PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1
Thomas Kelly Cheyne [1841-1915] · 535,674 words · 592 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 361
Vers. l-9.-Thankfulness through contrast: a harvest se,·mon. These verses are a terrible picture of drought and famine. Our thankfulDess .for what God has· done for us in tbe bounteous harvest he has given may be called forth the 'more by considerin"' the contrast with our happy lot which these verses present. Contrast…
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Vere. 7-9.-An absent God deplored. The denrth told of in foregoing verses and the misery causeLI thereby led tll the conviction that God had abandoned his people. In these verses all(l throughout this section down to eh. xv. fl we find the prophet pleading with God to return. In these verses we arc shown- 364 'l'HE BO…
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John xix. 11). St. Pe.ul also so.ye, concerning the heathen nations, "The time of this ignorance God winked at." II. BUT IT IS NOT AN ADI!:QUATE EXOUBE. For: 1. TM taught are the creator, almost as much as the creatures of their teachers. The people who clamour for smooth things to be prophesied to them will find such…
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Pnul 11ssures us that "God hath not cast off his people." ".All Israel shall be saved." Let us wait on and wait for God. 3. Be ashamed if by our sin we, have caused such distresR. Jeremiah had not sinned, bnt he mourns as if the sin were his own. Behold- ing t.he sorrow our sin oauses to those who love us will, if w…
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day (Matt, vii, 15 ; xxiv. Z4). . St. John spoke of ,their uprising as a characteristic of the "last time" (1 John ii. 18; iv. 1). Our own age is certainly no exception. Men may n9t cht,iQl ])ivine inspiration in the old prophetic sense, but never were there bolder claims to deep spiritual insight, never such adventuro…
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Let us have faith in the triumphant force of God's own Word. "What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord," etc. (eh. l:xiii. 28, 29). We may well trust in the ulti- mate victory of that which is the product of infinite wisdom, and is backed by all the resources of omnipotence.-,v. Vers. l-6.-The mise1·ies p1·oduce…
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118 cannot be escaped, of the licks that bind us to the lower creation. We cannot, at present at all events, get above some of the wants of the brute, although certainly it cannot rise to some of ours; but it is just the wants of the brute that seem to be the only wants many feel. They have enough if they can eat, drin…
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,imply ignored. When the cisterns nre empty, when the lnnd is chapped, when there is no wnter anywhere for man and beast, thou they can talk effusively concerning" the Hope of Isrncl, and the Saviour thereof in time of trouble;'' What self-accusation is implied iu this appeal! It was not in ignorance of Jehovah's claim…
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largest offerings at its shrine, All these doings only emphasized the disobedience r,f the people. They were very diligent in giving what Jehovah did not want, vainly thinking it might stand in place of what be imperatively required. When God asks u~ for repentance and obedience, it is the merest trifling both with his…
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EXPOSITION. kinds ; literally, fami1ies; Le. kinds of CHAPTER XV. things. The first-mentioned has reference Vers. 1-9.-Second rejection of Jere- to the living; the remaining ones to the miah's intercession; e.wfulness of the im- unburied corpses (eh. xiv. 16; xi.Jt. 7; pending jndgment. ::u:xiv. 20). To tear; rather…
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a mother). Tho population ure to fo.11 in of either going to Babylon with the exiles we.r (comp.those.me figure in Ezek. v. 17). or dwelling with the Jews who were allowed The tenso is the perfect of prophetic certi• to remain under Gedaliah the governor. tude ; literally, I have bereaved, etc. He chose, e.s the narr…
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or, thy loosing (shall be) for (thy good), troubled existence, aud the possibility thn~ nccording as we adopt tho reading of the his foes would ultimately succeed in crush- Hebrew text or that of tho margin, which ing him, which disquieted this consoientious differs in form as slightly as it is possible to but timid…
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lcllcrs ha.ving been partly effaced and then J eremiah's expression here. The " words " miarnad, uftc,r which" not" was prefixed to or revelations, of J ehomh are regarded ;. muko sense. However this may be, the having an objective existence in the ideal present reading is unintelligible, if we com- worl<l of which God…
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disappointed. His '\"e:rntion is perpetu11.l, (oomp. eh. vi. 27-30). The prophet is com- R.nd his wounded spirit finds no comfort. pared to e. smelter. Dy the forvour of his As a liar ; rnther, as a deceitful stream. The inspired exhorlntions, ho seeks to draw away word "stream " hns to be understood as in from the …
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form of suffering which is suitable for one may not be suitable for another ; and (2) because guilt varies in degree (Luke xii. 47, 48). Ill. PUNISHMENT WILL BE ASSIGNED TO ALL THE GUILTY WITHOUT EXCEPTION, They may be numerous, yet some penalty will be found for all. The variety of destinies might suggest that among …
