1. The olive tree was green—perennially green. Prosperity may be constant and unbroken before the descent of judgment.
2. It was fair. Prosperity may come with much honor and gladness.
3. It was fruitful. The life may abound in good to others.
4. It was planted by God. (Jer_11:17.) All good comes from him, and it is a great good to be established in our way of life by God's will and help. Yet none of these good things sufficed to avert a terrible doom. Present prosperity is no security against future adversity. The goodness of the past will be no safeguard against the punishment of sins of later years. The long-tried, honored, useful man who falls into sin at the end of his life must not delude himself into supposing that his earlier career will shield him from all troublesome consequences.
II. THE FEARFUL DEVASTATION. The green and fair and fruitful tree was struck in the thunderstorm, and its branches consumed with fire.
1. The devastation was from above—by fire from heaven. God who planted also destroyed. Punishment is sent by God.
2. It was sudden. The lightning flash is instantaneous. The terrible ruin of sin may fall in a moment.
3. It was irresistible. The tree is passive and helpless in the storm. Its very magnitude only invites the blow which will destroy it.
4. It was destructive. Fire consumed the branches. The fires of judgment are consuming fires—they burn to destroy (Mat_3:12).
Jer_11:18-23
I. THE OCCASION OF THE CONSPIRACY ILLUSTRATES A COMMON CAUSE OF PERSECUTION. Jeremiah had been proclaiming unwelcome truths. He had exposed sin and threatened judgment. Such preaching was unpopular, and the men of Anathoth sought to stay it by force (Verse 21).
1. The faithful preacher must expect to meet with opposition. Unpopularity is no proof of incompetence (i.e. if it arises from the subject-matter of the teaching, not from the style of the teacher). Christ, who began his mission with public favor, ended it amidst universal contumely.
2. The most needful truth is the most unwelcome. The smooth words of false prophets of "peace" are acceptable. But they are narcotics given to men who should be roused to flee for their lives. The only hope for those who are spending wicked lives is in their being awakened to a sense of guilt and danger. The effort to awaken them, however, stirs their resentment.
II. THE CONDUCT OF THE CONSPIRATORS REVEALS THE TRUE CHARACTER OF PERSECUTORS.
1. It is foolish. Truth cannot be destroyed by suppressing the voice that utters it. Some day it will declare itself in spite of all hindrance.
2. It is unfair. Words are met by force. To silence a voice is not to reply to it. Violent opposition to the spread of ideas is a tacit confession of inability to meet them on their own ground of reason, a virtual confession of their force of truth.
3. It is destructive of social order. Jeremiah's fellow-townsmen conspire against him. The persecuting spirit divides nearest neighbors. It is the greatest enemy to brotherly charity (Mat_10:36).
4. It is treacherous. While Jeremiah was ignorant of their enmity—led like a lamb to the slaughter—the men of Anathoth were plotting against his life.
5. It is murderous. The tree is to be destroyed with its fruit. Professing a good purpose, persecution is invariably possessed by a cruel spirit.
6. It covers enmity to God in opposition to his servants. Jeremiah was bidden no longer to prophesy in the Name of Jehovah. It could not be denied that he spoke with Divine authority. Therefore to silence him was to refuse to receive the message of God.
III. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE VICTIM EXEMPLIFIES THE RIGHT COURSE TO BE PURSUED UNDER PERSECUTION.
I. Not to desist from the duty which provoked the persecution. Jeremiah met with little but opposition throughout his long life; yet he remained faithful to the last.
2. Not to rashly embrace danger. Jeremiah sought deliverance. It is childish to court persecution.
3. To seek help from God. Jeremiah at once committed his cause to God. God alone
(1) can help;
(2) has the authority to execute vengeance (Rom_12:19);
(3) judges righteously, impartially, without the bias of passion; and
(4) discerns the motive of men and the degrees of guilt trying "the reins and the heart."
IV. THE ACTION OF GOD TYPIFIES THE ULTIMATE EXECUTION OF DIVINE JUDGMENT.
1. Punishment must follow such wickedness. Though it is delayed, the vengeance must come.
2. This punishment will be severe. "The young men shall die by the sword," the children by famine. Fearful sin must bring fearful penalties.
