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Jer_16:2
Thou shalt not take thee a wife. So St. Paul, "I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is (1Co_7:26, Revised Version); and Hosea has already drawn an awful picture of "Ephraim bringing forth his children to the murderer" (Hos_9:9). In ordinary times it was a kind of unwritten law among the Israelites to marry and beget children. Most of the prophets (e.g. Isaiah) appear to have been married. In this place; i.e. in the land of Judah. A Jeremianic phrase (comp. Jer_7:3).
Jer_16:4
Grievous deaths; literally, deaths of sicknesses; i.e. all kinds of painful deaths, including (as Jer_14:18 shows) death by starvation. They shall not be lamented. The absence of sepulture has already been pointed to several times as a feature of the horror of the times (Jer_8:2; Jer_14:16; comp. Jer_7:33), but this is a new and affecting touch. Dr. Payne Smith aptly refers to the plagues of Athens and London, in which the gentler elements of human nature were for the time almost extinguished.
Jer_16:5
Compare this prohibition with that given to Ezekiel (Eze_24:15-27), The house of mourning; literally, of. screaming (an uncommon word, only occurring again—of banqueters—in Amo_6:7). It is, no doubt, the wail of mourning relatives which is meant.
Jer_16:6
Nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald. Both practices are forbidden in the Law (Deu_14:1; Le 19:28; Deu_21:5), but the prohibition was at any rate unknown to the masses (see, for the former, Jer_41:5; Jer_47:5; and for the latter, Jer_47:5; Isa_22:12, "The Lord Jehovah called … to baldness;" Amo_8:10; Mic_1:16; Eze_7:18). St. Jerome remarks, and incidentally gives a valuable evidence of the tenacity of primitive customs, "Mos hic fuit apud veteres, et usque hodie in quibusdam permanet Judaerum, ut in luctibus incidant lacertos," etc.
Jer_16:7
Tear themselves for them. The verb is used in Isa_58:7 of breaking bread (the accusative is there expressed), and there is no doubt that this is the meaning here. The only question is whether lahem, for them, should not rather be lekhem, bread. St. Jerome sees here an allusion to the funeral feasts (comp. the parentalia), and surely he is right. The Jews had a conception of the nature of the life of the other world only less distinct than that of their Egyptian neighbors. The funeral feast was not merely for the living, but for the dead. Indeed, it was primarily intended for the spiritual nourish-merit of those who had gone before to the unseen world. Chardin, the old traveler, asserts that "the Oriental Christians still make banquets of this kind by a custom derived from the Jews." The cup of consolation. It would seem as if the funeral feasts had dwindled among the Jews into little more than a refection for the benefit of the mourners.
Jer_16:9
The voice of mirth, etc.; a striking deaf, on, repeated from Jer_7:34.
Jer_16:12
Imagination; rather, stubbornness (Jer_3:17).
Jer_16:13
A grim irony. In me foreign land ye shall serve your idols to your hearts' content, day and night if ye will, "because, [not, where] I will not have mercy upon you" (by delivering you, and so calling you from your idols).
Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15
The text of these verses occurs in a more characteristic form and in a bettor connection in Jer_23:7, Jer_23:8. The connection here would be improved by insorting the passage before Jer_23:18; and as displacements are not unfamiliar phenomena in manuscripts, this would not be a violent act. The difficulty is not m the therefore introducing the promise, which frequently occurs in prophecies immediately after threatenings (e.g. Isa_10:23, Isa_10:24), as if to say, "Things being in such a miserable plight, your God will interpose to help you;" but in the position of Jer_23:18. How can the prophet say, "And first I will recompense their iniquity double," when Jer_23:16, Jer_23:17 contain a description of this very double recompense?
Jer_16:16, Jer_16:17
I will send for should rather be, I will send. Fishers and hunters, by a divinely given impulse, shall "fish" and "hunt" the unhappy fugitives from their lurking-places. There may, perhaps, be an allusion to the cruel ancient practice of "sweeping the country with a drag-net" (Herod, 3.149), and then destroying the male population: Samos, e.g. was thus "netted" and depopulated by the Persians. Habakkuk may also refer to this when he says (Hab_1:15), "They catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag."
Jer_16:18
First—i.e. before "I bring them back again into their land"—I will recompense … double; i.e. amply, in full measure (comp. Jer_17:18; Isa_40:2; Rev_18:6). With the carcasses, etc. The idols, which "defile the consciences" of those who worship them, are compared to the most unclean and loathsome objects.
Jer_16:19
O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, etc. Jeremiah falls into the tone of the psalmists (Psa_18:2; Psa_28:8; Psa_59:17). All that is choicest and most permanent in Old Testament religion finds its adequate lyric expression in the Book of Psalms. The Gentiles shall some unto thee. The article, however, is not expressed. "Nations." i.e. a crowd of peoples, hitherto ignorant of the true God, shall hasten to the scene of Jehovah's great interposition; they have been convinced by Israel's unlooked-for restoration of the unique divinity of Jehovah.