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II. Tms Is AN UNNATURAL OCCURRENCE, No such event could occur in the physical ·world. Therefore it proves that the human world is deranged. III. Tms IS A CALAMITOUS oocURRENCE. National modifications may be both peaceful· and profitable. Empires are slowly welded together, colonies gradually assume powers and rights o…
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martyrdom is unavoidable without unfaithfulness, we mc1y honour God an<l benefit men moro by our death than by our life. Ver. 16.-Tlie words of God found and eaten. I. THE WORDS OF Goo REQUIRE To DE FOUND. They arc not emblazoned on the face of the world that the most careless may not miss them. They are hicl.den tr…
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in this world we suffer with it and from its action upon us, eveu thou?'h we may be living very near to God. Christ was a man of sorrows; be sighed and wept and "roaned in spirit It is not sinful to grieve. It is not a proof of unbelief. Faith should e~gender patience, resignation, peace, and hope; bnt it cannot destro…
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spiritual thought. The same process should be observed in dealing with non-Christian religions.. Beneath a vast heap of ~he vile a few glitteri~g gems of pre1;ious merit may be found m the Talmud, and also m the Zend-Avesta, m the Koran, m the religiou9 writings of Greece, India, China, etc. 3. Apply the principle to l…
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II. BUT THERE ARE CONDITIONS WHICH DESTROY TIIE EFFICACY OF BUOH INTERCESSION, Their influence is but partial and imperfect, depending as it does upon their own inadequat<l fulfilment of the Law and will of God. If it were a question of strict account, they themselves would not be able to stand in his presence. It is o…
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I. BY AN APPEAL TO THE JUDGMENT OF GoD. In this connection it is as if conscience Hself had been invoked. And yet, better still, if conscience should vacillate God would remnin ,the same. In this way it is well for the best of men to test their motives by continual reference to God. 'l'here is no better way of self-exa…
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Ver. 1.-The limits of intercessory prayer, "Though Moses and Samuel" etc. 1. This Ycrse seems at first sight to be in contradiction to the many Scriptures 'which assure us that the "effectual fervent prayers of righteous men avail much." The Bible teems with promises that God will hear when we call upon him. But here i…
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sure that such intercession bas been tried. Is our own such ? 'l'herc may be cus- tomary and too often formal prayers offered by parents, pastors, teachers, for the spiritual ~ood of those about them. But can we say that such prayers are mighty intercessions, like those of Moses and Samuel? 1f we know they have not bee…
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Ver. 4.-The sins of the fathers tJisited upon tht: children. This verse contains an explicit declaration that such is God's rule. The calamities about to fall on Judah and Jerusalem were "because of Manasseh theson of," etc. No doubt the sins of Manasseh were flagrant in the extreme, and they were the more aggravated b…
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Ver. 9.-The d<llT'kened home. "She that ha.th borne ••• was yet day." Perhaps in all the range of human sorrows there is none greater than that which befalls a home when the dearly beloved mother of many children, yet needing sorely her care, is early cut off. Such a piteous case is described here. The prophet, bewaili…
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opening of this chapter God says, "Though Moses and Samuel "-men who had once and again pro,·ed themselves mighty intercessors for the people, yet evou if they- " stood before me, my mind could not be toward this people." 'rhe crimos of Manasseh, King of Judah, that king who reigned so long, so disgracefully, and wi…
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linvc no might the Lord has increased strength? He has let the wolves be indeed like iron, bnt his sheep he has strengthened as the northern iron, etc. And this he will ever do. God can temper our souls to such degree of hardness and tenar,ity that they shall blunt and beat back every weapon that is formed against them…
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will 1:0 save is as t~e northern iron an~ the.steel. 'l'ruc, the retrospect over the past mny be gnevous, and smce that was forgiven 1t may have been too often reproduced ncrain. "Thy backslidings," as God told Israel, "have been mo.ny;" but nrt thou hopin°g in God? dost thou grieve and mourn over sin and truly desi…
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2. Fina.Uy, I think of another hopeless contest in which also many are still en<ra"ed in which the iron ie thinking to "break . . . steel." It is the contest with God, the ~on:bat with the Most High. God has made us all for himself. Now, be himself so obeys the law of truth and righteousness and goodness that we say he…
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to test it after it was done; the increal'ed knowledge of the Greek language and lite- rature-a knowledge that, in view of the growing disregard for the languages of anti• quity, was not likely to be ever greater than at present; the deepfelt love for the English of our Bible, thus ensuring the preservation to a gre…