3. This punishment will be without exception. No remnant of the men of Anathoth will be spared. All are guilty; all must suffer. There is a popular impression to the effect that the number of sinful persons lessens the blame attaching to each individual. It is a mistake. If all sin, each will be punished individually as much as if one only were guilty. No conspiracy of men, however widespread, however subtle in schemes, however violent in action, can defeat the ends of Divine justice (Pro_11:21).
I. ONLY THOSE WHO ARE IN COMMUNION WITH GOD CAN TRULY UNDERSTAND AND APPROVE HIS JUDGMENTS. The commandment is intelligently alluded to, and its penalty stated. The correspondence of Judah's condition with that anticipated in the original passage is pregnantly suggested. All the more so that the transgressors did not feel or admit the correspondence. The prophet alone could say, "Amen;" but he said it emphatically and representatively. How many of God's people find a similar difficulty in acquiescing in his dispensations? They do not examine themselves, or their conscience is not sufficiently awakened, and consequently they fail to recognize his judgments and to profit by them as was intended.
II. GOD RAISES UP THOSE WHO SHALL RESPOND TO HIS VOICE AND MAINTAIN PROVISIONALLY HIS COVENANT RELATIONS WITH THE WORLD. The prophets were not only mouthpieces of Divine truth; they were saints whose consecration was essential to their spiritual discernment and the due exercise of their functions. The people were for the most part spiritually asleep or dead. In their spiritual and moral constitution a medium was provided sensitive enough for the perception and transmission of Divine communications. It was no exaggeration to speak of these messengers as "prepared, ordained, and sent." They were specially raised up for this duty of sustaining the conscious relations of God with his people. This was a dim foreshadowing of the Messiah-consciousness. In a certain sense the prophet repented, believed, obeyed, for the whole people, even as the high priest made solemn offering once a year for the sins of the whole people. Not that this spiritual condition of the inspired seer and saint could be effectual for individual salvation of others; but that it exercised a certain representative and general influence. The prophet held the truth as it were in trust for others, continually and energetically sought to mediate between Jehovah and Israel, and urged the people to acts of repentance and obedience. With each prophet it might be said that a new opportunity was given, a new day of grace afforded, for the return of the apostate nation to its primitive covenant relations with God. And in the succession of the prophets a guarantee was given of the enduring character of those relations, even when the covenant itself was flagrantly broken and practically set aside by those whom it chiefly concerned. The essential point was that there should be no age without some person or persons who should sustain a conscious spiritual connection with Jehovah for themselves and their race.
II. THAT WHICH THE FEW HAVE UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED SHALL BECOME THE COMMON INHERITANCE OF ALL. The prophet was for the most part a solitary and a lonely man. This isolation of his lot was his grief, but the persistence of the succession of the prophets proved the unswerving purpose of God ultimately to save, not only Israel, but the world. There might be from time to time but one or two who could say "Amen" to his judgments, but some day the people as a whole would themselves endorse and approve them. And soon in the "fullness of the time" Christ would come, who is the faithful and true Witness, the "Amen" of all the Divine Law and promise. In his world-wide reign as our Representative, Prophet, Priest, and King, through faith in him, the race will be constituted into a new Israel, to keep the word of God. In this transfer of influence the law is that the communication shall proceed from the higher consciousness and consecration to the lower; the travail for souls, etc; being but a detailed sponsorship, one day to be done away with, when "all should know him, from the least even to the greatest."—M.
