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 421
Ver. L-" The sin of Judah." That which the prophet has to say· conaerning -it' in this part of his prophecy is in answer to the question of eh. xvi. 10, 11, where Judali inquires what their sin is. In reply, the prophet- ,, ' L RECITES TIIEIR INIQIJITIES. (Vers. 11, 12.) IL DENOUNCES Goo's JUDGMENTS. (Vers. 13-18.) …
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was "King above all gods." 4. Venerable also: '' from the be 6innir.g," from the first days of their national life, God had chosen a place for his Name-beneath the rugged cliffs of Sinai then, 1md now in the magnificent temple, the place of their sanctuary. llut- II. Is DESIGNED TO SUMMON GoD'S PEOPLE TO TRUST IN HIM.…
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the supreme reference of these words. Let each one ask in conclusion-Is the cross of Christ the place of our sanctuary, the place where we worship, the beloved retreat of our souls? God grant it may be 1-C. Yer. 17.-" Be not a terror unto me." It is a common observation bow all things are :iffoct~d by the medium throu…
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morcy nnd love to our follow-men. Proclaiming the gospel, teaching the young, visitin 6 lhe sick, relieving the poor. II. IT IS OP DIVINE COMMAND. It is coeval with the creation of man (Gen. i. 31 · ii.1-3; Exod. x.x. 8-11). And its embodiment in the moral Law seems to denote it~ permanence and abiding obligation. I…
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in tho desert ground, so this earthly trust robs a man of the power to use aright even the opportunit.ics of higher good that are within his reach. Heavenly influences appeal to him in vain. He knows not the richer possibility of good that surrounds him, fails to apprehend it, cannot see when it cometh. 3. .lthiitlessn…
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repent of; that, as far as the east is from the west, so far are they from being in a ri<d,t 0 state. II. Over against this evident indifference there must be set the prophet's EMPHATIC STATEMENT OF THE HOLD WHICH BIN HAB UPON THE PEOPLE, 'l'hat we do not see the evil of our life proves one of two things-either that …
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them for his own aggrandizement. He is filled with the ambition of achieving great- ness in many ways. It is by his strength that he builds Babel and the Pyramids and all the great structures of both ancient and modern times. He gathers great armies and makes extensive conquests. He leans to his own understanding and i…
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not be astonished if in due time the appearances vanish and leave the cheerless realities of the wilderness. Where man by his natural vision sees the garden with all manner of rich possibilities, God teaches the believer to discern the desolation and barrenness that lie underneath. Gardens very soon become wildernesses…
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can choose. \Ve all have onr choice of the essentials of position, 'l'hcre are two sets of circumstances-those we cannot choose and those we are bound to choose. It is in tho power of us all to be planted by the waters. God's gifts of graee flow through fixed and well-defined channels, and to these we must go. We arc n…
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nnturo to appear better in some respects and worse in others than it really is. The description here may, therefore, be taken as applying even more forcibly to the heart that knows than to the heart that is to be known. Here the great difficulty and dan,.,er0 lie. For the deceitful and corrupt heart can be known, if no…
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Vers. 12, 13.-.An inspiring invocation. We must take ver. 12 as invocatory rather than indicative. 'l'he prophet speaks suitably in the language of apostrophe as he refers to the throne of Jehovah and the holy heights where he dwells. "0 throne of glory, height of beginning, place of our sanctuary I" It will be felt th…
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power, nt the summit of its splendour, has traversed and conquered large tracts of the earth; and so kings get the name of great; but the greatness is only a momentary, unsubstantial swelling. 'rheir power, like that of the sudden torrent, swiftly passes away. One can imagine how the prophet, while he talked of this he…
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III. 'l'HE EQUALLY SURE RESULT FROM CLEAVING TO Goo. '!'hough uot stated in so many words, it is cheeringly implied. that those cleaving to God have their names wl'itten whence they can never be erased.. For their names are indeed written, as it were, on the heart of God himself. He c&nnot either forget or forsake tuem…
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hatred to him it was asked. Sad, indeed, it is to reflect that these very won]; miali t bo asked in e. far different spirit; that they might come from thCJ depths or°an ignorant seeking heart, wandering long amid idolatries and human systems of philo- so_ph!, without hearing anything ~o· ·serve, as bread of heaven for …
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question, shows how much be folt the attacks made upon him. It would be too much to say that he did not expostulate with his enemies upon their injustice; but evidently his great resort was to the God who had sent him. If men perversely attributed to him daring imposture and bitter rnalignity,!he could do nothing bu…