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Ver. !.-Fruitless intercession. These words are addressed to the prophet in his character of intercessor for the people. He had already been told to plead no longer for them (eh. xiv. 11), seeing that their case Wllll hopeless, and the Divine sentence that had gone out against them was irrevocable. Observe- !. THE POW…
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there. The mention of these two great historic names lifts Jeremiah in the esteem of God to something like a level with them.-Y. Ver. 10.-The man who felt he had been bO'l'n to strife and rontention. 'l.'hese wor<ls of the prophet are not, of course, to be taken too literally. They are the language of excited feeling …
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Vers. 15-17.-The prophet's claim upon Jehovah, and the grounds of the claim. That which urged the prophet thus to cry to God for succour is stated with areat emphasis in ver. 18. He is suffering as from a perpet,ual pain and an incurable wound. 1t is by such a cry as this that we are able to estimate something of th…
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EXPOSITION. latter part of it will enable us to fi.x it more CHAPTER XVI. precisely (see on eh. xviL 1-18). With this chapter should be ta.ken the Ver. 2.-Thon shalt not take thee a wife. first eighteen verses of eh. xvii. The head- So St. Paul, "I think therefore that this ing of the Authorized Version well ex- is…
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Ver. 6.-Nor out themselves, nor me.ke ooours in pr6pheoies immediately after themselves bold. Both practices are for- threateniuga (e.g. Isa, x. 23, 2i), as if tu say, bidden in the Law (Deut. xiv. 1; Lev. xix. "Things being in suoh o. misero.ble pli 0 ht., 2S; xxi. 5), but the prohibition was at your God will iuterpo…
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Ver. 12.-"Worse than your fathers." I. EACH GENERATION SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THAT wmcH PRECEDES IT. The natural movement of all mankind should be onward and upward. • We have the lessons of past history to warn and to inspire us; the continued, increasing, long-suffering mercy of God to urge us to serve him more fa…
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Yers, 14, 15.-The gi·eafest gmtitude for the latest blessings. Tho circumstances or 1.he Jews are illustrative of those of all of us iu the fact that we all have occasion to feel most thankful for the most recent gifts of God's goodness. The reasons for this are manifold, ,iz.- 1. '£HE LATEST BLESSINGS ARE HOST THO…
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hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and ont of the holes r,f Lhe rocks." It will be useless then to" call on the hills to cover us," etc. None will he over- looked. Fishers will come with their drag-net, gathering all classes as fish of al 1 kinds and of all sizes are collected in the sea. Rauk counts f…
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HOMILIES BY VA.RIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-4.-Celibacy as an obligation of the minister of God. This passage has brrn quoted_ in support of the Roroish doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy. Like other favourite references of the advocates of this regulation, however, it only requires to be examined to show that its be…
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marriage, e.a by that means its effects would only be the more widely extended. 2. Ounsciousness 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 tha\ they are regarded as of a joyous nature, and not amongst the ster…
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Ver. 13.-Sin a tyrannous and exhaustive service. L THAT WHICH WAS AT FIBST A "REE CHOICE WILL IN TIME BECOME A COMPULSORY SERVICE, 'fhe waywardness anrl capricious eclecticism of the idolatrous Jews was to be sternly visited upon thew. They had toyed and compromised with idols; soon it would be discovered that that …
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Vers. 14, 15.-.771e old deliverance forgotten in the new. I. THE GREATER AND MORE INVETERATE THE TRANSGRESSION, THE GREATER WILL BE TllE PUNISHMENT. It was not to be supposed that he past judgments of God, however great, were all that he could or would do. He has many ways of bringing transgressors to their senses; and…
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from the wild11rness to which she has banished herself, will the bride, the Laml/s wife be brought for her new espousals, and with her shall come, as virgins in her train many who have been taught by jler j,udgments and disciplines.-M. ' Vere. 1-9:-.Commancls counurmanded. There are three such in this section. I. 'l'…
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,ms charged to deliver. Are the ministers of God bound to do the like now? Our Lord did not. His apostles did not. No,vhere 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 ca…
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entrusted to him their bard-earned savings, with all of which he had made away; but, when brought to justice, condemned, and imprisoned, he could not be got to con[ess that he he.cl done wrong, but would keep quoting, in regard to himself, texts which tell of the afflictions of the righteous, and how " whom the Lord lo…