Jer_11:10
I. THE INFLUENCE OF HEREDITY. In modem times the laws of heredity have been scientifically investigated, and startling results brought to light. Tendency can be traced from parent to child in gradually deepening lines and more confirmed manifestations. Spirit as well as body acknowledges this law, and, whether in health or disease, its operation is now placed beyond all dispute. But another law or modification of this law is perceived working alongside of it, namely, the law of atavism, in which not the general tendency towards improvement or degeneration is observed, but an apparently arbitrary and capricious recurrence of ancestral peculiarities that had long disappeared from the race. Of this nature seems to have been the present sin of Israel. It was not in the line of continuous succession, but a recurrent phase after intervals of normal and religious life. Thus it showed that the power of evil had only been "scotched," not killed; and that it was ready on the slightest provocation to assert itself in the rankest forms. How much that is mysterious in the conduct of individuals can be traced to the influence of such a principle! The two selves of every man represent influences that have been at work in his progenitors from remotest time.
II. HOW SOLEMN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS. No care can be too great in relation to those we bring into the world. Our own nature and character should be diligently cultivated, and the utmost attention paid to parental example, family influence, and educative circumstance in their upbringing. It will not do to ignore the fact that, from generation to generation, there are transmitted both physical and spiritual tendencies which have largely to do with the formation of character and the determining of destiny. For good or for evil, the parent exercises a despotic influence upon all whom he brings into the world.
III. YET THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE CHILDREN REMAINS. In the sad entail of evil there are many bright instances of bold and pronounced departure from ancestral sin. The individual is not wholly subject to predetermining influences. If so, moral freedom would be but an illusion. A power is required to break the tyranny of inherited sin, and this is provided in the grace of God. The gospel is the development of this grace as an effectual and adequate means of salvation.—M.
Jer_11:14
I. WHILST SIN IS PERSISTED IS THERE CAN BE NO REMOVAL OF DIVINE JUDGMENTS. The righteousness of God has, after long-suffering mercy, brought these upon his people. The wisdom of their imposition is infallible; and they spring from the depths of an inscrutable, infinite love. Whilst, therefore, the condition which involved their imposition is unchanged, it would be presumption to suggest their removal. It is rather for the righteous conscience of saints sorrowfully to approve the action of the Supreme Magistrate, as he draws his cordon round the transgressor and compels him to capitulate. The real calamity in connection with these judgments is the spiritual wrongness which necessitates them, and not the physical conditions through which they are executed. Most men suppose that if the pain or inconvenience is removed the evil is at an end, and the question between them and God settled. They still go on to sin. Impunity confirms and hardens them in their transgression. We have not learned the real lesson of calamity until we have detected its moral sources or occasions, and sought to rectify them before God.
II. DIVINE JUDGMENTS MAY IN CERTAIN INSTANCES BE GREATER MERCIES THAN THE REMOVAL OF THEM WOULD BE. When judgment continues to rest upon the transgressor, it is not mere vengeance which is represented, but mercy working on the lines of severity. It is God's emphasis upon his commandment which must be heeded. The blessing that is latent in it waits the appearance of a repentance not to be repented of. Like pent-up waters, it will flow in an overwhelming stream when once the barriers of law have been removed by the sinner's return to God.—M.
Jer_11:18-23
I. THE PERILS OF THE PROPHET arose from:
1. A hatred of the truth in his hearers. There was something unpalatable in the continual denunciations of their wickedness. Their spiritual and patriotic pride was wounded. The demands made upon them by the righteousness of Jehovah they did not care to yield to; and the dislike of the prophet arose from his association with his message. No vengeance, therefore, could be too great. It is not imprisonment they seek to inflict, but death itself, and death in such an obscure and ignominious way that "his name may be no more remembered."
2. Their fear of the consequences of his prophecies. The future which he described as inevitable was not pleasant to contemplate. The words he spoke threatened to overturn their most cherished designs and to rob them of their precious things.
3. Ignorance as to how thee might be averted. By an easy process of association they came to look upon Jeremiah as not simply declaring, but in a sense causing, the evils of which he prophesied. They reasoned, therefore, to the foolish conclusion that if they could destroy him they would free themselves from the dangers which he threatened. The preacher has often to incur dislike of this sort from his hearers. It is of the nature of the carnal mind so to misapprehend the things of God and the things that make for peace. At certain times stern denunciation and declaring of the true consequences of evil action are not to be regarded as enmity, but friendship. The word spoken by an inspired mind is to be distinguished from the expression of mere bitterness and dislike. Paul had to entreat his converts not to count him their enemy when he sharply reproved them.