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Vera. 19-27.-The lulllowing of the sabbath day. I. T~ PLACE FOR ANNOUNCING THE MESSAGE. 1. It was a place where the king, as much as the people, would hear, Whatever-else may be signified by "the gate of the children of the people," it. seems clear that it was a gate in which, at certain times, the king would be fou…
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CHAPTER XVIII. destined to be a.II but oerte.inly saved, but I\S placed before a serious o.nd awful decision. This chapter is the introduction of e. (For different lessons derived from the group of prophecies (extending to eh. xxv.) same figm-e, see the-• Rabbi Ben Ezro.' of of vurious dates; their sequence he.s ev…
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obscure. Litemlly we must, H would seem, "Stand ye in the ways," Jeremiah cried at render, Doth the mow of Lebanon fail from an earlier period, "ancl see, ancl ask for the rock of the /fold ( or poesihly, cease to flow tho old paths, which is the goocl way " from the· rocl, unto Iha field) f Thie is ( eh. vi. 16). Thes…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-The potter and the clay. The relations of the potter to his clay afford a familiar and apt illustration of the relations between God and his human family. At first sight this illustration suggests a harsh view of providence and a hopeless prospect for human endeavour. But on closer considerat…
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that form which he deems most fitting. Every life has not the same purpose. Tho potter makes vessels of innumerable shapes. Yet each life is successful as its own particular purpose is fulfillccl. 'l'he homely jug may be perfect, though it is very different from the graceful vase. A life is no failure because it is …
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Ver. 12,-Rejected preaching. I. THE BEST PREACHING MAY BE REJECTED.· ·Jeremiah was a true messenger of God and an able preacher, yet he was unpopular. Christ, who·" spake as never man spake," was "despi~ed and rejected of men." No greater mistake can be made than to judge of the value of any preaching by the popularit…
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TRYING TIMES, The remarkable fact about tho mountain snow is that it is perpetual. It is nothing that there is snow on the hills in wintor; are not the plains then equally snow-clad? The Christian who only remains faithful under favourable circumstances is but superficially religious, The difficulty is to be true when …
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HOMILIES DY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-10.-The potter and the day. The revelations of God are often given in unlikely places, and common circumstances and scenes may symbolize the divinest mysteries. The profoundest things in God's universe are side by side with the simplest. If the mind be open and the spirit suscepti…
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Ill, IT IS A 8UPilEME EXPRESSION OF WICKEDNESS AND WILL BE PUNISHED AS BUCH. -M. Vers. 14-, 15.-Jehovah an unfailing Help to his people; or, the" snow of Lebanon." One of the most striking scenes visible from a great distance is Hermon, with its l't\OW and vapours. It is covered with white snow all the year round, a…
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Vers.1-10.-The blessed parable of the potter and the clay. Few passages of Scripture l1ave been more misread or with sadder results than this one. From St. Paul's reference to it in Rom. ix. it has been thought that it taught the absolute sovereignty o!' God, his right to dispose of men as he pleases ; that, in the …
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Ver. 12.-Despair, its causes, consequences, and cure. "And they said, Thero is no hope," etc. There is a show of humility about this word. The man has evidently 110 hope in himself, nor in any Church, nor in any human help whatsoever. Now, this so far so good. To get inen away from trusting in nn nnn of flesh is eve…
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Caetneee is to incur such spiritual shame and distress, such hiding of the face of God, as to be more intolerable than the fiercest persecution (cf. the history of Cranmer and his piteous misery). But-as with Jeremiah-turning to the Lord in prayer. We cannot commend the spirit of his prayer, it is all unlike our Lord's…
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Ilut he who formed us for himself would not have any of us to be content with an inferior position and a lower aim. He would so mould and fashion us that we shall be '' vessels unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use" (2 Tim. ii; 21). • III. Hrs LONG-SUFFERING PATIENCE. When the potter's work is marred,…
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volition or power or the' potter will give to the clay vessel the qualities of a wooden vessel or one of metal. He may fashion it for a vessel of honour or dishonour, just as he pleases; but whatever its use its material is still of clay. And similarly we must recollect that, whatever God does with us, he does in harmo…
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ruining Jeremiah, wished also to do it in a safe and plausible way. It was to be dont by a plan. They were going t,o smite him with the t.ongue. Very likely they hoped to get him put t,o death under judicial forms. .dga,in, one asks-How came the prophet to hear of these plans~ The wise men must have shown a very imp…