Jer_16:20
But the Jews of this generation, in spite of the manifold proofs of the true religion which have been vouchsafed to them, are deserting the real divinity for the unreal. In a tone of surprise the prophet exclaims, Shall a man make gods unto himself, etc.?
Jer_16:21
The final answer of Jehovah. There will be no further grace-time. I will this once cause them to know; rather, I will this time (comp. on Jer_10:18) cause them to acknowledge. The judgment which Jeremiah has had the sad duty of announcing will prove to the blinded Jews that Jehovah alone is true God, alone can strike and heal.
II. CELIBACY MAY BE WISELY OBSERVED IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF PECULIAR TROUBLE. Such were the circumstances of Judah in the clays of Jeremiah; such, in the opinion of St. Paul, were the circumstances of his own time (1Co_7:26). Those were not times for wedding festivities; the married would be encumbered and hindered from doing their best for the public weal, and children born then would be born only to a heritage of misery. Similar circumstances may recur.
III. CELIBACY MAY BE WISELY OBSERVED BY MEN WHO ARE CONTEMPLATING TASKS OF PECULIAR LONELINESS DANGER OR DIFFICULTY. There are risks that a man may encounter for himself which he should avoid if others would be seriously involved in his fate. There is work which precludes the enjoyment of domestic life. It is not right to undertake obligations to another that cannot be fulfilled. The pioneer of dangerous travel, the John the Baptist of wilderness missions, is better unmarried.
IV. CELIBACY IS A DUTY FOR ALL UNTIL THEY ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A SUITABLE MAINTENANCE FOR A FAMILY. It is not heroic but selfish to bring a family into a life of certain hardship and misery. The principle which applied to the public circumstances of distress in Jeremiah's age applies to the private circumstances of distress which are met with in every age.
Jer_16:12
II. EVIL INCLINES TO GROW WORSE FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. Men ought to improve; but if they begin a course of evil they deteriorate in it. Nothing in the world is stationary. Nations are either progressing or retrograding. Each generation is either better or worse than its predecessor. Evil has a contagious property, and if it is unchecked it is certain to spread like an epidemic. It is a leaven that, left to itself, will surely leaven the whole mass. We should, therefore, seek to stamp out a sin in its earlier stages. We must not trust to any necessary law of progress, any idea of the inherent goodness of human nature, any thought of the temporary character of evil, but seek at once to resist and overthrow the sin. Here is a warning to parents. Evil tendencies are hereditary. The vice, which seems to do little harm in our own day, taking root and spreading, will break out into worse fruits in our children's time. How sad to leave only a bad example for our children to be referred to!
III. IF EVIL IS TO BE CONQUERED IT MUST BE BY SOME SUPERHUMAN METHOD. The natural laws of progress fail here. Depravity unchecked grows more depraved. Innumerable practical reforms, new systems of morality, draconian codes, etc; have been tried, and all in vain. Josiah made the experiment with his violent reformation, but it failed of anything but superficial good. Some are now trusting to sanitary improvements, to industrial progress, to popular education; but these too will not touch the root of the sore. The history of sin furnishes the greatest proof of the need of a Divine redemption if the world is ever to be saved. For this Christ came, and now the highest progress of the world is to be traced to that new influence of life which he introduced to turn the current of history from deepening depravity to growing truth and righteousness.
Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15
I. THE LATEST BLESSINGS ARE MOST THOROUGHLY APPRECIATED. A present impression is stronger than a memory. Even if the good things we are now enjoying are not equal to those we formerly possessed, the immediate good we derive from them is greater than that which we derive from a mere recollection of better times. Thanksgiving tends to become formal and conventional—the empty repetition of phrases which had a deep signification when they were the spontaneous response of the soul to fresh tokens of God's love, but which have become almost meaningless after the occasion for them has fallen into the past. To be real, gratitude must refer to the real mercies which we are now enjoying.
II. THE LATEST BLESSINGS ARE ADDITIONAL PROOFS OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD. We should "sing a new song" as we see new manifestations of Divine love. We have more to be thankful for when we have received two gifts than we had when we were only possessors of one of them. God is constantly adding to the vast pile of his favors to us. The latest stands highest, is so to speak, mounted on all that precede; and therefore this calls for the strongest expression of gratitude. Inasmuch as the longer we live the more we have to be thankful for, so also the more deeply should our hearts be stirred with gratitude. The restoration of the Jews is an additional mercy following that of the Exodus. One such stupendous deliverance should call forth never-failing songs of praise, but a second should intensify the volume of those songs.