II. THESE PERILS ARE WARDED OFF by:
1. Direct revelation. This is an advantage which the ordinary servants of God may not count upon. It was vouchsafed occasionally to prophets and apostles, but there is something in the spiritual mind which enables it to detect more quickly than others the symptoms of hatred to the truth. Promptings and suggestions to certain action in the midst of circumstances to ordinarily human eyes unsuspicious, have been too frequent in the history of the Church to be doubted. And even where no direct information may be given as to the mason of certain courses of action, which God's saints may be moved to observe, the results clearly prove the presence of a careful and ever-watchful Providence.
2. Faith in God. Jeremiah said, "Unto thee have I revealed my cause" (better, "Upon thee have I devolved my cause"). He evidently felt that his duty was to commit the whole matter into the hands of God. And this is ever the safest way. The judgment, the prevision of man, are to be distrusted. The soul should cast itself by faith upon God, who is able to save.
3. Greater boldness in the course of action assumed. This was a distinct moral advantage. The men whose action was inspired by fear were certain to be influenced by it. Superstitions dread of the effects of his words would produce a reaction from their cowardly plans. And they would feel themselves more and more helpless as they saw how they aggravated their own punishment. So the preachers of the gospel and the servants of Christ generally must not consult with flesh and blood, but be bold in proclaiming the whole will of God, in preaching the Word, being "instant in season and out of season." There are allies and reinforcements latent in the constitution even of the worst enemies of the cross of Christ.—M.
I. Is VERY TERRIBLE. The words, "Cursed," etc; are fearful words to come from the lips of the God of grace and mercy. And that which they threatened was terrible also. What a catalogue of woes, which were denounced against the guilty people, might be compiled from these chapters! And how exactly the event answered to the prediction! Read the history of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the sufferings of the people, which is given in the records of the times, for proof of this. It is a dismal story, heart-sickening, and one from which we should at once turn away were it possible for us to do so. But all this, which was written aforetime, was written for our learning, and therefore we cannot but give heed. For not only is the curse terrible—
II. IT IS ALTOGETHER JUST. What makes a sentence, such as is pronounced here, just? Is it not such considerations as these?—
1. That the Law which has been violated should have been altogether righteous. None can read over the moral Law given by God to his people without confessing its righteousness. "The Law was holy, just and good." Those who disobeyed it and were punished by it could not dispute its righteousness.
2. That it should have been fully known. If ignorance could have been pleaded the equity of the sentence might have been questioned. But amid all possible publicity and solemnity the Law was given at the first; and at a time (Verse 4) when their hearts, by reason of God's exceeding goodness to them, were peculiarly susceptible to impression. And ever since then, by repeated, prolonged, and earnest appeal (Verse 7) that obedience should be rendered.
3. When conscience consents to the Law that it is good. (Verse 5.) They said "Amen" to it. The prophet is not giving his personal account only, but referring to the fact that all the people said "Amen" when the curse upon disobedience was pronounced from Mount Ebal; cf. also a more recent "standing to the covenant" to which probably Jeremiah alludes (2Ki_23:3).
4. When the transgression has been notorious. (Verse 8.) It was not simply that they would not obey, but they would not even listen, and they went on in their own way, utterly disregarding the covenant to which they had promised obedience (cf. also Verses 9, 10).
5. When ingratitude has been added to disobedience. (Verse 4.) What had not God done for them? How deep was the obligation to obey!
6. When forbearance has been exercised. For a thousand years and more they had been suffered to occupy the land of promise (Verse 5, "As it is this day"). Wherever, then, was there or could there be a righteous doom if this were not?
III. AND AS NECESSARY AS RIGHTEOUS. Remember the purpose for which God had chosen Israel—that they might be the channels of his truth and righteousness to all other people. God was merciful to them and blessed them, "that his way," etc. (Psa_67:1-7.). "In thee and in thy seed," said God to Abraham, "shall all the nations," etc. But if the men of the nation had rendered themselves incapable of this service, it was essential for the well-being of the world that they should make room for more faithful men. And this they had to do.