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EXPOSITION. points of contact with eh. vii. (comp. vers. CHAPTER XIX. 4-6 with eh. vii. 30-32; and ver. 13 with With this chapter, vers. 1-6 of the next eh. vii. 18 ; viii. 2), e.nd we may presume ought undoubtedly to be connected to com- that tho evonts here related belong to the plete the narrative. Jeremiah here …
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circumstances of the past which they would gladly for~t. 3. It was clearly and boldl,y expressed. 'l'he language was precise, detailed, and graphic, the description of the approaching ruin vivid and appalling. Jeremiah used no euphemisms. His words arc enough to make our blood curdle as we read them, more than a score …
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.HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1, 2, 10, 11.-The breaking of the potter's vessel. Another symbolic action, but in this case the revelation to the mind of the prophet was not dependent upon its being performed. It is because of the public siguificance of it he is enjoined to perform it.. 'l'he "elders of the pries…
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there is no appeal from his sentence, when the limit of his forbearance has been passed. 4. It wa,s disgraced by being cast into Tophet. A double purpose was thereby ex- pressed. The scene of idolatrous rites was to be disgraced by being made the burial- place of the slaughtered thousands of Jerusalem, as, on the other…
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orthodox sermon, or for any other reason than that God has borne in upon our souls the conviction that we must speak such words, we are likely to do but little good-indeed, harm rather than good. And let such servant of God who speaks as God bids him remember that, even when speaking thus, his words may fail in the eff…
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might be. It is, perhaps, a -little to be wondered at that they should have gone with the prophet at all. And yet, although none might have quite the right lnotivo for going, each would have his own motive, and so au acquiescent assembly be formed. God knows how to subdue and blend the motives of men for his own purpos…
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EXPOSITION. . CHAPTER XX. protection of Jehovah: a suitable se(}nel to the narrative which goes before, even if not Ver.1.-'i'he continuation of the preceding originally written to occupy this position narrative. Pashlll' the son of Immer. This (see general Introduction). man belonged to the sixteenth of the sacer…
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enemies, who were no longer content with constantly pass from the language of prayer malicious words, but urged each other on to that of fruition. to lay an information against him with the Ve:s. ~4-18.-Jeremiah 01mes the day authorities as a public criminal. The first of his birth. The passage is e. further clauee…
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t!ie _inheren~ wickedness of the a_cts, which is the same in all who commit them with s1m1lar motives. 3. Pashur replied to the words of prophecy with the arm of force, Ho could not answer Jeremiah, so he attempted to repress him. Unable to refute the arguments of the prophet, he endeavoured to restrain the utteranc…
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fac~d. Something of this must be considered by us or we may make· an ignominious •failure. Jeremiah was warned of opposition. Christ discouraged rash, heedless entlrnsiasm (Luke ix. 57, 68), and bade men count the cost of his service, . II. Goo OYERPOWERS ms SERVANTS. Jeremiah complaiDCld that he was not only entice…
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here ascribed.to· them proclaims them to have been of low and shallow natures. Only such can play the part of a spy. Yet these men could trouble Jeremiah. A spy can persecute a prophet. A gnat can stine1 a lion. Mean and despicable creatures that can do little good have considerable powe;' of doing harm. This fact is h…
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as well as too faithful, to fail in fulfilling his promises. Therefore we should anticipate the praises of heaven on earth, sing the songs of Zion in the strange land, and enjoy the vision of the celestial city from Beulah heights though valleys of humiliation and waters of death may lie between. Ill. IT IS A GOOD THI…
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HOMILIES BY V.ARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers.1-3.-17.e behaviour of the wicked towards the truth. I. THEY REGARD THE TBUTH AND ITS MINISTERS AS THEIR GREATEST ENEMIES. If Pashur had known better he would have refrained from such exhibitions of temper. The prophet would then have been accounted the greatest benefactor of his cou…
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the suggestion of his own evil heart. Capable of destroying civil rights and character itself. The whole civil and sacred machinery of the land was at his disposal. The public trusted him. The state of things condemned by Jeremiah it ,vas his immediate interest to support, and in turn he could rely upon official suppor…
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than the treasures of Egypt." This is what we should strive after-inward oneness of heart and purpose with our Master. II. His EXPEBIENOE IS TRANSITIONAL. 1. From doubt to faith. (Vers.11, 12.) 2, From sorrow to foy. (Ver. 13.) 3. One day the struggle will end in triumph.-M. Ver. 9.- Why God's· servants labour on. "T…