III. THE LATEST BLESSINGS ARE ALSO THE GREATEST. The restoration is referred to as containing grander blessings than those of the Exodus. Gratitude should be proportionate to favors. This is often not the case, because the best things are least appreciated. Their merits are not superficial nor discernible at first. The spiritual blessings are the highest; yet to unspiritual men they are the least valued. Thus the chief elements of the Messianic promises of restoration were spiritual, and therefore not so acceptable to the mass of the people as the material blessings promised to the Jews in the first possession of the "land flowing with milk and honey." We are too ready to complain of the present and regret the lost past, ungratefully selecting the troubles of our own time for notice and ignoring its bright features, while we forget the hardships of the past and remember only its last pleasant features, like the Jews, who forgot the rigors of the slavery from which they had escaped, but remembered with regret the flesh-pots of Egypt (Exo_16:3). The Bible favors no sentimental regrets for "the good old times;" it teaches us that God's goodness is increasingly manifest. The latter times are better than the former, the Gospel age than the Old Testament era, the later years of Christendom than the earlier. The best is not yet revealed. The songs of the future should be sweeter than those of the past, since God has greater mercies in store for us than any we have yet enjoyed. Already God has favored us more highly than our fathers. We need not search the musty annals of antiquity for proofs of the goodness of God. This is a present goodness, and the richest fruits of it are the latest.
IV. THE LATEST BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN IN SPITE OF OUR GREATEST ILL DESERT. We have added to the tale of our sins while God has been adding to the tale of his mercies. As his goodness has increased with many, their sin has also increased. The Egyptian bondage overtook the innocent; the Babylonian captivity was a punishment to the guilty. Deliverance from the latter was an act of forgiving mercy. It was a proof of God's forbearance that he continued to be gracious, and of his pardoning love that he forgave the sinful people. Our greatest reason for praise is in God's latest mercy of redemption, restoring us after our falls into sin.
Jer_16:16-18
II. THE REASON FOR EXPECTING A FATAL RESULT TO THE CHASE. God undertakes the direction of it (verse 17). He knows all; he is ever watching every one of his children, for their joy if they are obedient and submissive, for their shame if they are rebellious and impenitent.
1. God's eyes are upon their ways. He does not depend upon hearsay evidence, upon the testimony of his emissaries. Hence
(1) none can elude his searching gaze, and
(2) we shall not be convicted on false evidence.
2. God's eyes are upon their ways. He notes conduct, action, behavior.
3. God's eyes are upon all their ways. The most secret do not escape his notice. Little faults are observed; hidden sins are known; all is fairly weighed and compared. God does not select conduct for judgment; he observes both the good and the bad, and judges of the whole.
4. Iniquity is not hidden. God looks beneath the ways to the iniquities which prompt them; he reads the heart, and judges of conduct by motive. Who can escape such a searching ordeal?
III. THE FATAL END TO THE CHASE. (Verse 18.) After conviction follows the sentence.
1. This is a recompense. It is earned and it is fairly proportionate to guilt. None of us dare ask for the simple reward of our conduct.
"Consider this—
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy."
2. It increases in severity with the increase of sin. The successive sieges of Jerusalem were successively more terrible; so were the repeated raids upon Rome. The longer we treasure up wrath for the day of wrath the greater must be the weight of it that will ultimately burst on our heads.
3. It is justly required by great sin. This was
(1) great moral and religious corruption;
(2) practiced in "the holy land "—in God's inheritance, and therefore a sacrilegious defilement of Divine things; and
(3) an abuse of God's blessings in the land God had given the people. The sin of those who enjoy Divine privileges and hold positions in the Church by means of which they can glorify or dishonor the Name of God is, on these accounts, especially culpable.
Jer_16:19-21
II. THE HEATHEN MAY LEARN THE LESSONS WHICH ARE LOST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. The heathen seem to be here described as returning to God before the Jews. Nothing is so blinding as sin against light. The publican repents before the Pharisee. Worldly men are more ready to receive religious impressions than people who were once religious and have fallen away.
III. THE REVELATION OF GOD VOUCHSAFED TO THE SPIRITUAL-MINDED IS HIGHER THAN THE REVELATION MADE TO THE HEATHEN IN JUDGMENT. The latter is grand and striking, but it does not open up the choicer stores of the knowledge of God. Jeremiah prizes these. To him God is a Strength, Fortress, and Refuge. God is not a mere Judge. He is a gracious Father, and this is his chief character. He is a strength—actively saving and inspiring energy; a Fortress—protecting us when attacked in the hard battle of life; and a Refuge in the clay of affliction, affording solace to his sorrowing children. God's people enjoy personal relations with him very different from those of men who simply recognize the terrible presence of God in judgment. Thus Jeremiah says, "My Strength," etc.
I. THE LIMITATIONS IMPOSED UPON THE PROPHET, AND THEIR REASONS.
1. The Command related to:
(1) The prophet himself. It was in the second person singular. A matter affecting himself alone.
(2) The holy land—"in this place." Should circumstances lead him elsewhere, the inference is that the restriction would be withdrawn.
(3) The period of time elapsing between the delivery of the special "word of Jehovah" and its fulfillment.
2. That Jeremiah himself was alone required to observe this restriction might at first appear strange were it not for his exceptional position.