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dcli,erance fr<nn Egypt. 4. And this will be seen yet more if we take tho verses a8 pointing on to the u./timate•restorotion of Israel, Zechariah (xiii. and xiv.) speaks of this, as do many other Scriptures. It was the "hope of Israel" of whioh Paul told, and he places it in connection with the second advent and the re…
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II. CONSCIENCE, Their :sin was." written as with," etc., "on the ta hie of their heart" (eh. xvii. 1). Nothing could erase the memories they all had of their own grievous sin. It was written as if in rock, and as with a pen of iron and a point of diamond (allusion, probably, to the inscriptions on rocks, so frequent in…
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Vers. 5-9.-The house of mourning and the house of feasting alike forbidden. It is made plain upon the surface of this command that the house of mourning and the house of feasting are not forbidden in themselves. The man on whom the injunction is laid is a special man, and he is spoken to in special circumstances. Al…
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ing, and invit.ed guests would make special efforts to be present. Jesus, for instance, at the wedding-feast at Cana. Mere rioting and revelling, and the laughter of fools and such merry-making as cost the Baptist his life, were at all times forbidden. There ia much of rebuke to us in this command of the prophet here. …
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V ers. 19-21.-The-eonfession of the idolatrous Gentiles. I. THE PROPHET'S DESCRIP- TION OF JEIIOVAR, God, he says, is his Strength, his Fortress, and his Refuge. l; The way in which the descriher individualizes himself. To the prophet individually Jehovah has a satisfactory relation. So far as external sufferings and l…
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EXPOSITION. with Egypt entered into by Jehoiakim after OHAFTER XVII. his revolt from Nobuohadnezw1· (see Ewald, Vere. 1-18 are closely connected with 'History of Israel,' iv. 261). The emphasi3 the preceding chapter, We have just been on the deceitfulness of the heart, in ver. !J, pointed to the striking contrast b…
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illnstmtion of the Divine retributive justice. time "with a pen of iron" (ver. 1). The 'l'hc prophet assumes the truth of o. popular fountain, etc.; a favourite phrase of our belief respecting the pnrtridgo (still n prophet (see eh. ii. 13). common bird in J udreo. ), tho.t it brooded Vere. 14-18.-A prayer of the pr…
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strict observnnce of the s9.bbath. The will be found in Geseuius's' Hebrew Thesau- rewnrd held out is Jerusalem's continuance rus;' 1.1l. mdeh). 'fhe queen-mother was pro- in all its old pomp, both temporal and bably the leader oftilis cltin; "the mistress," spiritual, and the penalty the destruction as she was called …
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 1.-Engraved sin. I. Sm LEAVES A RECORD OP ITSELF. It is not an isolatco. act. It begets consequences, plants memories, creates guilt. The record remains even if we do not read it. God still notes it, and will some day confront us with it. Hence it is not enough to amend our ways for the future. We nee…
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is withered for lack of water (see eh. ii. 13). (4) Lonely. "In a saU land, and not inhabited." The soul that is separated from God is essentially solitary, deserted, desti- tute though immersed in the tumult of worldly society. II. Trm FLOURISHING TREE EXEMPLIFIES THE DLESSEDNESB OF TRUST IN Gon. 1 N otc the characte…
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Ver. 11.-Parlridge-nests. I. ILL-OOTTEN RIOHES BETOKEN AN UNNATURAL CON- DITION OF BOOIETY. It is not natural that strange eggs should be found in a partridcre- nest. Violence e.nd_fraud and more subtle sharp-practice are proofs of a disorgani;ed state of society. II. ILL-GOTTEN RICHES MA y BE MINGLED WITH JUST GA lNS…
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Vers. 19-2i.-The sa1Jb11th. As Gentiles we were never under the specie.I regulations of the Jewish Le.w, and as Christians we are free from all formal laws of" ordinances," and called to free spiritual obedience. Like St. Paul, we may be able to see tlrn.t no one day is more sacred than other days (Rom. xiv. 5); and…
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• -HOMILIES DY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers.-1, 2.-Sin's record. I. THE RECORD 1s INEFFACEABLE, This is contrary to the notions of very ma.ny. Sin, when it is committed, wears the aspect of insignificance and triflingness," • It is the gra.tifica.tion of a momentary impulse, of a persona.I a.ncl iudividual character; and …
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2. Exceeding human diagnosis. No c:-ne is so ignorant of his own (fopravity as the sinner himself; and no earthly eye can read the true significance of the symptoms. 3. Pre- eininent in th1'$ respect. It is the source of it all, The master is g1·eater than his work. The centre contains all the threads of connection. I…
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dwelling." And this power to enforce its mandates and its authority brou.,ht with it the glory of security, honour, and respect. Its whole history had been one ~f growing luHtre and renown, and its influence had ever "made for righteousness." The saved sinner breathed freely within its precincts, and the victories of D…
1,207 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.