IV. AND CERTAIN OF ACCOMPLISHMENT IF THE DISOBEDIENCE BE NOT FORSAKEN. The judgment that came upon Judah and Jerusalem was not at all a solitary isolated fact. The like of it had happened before, has since, happens now, and will again whenever like provocation is given, as it all too often is. God's way of dealing with Israel is God's way of dealing with man everywhere and in all ages; therefore his way of dealing with us. God's Law, his demand for obedience, man's disobedience, and the consequent doom, are all facts with which we are familiar. The history of Israel is but an example of what is ever taking place. Even the gospel of the Lord Jesus, however much it may avert the eternal results of our transgressions, will not save us from the present temporal consequences in this world. "These all died in faith," so we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, of those "whose carcasses,' nevertheless, "fell in the wilderness." "The way of transgressors is," has been, must, and ever will be, "hard."—C.
Jer_11:4
I. THESE PROMISES.
1. "Ye shall be my people." Now, by this is meant, amongst other blessings, that they shall be the object of his care. How many are the proofs that this is a constituent part of the heritage of his people I Were not Israel so? Did he not watch over them continuously? "He suffered no man to do them harm; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes." "He gave his angels charge over them to keep them in all their ways." The race of Pharaoh, the cruel thirst of the hot, waterless sands, the threatened famine of the breadless desert, the marauding Amalekite, the pestilence that walked in darkness, and the destruction that wasted at noonday,—not one of these was suffered to harm them. How full are the Law, the prophets, and the psalms with sweet assurances of the tender care of God over his people! Nor does the New Testament come behind the Old in like gracious declarations. And the experience of all God's people swells the volume of testimony to his loving solicitude and watchfulness over us. "And such honor have all his saints." And to be of his people means also to be the abode of his Spirit. That Spirit should dwell in them, rule and mould them after the Divine will. True, God's ancient people do once and again seem to have been utterly abandoned of that Holy Spirit. But there was ever a faithful remnant, ever a godly few, of whom the Lord was wont to say, "They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels." And we must remember that there were long periods in Israel's history when, as a nation, they lived under the blessed guidance of that Spirit. These more happy periods are passed over in silence, as all such in the records of nations are, so that the saying has passed into a proverb, "Happy the nation that has no history." It is of the sad, troubled times that history tells, not of the long, eventless, peaceful times. When at rest, they walk in the fear of the Lord, and possess the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and are multiplied." Oh the joy of this possession of his Spirit! The thought of losing it made the contrite psalmist cry out m his agony, Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." "I will put my Spirit within you" was ever one of the choicest promises of God to his people, and one of the surest tokens that they were his people. And it is so still. To be his is to be guided and governed of that good Spirit, to have our understandings purified, our affections wisely controlled, our hearts, our wills, under his direction always, so that we turn away from what is evil and cleave to that which is good. And it includes, furthermore, the being made the channels of his grace. Others shall be blessed through us, as it was said to Abraham, "In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." God's people are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. How unspeakably great and blessed is the influence of the true people of God! In their presence impurity, profanity, selfishness, sin in all its forms, hide their shameful heads and slink away, whilst all things lovely and of good report flock around them and attend upon them continually. And finally they become the inmates of the home of God. The heavenly inheritance, of which the earthly Canaan, the land promised to the fathers of Israel, was the type and symbol, becomes theirs. They enter it through the gates of death, and these gates once passed, they are in his presence, where "there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand there is," etc. Such are some of the elements of this great joy of God taking us for his people, a joy which, of his infinite mercy, may he make us all to know.