(1) As a symbol of the Divine attitude and intention towards Judah. Not only special actions, such as the hiding of the girdle, were to be of this character, but the whole personality of the prophet. He was representative both of God and the ideal Israel. Therefore he represents the mind of God towards those who usurped the place of the latter. The conditions of the then present relations of God and Judah were not such as warranted an assumption of responsibilities implying for their happy fulfillment the Divine acceptance and favor. In the midst of a luxurious people his celibacy would be impressive.
(2) As an example to others. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, whatever they might experience in the future, would not be able to say they had been entrapped or deceived into a false security. The self-restraint and serious, sad aspect he presented were intended to influence the action of the people at that juncture. The calamities foretold would not come upon those who had been unwarned.
II. THE BEARING OF THESE UPON THE QUESTION OF THE "CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY." It is obvious that, as there were many other ministers of God in Judah and Jerusalem at that time to whom the command was not given, it was intended for one occupying an exceptional position. Further, there is no necessary permanent obligation attaching to it. A certain contingency is regarded—a time of distress and bloodshed—and the conduct of the prophet is directed with regard to that. But the celibacy of the clergy is a permanent institution with those who uphold it. No regard is paid to special circumstances or times. And the office of the Christian minister is not to be considered as occupied for a season of short-lived, delusive peace, but instituted and maintained in a world which is being reconciled to God; in which the Holy Spirit is given to them that ask it for direction and comfort; and whose institutions are more and more influenced by the laws of the kingdom of God. So in St. Paul's day it was the "present distress' which gave rise to the injunction. The world was conceived of as approaching a grand climateric; a sudden and overwhelming calamity was to inaugurate Christ's reign amongst men. Much will depend upon this, viz. Is the minister of the gospel a prophet of evil or a preacher of peace and glad tidings? If the latter, it can hardly be necessary that he should assume the bearing of Jeremiah. And the influence of a celibate clergy upon the general institutions of marriage has been found to be pernicious, lowering its relative sacredness and violating the law of nature, which is its greatest safeguard.
III. PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL OBLIGATION INVOLVED. The duties and restraints here imposed upon the prophet are not rightly apprehended when supposed entirely peculiar to office and position. They are not wholly those of a class or a special individual, but rather the generally obligatory principles of the spiritual life intensified and specialized. Every Christian ought to hold himself ready to sacrifice and to adapt himself as the duties imposed upon him under given circumstances may require.
1. The responsibilities of marriage. One's own happiness merely is not to be consulted m marrying, but the probabilities of comfort and right upbringing of children that may be born. A season of calamity such as that now foretold was a sufficient reason against contracting marriage, as by that means its effects would only be the more widely extended.
2. Consciousness of God's displeasure ought to exert a restraining influence upon men. The marriage feast and the usual rejoicings that take place on such occasions show that they are regarded as of a joyous nature, and not amongst the sterner duties. It was but fitting, therefore, that it should be refrained from in view of what was about to take place. It would have shown a heedlessness of God's anger provoking the more signal punishment. The "marrying and giving in marriage" of the antediluvians was a sign of their godlessness and unbelief.
3. The responsibility of example is here presented in an extreme form. What would have applied to the case of a private person thus forewarned was of greater force in that of one occupying an exceptional position and necessarily of great public influence. If the declarer of the Divine message had himself exhibited no sign of restraint or chastened severity of life, how could others be expected to believe him? The life of the preacher is the best illustration of his doctrine, and it naturally is regarded by others with special and critical attention.—M.
Jer_16:10-13
II. AS THE SINNER REGARDS IT. The picture drawn by Jeremiah is vague and yet terribly suggestive. It is so foreign to the experience and expectation of his hearers that they look upon it with incredulity and astonishment. Instead of evoking from them expressions of repentance and fear concerning the way in which they are walking, it provokes questions that exhibit the callous indifference and self-deception of hardened hearts. They cannot conceive of such a fate awaiting them. What have they done? Is it just that their conduct should be so dealt with? If any offence had been committed, surely it was out of all proportion to such a judgment, and so on. Is not this the attitude of the sinner today? The more awful the future predicted for him the more secure he feels in himself now. He fails to trace the definite line of connection between the germ and the fruit of his sin. It is a part of his infatuation to misapprehend the law of the Divine reward and punishment, and even the real outlines and proportions of the Divine character.
1. A destiny in his view so disproportionate to his offence becomes incredible. And just as the Jew could not conceive of the features and characteristics of the life upon which he was to enter when this prophecy should be fulfilled, the transgressor now fails to realize the position he must occupy when circumstance will depend only upon character. Passing consequences may be seen and partly estimated, but the final outcome of it all is, because of its very nature and extent, unreal to him.
2. The future of the sinner is strange and unreal to him, and therefore fails to impress him as it ought.
III. AS EXPLAINED BY GOD. This is one of the main purposes of revelation, viz. to connect the present with the future and to interpret their relations. Whilst it is true that every sinner already contains within himself the elements of his future punishment, it is also true that of himself he could not forecast the actual extent or nature of the destiny he is working out. It is necessary, therefore, both for emphasis and enlightenment, to supplement experience with revelation.