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Have we not known seasons when the impulse was strong on us to say something for God? It has come when we have been preaching or teaching, and we have broken away from the calm, not to say cold, tone in which we have been going on, and have spoken to those before us words which have come up from the very depths of o…
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atoning death and sacrifice, will bring peace to the conscience, purity to the mind strength to the will, hope to the head, and final and eternal acceptance in the presenc; of God. Very much of what it can do for the soul in this life he knows it has done for him, anli he has seen it do yet more for otbers. He sees,…
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roused often become irrepressible. Many men of no ordinary meekness and self-control are overbome at such times-Jeremiah, Job, Moses, Elijah; and then they express themselves in unmeasured terms. It is as a llood broken loose. Its rushing, foaming waters pour along, and over all that lies in their path. Hence H is that…
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leade it to be said of and felt by a man, that H had been better for him that he had never been born. II. WHAT IS THE TRUTH ON THE ·MATTEn? Buch conclusion as that of the pessimist r.ever can be right, for our deepest moral instincts teach us that, if life were more of a curse tbno a blessing, he who is the God of mer…
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Vers. 1-6.-.A changed name and a dreadful doom. The change here, from Pashur to Magor-Missabib, reminds us of other divinely indicated changes of name in Scrip- ture; e.g. from Abram to Abraham, from Jacob to Israel, from Simon to Peter, from Zacharias to John. These changes, however, were indicative of advancement and…
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heighten the certainty as to the meaning of Magor-Missabib. At present Pashur was in a position of comparative security. If security can be claimed for anything in this world, it seems sometimes to belong to such as hold official positions. But with regard to Pashur all depended on the continuance of Jerusalem. The Lor…
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"Vers. 10-13.-The name Magor-Missabib wrongly applied. I. TnE HOPES OF JEnEMIA.H's ENEMIES, We have seen in the preceding passage (vers. 7-9) how the prophet was incessantly exposed to -exceedingly irritating taunts frorri his enemies; and how the pain of these taunts in a measure tempted hini to try if he could not es…
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needs the oppositiou of the wicked in order that all his power w defend his people may be known, This, indeed, is one of the lessons taught by the sufferings of Jesus even to death. Darkness was to get its hour and its power, that so the Light of the world might be more fully glorified, Never was it morn emphatically t…
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EXPOSITION. Ver. 9.-He-that abideth in th.i& oity, etc. CHAPTER XXI. No doubt Jeremiah often gave this counsel The chapter falls into three parts, two of to his fel~ow-citizens (comp. eh. xxxviii. I, which seem to be in some sort of connection, 17),_ aud 1~. appears from eh. xxxviii. 19; while the third is isolated.…
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Vers; 8-10.-The choice between life and death. I. THE cno1CE WAS FREE. It was left to the Jews to choose which course they would take. God has endowed every man with freedom of will, opening up to him a vast range of possibilities. All of us have opportunities for choosing life and blessedness if only we will seek them…
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Ver. 13.-God against Jerusalem. In the fact that God was agninst her, Jerusalem was to see thnt all resistance to the Chaldeans must fail. This terrible secret of hope- less ruin may be found in others besides the Jews. . I. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR Gon 'l'O BE AGAINST THOSE WHO WERE ONCE ms MOST FAVOURED PEOPLE. It is J er…
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on this occasion Rppcars at first highly sagacious and commendable. 1. For its acknowledgment of Jelwvah as the only Deliverer. .A tremendous danger threatened the state. Zedekiah "counted the cost" and sent to the representative of Jehovah. Ha did not waste his resources in useless expedients, but frankly accepted the…
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to many, and those who enjoy Divine privileges should be especially careful as to how they behave. The world of heathenism witnessing the behaviour of Judah would be confirmed in its unbelief, or would misinterpret the genius of the religion of Jehovah. It might suppose that Jehovah was but a likeness of one of its …
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did the enemies of Jeremiah at this time acknowledge him as the true servant 0£ God. But it was too late to secure what they desired. "The door was shut." But as the foolish virgins were bidden go to them that sell and buy for themselves, so the prophet of God has one counsel to give them whereby they might be" saved, …
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"To at.eel his melting heart, To act the martyr's sternest pa.rt; To watch with firm, unshrinking eyo His darling \'isions as they die ; 'l'oo happy if, that dreadful day, His lifo bo given him for a prey." (Keble). Now- I. TRlS DREAD .NECESSlTY IS 0:KE WIIICH MAY BE SEBN CONTINU ,!.LI,Y rriEBSING ON MEN. Illus…
867 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.