2. "I will be your God." This cannot mean less than that he will be known to them as their God. They shall be able to realize his existence, Ms presence, his constant nearness to them. True, the God of Israel, whose promise this is, was not known by any organ of sense; he was no material God that their hands could handle; he spake with no human voice that their ears could hear; he appeared to them in no visible form that their eyes could see; he was manifested then, as now, only to their spirits. But when they worshipped him in spirit they felt that he was at their right hand, so that they could not be moved. Hence they went about their daily work and engaged in all the occupations of their lives, consciously realizing the presence of God; so that they constantly spoke of him "as their God, our God," my God,—so near, so real, so present was he to them. They could not if they would, and they would not if they could, escape from his presence or withdraw from the observation of his eye, or from the guidance and guardianship of his hand. In such manifestation of himself to them did he fulfill his word, "I will be your God." Nor was this all. Not only was he realized by them but rejoiced in. "I will go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy," was the delighted declaration of the saints of old and is so of the saints today. Such joy had they in him that, when all earthly affairs were disastrous for them, when the fig tree did not blossom, and when there was no fruit in the vine, and the labor of the olive failed, and the fields yielded no meat, when the flock was cut off from the fold and there were no herds in the stall,—when, that is, ruin stared them in the face and met them on every side, nevertheless they could rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of their salvation. "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord," was their perpetual song; and it is the song still of all those to whom God has said, "I will be your God." And his word came true yet further by their coming to resemble him. It is ever the result of worship to conform the worshipper to the deity he worships. Hence it was said of the worshippers of idols, "They that make them are like unto them, so is every one that trusteth in them." Accordingly it has ever Been found that they who bowed down to gods impure, cruel, and treacherous, became them selves impure, cruel, and treacherous. But, on the other hand, they who have worshipped the God of Israel have become like him, righteous, just, and true, merciful, and pure, and good. "I will be your God" meant, therefore, "I will make you like myself," and this promise God ever fulfils. And it means also, "I will be your rest." The soul whose God the Lord is, reposes on him. The storms of life may rage, its tempests beat, but "firm and unmoved are they who rest their souls on God." Everything may appear to be slipping away from a man, and he may seem to be like one gliding down a steep, smooth slope, ever faster and faster to the precipice over which he will be hurled into destruction, unable to grasp any friendly rock or branch, or to find foothold anywhere—and men's circumstances are like that sometimes; but they to whom this word, "I will be your God," is fulfilled, do find foothold in God and can stay themselves upon him. Hence, when heart and flesh fail, God is the Strength of their heart and their Portion forevermore.
II. THE CONDITION OF THEIR FULFILMENT. They were faithfully to do the commandments which he had made known to them: "Obey my voice, so," etc. And this condition is not abrogated; it is in as full force today as it was in the days of old. But when it is complied with, then, not merely by the gracious appointment of God, but also in the way of natural result, there follows the enjoyment of the promised blessings. For:
1. Obedience tends to such enjoyment of God, inasmuch as it prevents the rising of those mists whereby the sight of God is shut out from the soul. Travelers along the Rhine or over the mountains of Switzerland know to their cost how often the most glorious scenery the world contains is completely hidden from their view by the uprising of some wretched mist, wrapping in cold, dark, impenetrable fog all that upon which their eyes would have so delightedly rested. They want to gaze upon all that loveliness; they have come for that very purpose; but they cannot for those thick clouds. And oh, what a beautiful vision is the face of God! How good it is to gaze upon him, and to behold the shining of his countenance! And this we should do were it not for those mists with which disobedience to God's will ever blots out all that otherwise we should so delightedly see. "If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God;" but when they do condemn us, confidence vanishes, and, as by a veil of impenetrable cloud, the face of God is hidden from our view. We have lost him; we cannot realize him; he is as if he were not, and the soul is forlorn and wretched and exposed to all manner of ill. Now, this sad experience, which is as common as it is sad, shows how the obeying of the voice of God must tend to the enjoyment of him, inasmuch as it prevents all that which hides God from our souls.
2. And before obedience that wall of the rebellious will, which more than aught else displeases and dishonors God and keeps him out from the soul, "falls down flat," as did the walls of Jericho before the obedient tribes of Israel. That will must be subdued, that stronghold of evil must be pulled down, and obedience is the strong hand that accomplishes this much-needed work. That strong fortress cast down, the soul becomes the possession of God, and the hitherto rebellious forces of the soul own him as their God. Or, to take another similitude, obedience unbars that fastened door before which th