1. Their punishment was but the natural development of their sin. The latter was of old date. Their fathers forsook Jehovah, did not keep his Law, and went after other gods. The tendency was inherited by themselves, and in aggravated degree: "Ye have done worse than your fathers." They now paid more attention and honor to idols than to Jehovah, and when this is the case it cannot last long. The veil of decency will be cast aside; the real character will betray itself, and shame will cease. They became more and more "sold under sin." The vices of a false religion weakened their character and made them a ready prey to the ambition and rapacity of their neighbors. The same law is apparent in spiritual destiny. Let the sinner be warned. He may be sure his sin will find him out.
2. It was but right that they should be so punished, as they had added to their ancestral offence an intolerable personal aggravation. The terms of the covenant were flagrantly violated, and they had forfeited the land by their moral unfitness to occupy it. If an earthly country could be so hallowed as not to admit of being occupied by unclean idolaters, how much less possible must it be for confirmed sinners to stand in the presence of God amidst the multitudes of redeemed! Heaven would be bell to such persons.
3. The spiritual condition that was so dealt with presented no ground for consideration. God said, "I will show you no favor." It was a deliberate sin, and there were no signs of repentance. The day of grace, however, was with them whilst the prophet spoke. So is it represented to be with the preaching of the gospel. Whilst God calls to us his mercy still continues. "Now is the accepted time; … now is the day of salvation." But in that day present obstinacy will be the worst condemnation. "I called, and ye refused," etc.—M.
Jer_16:13
1. Jehovah will not continue to accept a half-hearted service. It was only his forbearance that had suffered it so long. Whilst it might appear possible that Judah would repent, the imperfection of its service was overlooked; but when that imperfection seemed likely to be stereotyped, or when it was increasing with the growth of idolatrous practices, it was no longer to be endured. A mixed worship is dishonoring to God. He refuses to accept half a heart. It is impossible to serve him aright with divided attention and interest. Permission to worship and know him even in part is a privilege which may be withdrawn. The "idolater" would not always be able to walk on the heights of critical spiritual eclecticism. The time would come when what he thought so irksome would be taken away. God would send upon him "strong delusion to believe a lie." And this is rather to be looked upon as a repudiation of Judah by God than as a departure from Jehovah permitted by him to his own hurt. Spiritual power and hallowed circumstance would alike be forfeited, and God would cast off the idolaters. For:
2. Sinful tendency, when let alone, confirms and strengthens itself. Daily contact with the obligations and influence of the Law and the temple was a real benefit to the Israelites. It kept them from settling down utterly into idolatrous habits. That religious observance which is so wearisome to the sinner is his safeguard; it keeps him from complete abandonment to the inner depravity of his nature. He is alarmed, warned, disturbed, whenever he is inclined to more than ordinary license; and even his ordinary lax and sinful life is constantly judged and corrected by the truth which he hears. The Spirit of God continues to plead and wrestle with him, and although he does not wholly yield himself to its influence, he is prevented from wandering quite beyond recall. But let this restraining influence of grace once be withdrawn, the natural impulse to evil, all unchecked, will begin to develop and gradually overmaster the entire nature. This is the explanation of many a life that seems to linger long upon the debatable line between duty and sinful inclination—it is the Spirit of God that has not ceased to strive with it, and not the mere power of the man over his own desires and habits.
3. The circumstances and opportunities of Divine worship, if persistently neglected and abused, will be withdrawn. Palestine under the theocracy was a breathing-space for the spiritual aspirations of man. It was a school of purest affection and the most exalted righteousness. Divine power outside of, and also working within, Israel had defended it against the most tremendous invading forces. Let that power be withdrawn, the possibility of every man worshipping God under his own vine and fig tree would be taken away. The Jews would be overpowered by the laws and customs of the idolatrous nations amongst whom they would be dispersed. How much do we owe to the political, social, and personal influences that make for righteousness around us! How slowly and at what infinite cost have they been acquired! And they depend upon unceasing effort for their support and advancement. Civilization is the product of long, manifold, and harmonious effort and growth. It is a gossamer fabric which a day might destroy. Yet is it but an outwork and coarse expression of religion. The latter is the breath and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Let that breath be withdrawn, and it ceases to live; and its most characteristic and essential institutions gradually become obsolete and sink into a mockery and a snare. We shall probably never know how much we owe to the mere circumstance of religion that surrounds us. Freedom to worship God, encouragement to obey him, and sustaining power to give effect to our spiritual desires, all result from the favorable position in which we are placed. Let us, therefore, seek to foster the institutions and increase the social and political influence of Christianity in the world. Without its presence amongst men, and the hallowed institutions, customs, and observances that embody its spirit, we should find it infinitely more difficult to serve God with conscientious and honest service.
II. THIS SERVICE WILL AFFORD NO REAL SATISFACTION OR PEACE. The exhaustive and absorbing devotion which idolatry entails is not the sign of spontaneous enthusiasm. It arises from the nature of the idols, as senseless, helpless blocks. They, indeed, must cry loudly who would be heard by such gods. In proportion as ritual is more laborious than righteousness, so is idolatry more exacting than true religion. But "the idol is nothing," only the representative of the lusts and ignorance of its worshippers. It is in reality the latter that receive and demand the service. All sin is idolatry in some form or other, and will prove as exacting of the attention and labor of the sinner. Who is not willing to admit that sin is a hard taskmaster? And yet, what are its rewards? The poor soul, hurried and driven by its own overmastering lusts and passions, has no rest, and no solid residuum of comfort is secured; nay, rather a sense of deepening gloom, indefinite, unquenchable craving, and a foreboding of the final wrath of him whom it has insulted and disobeyed. To the victims of wicked habit, etc; as to the devotees of a false religion, the words of Christ are addressed, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden," etc.—M.
Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15
II. THE PROMISE OF GOD APPEARS SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENTS OF HIS JUDGMENTS. Even in the way in which it is threatened there is encouragement and hope. It will be an awful experience, but God will redeem his people. So in the beginning of the curse our first parents received an anticipatory evangel. The failures of God's people in social and political experiment were the occasion of the most glorious predictions of Messianic times. This shows the real purpose of God's threatenings. They are intended to produce repentance, and yet there is reality enough in them if that repentance be not forthcoming. Fear is appealed to, but freedom of choice is preserved, and spiritual power called into responsible action.
III. THE MERCIFUL POWER OF GOD WILL BE MORE GLORIOUSLY MANIFESTED IN EVERY NEW CALAMITY WHICH HIS PEOPLE BRING UPON THEMSELVES. The captivity of which the prophet speaks will but give occasion for a grand deliverance, in comparison with which the Exodus from Egypt will sink into insignificance. The judgments of God, however great they may appear, are limited with the strictest exactness, and are within his control. There is reason, therefore, to expect his interference whenever the folly or unbelief of his people imperils his cause. He will preserve a people to praise him, and raise up a generation to call him blessed. So with the backslider from gospel privileges and obligations. He whom Christ has washed in his blood will not be suffered wholly to pass into spiritual death. Grander exhibitions of the Divine grace and power will be afforded. The good Shepherd will go over the dark mountains to recover the wanderer. Those who have been entangled again in the yoke of bondage will be redelivered if they but turn with new obedience and faith to their Savior. They will be saved, if" as by fire."—M.
Jer_16:19-21
I. WHILST JEHOVAH IS DESERTED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE THE HEATHEN WILL SEEK HIM. There is a law of displacement visible in God's dealings with his Church from age to age. Like the man in the parable, who prepared the feast and bade many, he is determined that his house shall be filled.
1. In this way God shows his people that he does not specially need them. His favor depends upon their faithfulness; if they fail he has others to supply, their place. His election is no blind favoritism or arbitrary distinction, but proceeds upon spiritual conditions.
2. Apostasy from God is due to imperfectly understanding him; but the heathen who turn to him do so with full experience of the effects of their idolatry. The vanity and nothingness of idols drives them in despair to the true God. Henceforth for them idolatry can have no power. It has been, as the Law was to Saul, a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Lessons acquired in so stern a school are not soon forgotten; and the haft-hearted disciple, led away of his own lusts and enticed, is supplanted by a steadfast and faithful convert. So every day is the Church of Christ being recruited from the ranks of those who have been the "chief of sinners." We cannot tell in what depths of degradation those may now be sunk who are to shine as stars in the eternal firmament. Let the individual Christian strive, therefore, to make his calling and his election sure. Let the Church see that iris candlestick be not removed.
II. IDOLATRY IS A SYSTEM WHICH REFUTES ITSELF.
1. It disappoints the expectations which it has awakened.
2. The conscience at last revolts against the excesses to which it leads.
3. By-and-by the evident truism, that what man makes cannot be his god, is realized and acted upon. This process is going on today in the great seats of idolatrous worship, and the fiercest iconoclasts are to be found amongst those who have been brought up in heathenism. A similar process to this goes on in the lives of good men as they are gradually freed from the illusions of life and the ensnaring influences of worldly ideas and aims. The disappointments of life are so many waves casting us upon the shore of a heavenly life, and the general drift of earthly experience is in many and many an instance bringing men surely to God.
III. FAILING A BETTER REVELATION, THE JUDGMENTS OF JEHOVAH UPON HIS OWN PEOPLE WILL SHOW THE HEATHEN THAT HE IS THE ONLY REAL GOD. This is not the way in which God would prefer to show men his glory and his power. It is by his saving grace he would commend himself to them. And the saints are the appointed teachers of the world. They could tell of his power and his grace, of their own deliverance. They could exhibit the blessings of a people whose trust is Jehovah. But, failing this, they would be made examples. The justice of God will take the place of his mercy, which has been abused. In its exceptional severity, its evident connection with and suggestion of supernatural agency, etc; it will attract attention and arouse curiosity. Israel, therefore, even in its calamity and suffering, will serve God. A vicarious virtue will lurk in its captivity, its desolation, and its persecution. God is dealing thus with the unfaithful branches of his Church today. The perplexities, entanglements, and griefs that are due to worldly alliance and secular ambitions and desires are well enough understood even by worldly men. Not from Eden, but from the wilderness to which she has banished herself, will the bride, the Lamb's wife, be brought for her new espousals, and with her shall come, as virgins in her train, many who have been taught by her judgments and disciplines.—M.
I. THE COMMAND TO MARRY.
1. In every way whereby the will of God can be expressed—by his Word, his providence, his laws, written, moral, social, physical, God has commanded that "a man shall leave his father and mother," etc. "A good wife is from the Lord," her companionship is the most blessed in the world. All artificial hindrances to marriage are, therefore, to be condemned. The same enemy that destroys such myriads of souls for eternity, ruins their happiness, oftentimes, in this life also. For it is the world which frowns upon marriages, unexceptionable in other respects, in which a certain style cannot be maintained or a certain amount of income be secured; and all superstitious teachings that inculcate celibacy as a state more pleasing to God, are equally guilty both in regard to God and man. Disobedience to this command involves such frightful consequences as in themselves to clearly manifest the Divine will, that u it is not good for man to be alone."
2. But here in these verses the prophet is distinctly forbidden to marry. (Jer_16:1, etc.) And the reasons were probably that, by his abstaining from marriage, he might more powerfully confirm his words as to the coming calamities. It would show his own belief in what he had foretold when it was seen that he would not make for himself a home under such circumstances. It would leave him more free for the arduous duty which he had to discharge. It would save him great sorrow when the evil days should come. And so now there are special eases in which God's will seems to be that a man should not marry. The poverty-stricken ministers of religion, of whom there are so many; the missionary exposed to daily peril of climate, pestilence, savage heathendom; or any to whom it is evident that by their marriage more evil than good will result;—then, just as we may be called upon to do without many other great earthly advantages, so we may be called upon to deny ourselves this. And there may be physical conditions forbidding marriage. No man has a right to transmit to others hereditary disease, whether of body or mind. And there are spiritual hindrances. A man ought to marry only "in the Lord." But all these exceptions are rare; God's general rule is that men should marry.
II. THE COMMAND TO "WEEP WITH THEM THAT WEEP." That there would be no stint of sorrow, no lack of mourners, the awful declarations of this section plainly show. And generally God's will, shown in a thousand ways, is that we should, by sympathy and condolence, "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the Law of Christ." But here such sympathy and "weeping with them that weep" is prohibited (Jer_16:5). This does seem a stern command, and no doubt it is so. But we do not feel called on to condole with criminals on account of the penalties they have to bear; were any to do so, we should regard it as misplaced and mischievous sympathy, calculated only to do harm. And whilst those to whom the prophet was sent were hardened in their sin, sympathy with them on account of their punishment would be also mischievous and wrong. We have continually to be on our guard—for many never are—lest our sympathy for the sinner's suffering should make us forget or think lightly of the sinner's sin. No matter how glaring the crime, there are always some who are ready to agitate for a mitigation of the penalty. Now, it is this hurtful sympathy which God here forbids the prophet to show.
III. THE COMMAND TO "REJOICE WITH THEM THAT DO REJOICE." This also is a constant injunction of the Divine Word, as it is an instinct of the benevolent and Christian heart. Jesus was as ready to go to the marriage festival as to the graveside. And so should we be. But here again the command is countermanded (Jer_16:8). And the reason is manifest. God would not suffer his prophet to be in any wise a solace to sinful men. Too many professed Christians are. Nothing is a greater "comfort to Sodom" than the sight of the serenity and joviality of men who profess to believe that sinners are on their way to everlasting woe. The sinner argues—and it is an argument very difficult to refute—that Christians do not believe this, no matter what they say, and hence they, the ungodly, are in no such awful peril after all. The prophet of God was commanded to abstain from all festivity and all outward joy, and no doubt the reason was, lest by any sharing therein, he should throw doubt on the awful message he was charged to deliver. Are the ministers of God bound to do the like now? Our Lord did not. His apostles did not. Nowhere are we bidden to abstain from all earthly joy. Rather are we assured that God has "given us all things richly to enjoy." And the unbeliever's objection on the ground of the inconsistency of our calmness, and yet more of our gladness, notwithstanding the awful peril of ungodly souls, may be met by the reply that we cannot say of those whom yet we would fain see drawn much nearer to God than they to our eyes are, that they are, as those whom Jeremiah addressed, absolutely doomed. We are not forbidden to pray for them, as Jeremiah was; nor to hope that even yet they may turn to God and find mercy. The prophet had no hope; we have much, and it is on the ground of that hope which we cherish that our calmer, brighter moods are justified. Still, one shrinks from saying aught that would seem to sanction the terrible indifference we all too much manifest in regard to the spiritual condition of the world around us. But yet we may say that that condition is not such as to demand—even were it possible, which it is not, to comply with the demand—that we should all cease from joy, and clothe ourselves unceasingly in sackcloth and ashes. We cannot do that; we are not bidden to do that, nor would it be of use were we to do so. We have a gospel to proclaim, a living Savior to hope in, and a Holy Spirit's energies to second all our prayers and endeavors to win men to God. But at the same time, the believer in God and in his righteous Law cannot and ought not to find pleasure in the rejoicings of the ungodly, or to give any countenance to their defiance of God. No; we are not to go "in the way of sinners," not to sit "in the seat of scorners," though it may be a scene of festivity and mirth. From all such we must turn away. We cannot rejoice with them when they rejoice; in their gladness we cannot share, but only mourn that they do not mourn. Let them turn to God, and we will dwell among them, and in their joy and in their sorrow we will gladly share. But until they do, for us as for God's prophet, his ordinary commands as to sympathy with them are countermanded, and we must stand aside. Light cannot have fellowship with darkness, nor the children of God with the children of the wicked one.—C.
Jer_16:10-13
I. THE FACT. How else can such a question as this of Jer_16:10 be accounted for? Was not their sin clear as the sun at noonday? Had it not been for years crying aloud to God for vengeance? Had it not been condemned by all the servants of God, by the written Law of God, by all the voices of God in long succession? And yet these people are asking, "Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us." It is as if the convicts in our prisons were to begin to ask why they were so treated, and to profess ignorance of their having done aught amiss. But in such ease we should say they were playing the hypocrite, pretending an innocence to which they well knew they had no claim. In this case, however, there is no hypocrisy. The question, monstrous as it seems to us, is asked in all good faith. The prophet of God is bidden to give it a serious answer, not to denounce those who ask it as a set of conscious hypocrites. Just as in Mat_25:44, which is a portentous parallel indeed, the condemned there are heard asking when they had been guilty of the sins laid to their charge. It is evident in that case and in this, not that they were consciously liars, but that conscience was simply dead within them. The writer knew also of one who had cruelly defrauded a large number of people, who, believing him to be an eminently religious man, had entrusted to him their hard-earned savings, with all of which he had made away; but, when brought to justice, condemned, and imprisoned, he could not be got to confess that he had done wrong, but would keep quoting, in regard to himself, texts which tell of the afflictions of the righteous, and how "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."
II. THE CAUSE. Conscience is starved by neglect of that seeking of God's grace which is its nutriment and strength. And it is stunned by repeated acts of sin. Men can and do nibble, if we may so speak, at conscience, and gradually rid themselves of it. The clamor of sin drowns the still, small voice, and its protests, perpetually unheeded, are at last withdrawn. So that at length men find themselves able to do evil and think nothing of it; the little rift that sin first made has widened and widened until the whole torrent of waters bursts through, for the faithful dyke that held them back has been gradually destroyed, and so now the whole nature of the man is overwhelmed, submerged beneath the deluge of sin. And, what is most sad, the man feels, no more than do the sunken cities and towns that tie at the bottom of the Zuyder Zee, the rush of the waves that for centuries have rolled over them.
III. THE CURE. Thank God there is one. The sharp surgery of God's judgments arouse the deadened conscience. The rags, the hunger, the degradation of the prodigal woke up his conscience and brought him "to himself." And so it was with the Jewish people. God's judgments made them hate and abhor, as they have done ever since, the idolatries which brought those judgments upon them. It would be dreadful to think that God had no resources whereby, in full harmony with its freedom, he could bring into due subjection and order "the unruly wills of sinful men." Can we conceive of God having created a force greater than himself, which can forever defy him, and ever maintain, as Milton's Satan in hell, a rebellious though wretched rule? God knew how to convert Israel, Saul, the penitent thief, ourselves, and we may trust him to find means whereby at length to Jesus every knee shall be made to bow. Mat_25:14 and Mat_25:15 contemplate a converted Israel (cf. also Isa_30:18; Mat_27:33-39). But let a man tremble at the thought of compelling God to deal with him thus. Let him beware how he wastes his conscience, lest it turn against him and suffer him to sin unrestrained.—C.
Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15
1. That in this return there was a display of the moral power of God rather than his physical might. That which was needed to bring this about was the exercise of the Divine power on men's hearts rather than any material force. It was by mighty miracles that Israel was brought out of Egypt; it was by the action of God's Spirit on his people's hearts that those who returned from Babylon were induced so to do. For their lot was happy, prosperous, peaceful, so far as this world was concerned. The Books of Esther, Nehemiah, and Daniel show this. Hence it was a strong religious yearning that led to the return of those who returned. The mass of the nation were content to remain, and did remain, and formed "those of the Dispersion," of whom in so many ways we hear in after ages. Hence, as Zechariah says (Zec_4:6), it was "not by might, nor by power, but," etc.
2. Then, also, in this return there was a display of God's pardoning love. Israel was a forgiven people. They had received at the Lord's hand double for all their sins. But God is ever more glorified in the display of pardoning love than in any manifestations of mere power.
3. And there was in it such a fulfillment of prophecy, such a demonstration of the overruling power of God in and through