1 J. R. Illingworth, Christian Character (ed. 1904), 37.
JEREMIAH xii. 5 53
heroism ; they lose all dignity and peace of mind in dealing with the peddling mishaps of routine life, yet cherish the belief that they are prepared to take arms against a sea of troubles whenever it happens to break forth. It is a flattering unction we should refuse to lay to our soul. Wesley tells that one day sitting by the fire of a wealthy gentleman a puff of smoke came down the chimney, whereupon the host plaintively addressed the evangelist, " You see, sir, I have to put up daily with this kind of thing." Are we to believe that behind this fretfulness the man hid the strength of a martyr, and that whilst he was subdued by the smoke he could stand the fire ? It is an illusion. He who is wearied in a sprint with the footmen will never contend success- fully with horses ; he who faints in the land of peace will make a poor show in the swelling of Jordan.1
3. Jeremiah was faithful in the peaceful retreat, and so did not fear the swelling of Jordan. He made straight for the lair of the lion. No one could have had an easier time than Jeremiah if he had done like the others — proclaimed peace when he knew there was no peace. It was by his own voluntary action that he passed from running with the footmen to contending with the horses and from the land of peace to the swelling of Jordan. He must go ; for he wills to obey ; the hand of the Lord directs him. It is his mission. It matters not what lies before him. He is one of those who must ignore everything but their duty, their mission, their message to the world. And though the earth close around him in balls of fire, still he must proceed. " Jeremiah, go not to Jerusalem ! Pashhur the priest is there. There are enemies there powerful enough to take away thy life — or at any rate they will attempt it — and they will come very near doing so. They will make thy life a torture. Pashhur is there, thy great foe." One can hear in imagination Jeremiah saying as Luther said : If it rained Pashhurs nine days running I must go. What does it matter what it rains ? If you are in the path of duty it matters not how the storms may come. The servant of duty
Needs must pass the thunder's lair Where ambushed lightnings lie, Where meteors cleave the hissing air And perils throng which none may dare — Save those that seek the sky.
1 W. L. Watkinson.
54 THE PRIDE OF JORDAN
Jeremiah was actually bolder in the swelling of Jordan than he had been in the land of peace. When Jeremiah came to Jerusalem, his heart was set like flint, his aspect was grander and bolder than before. So logic was completely out of it. There is no logic in spiritual power, unless it has a separate logic of its own. This is all the logic of spiritual power, " As thy days, so shall thy strength be." They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles. They can do nothing of them- selves ; they can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth them. " If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Eemove hence to yonder place ; and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." That is the logic of faith and spiritual power. You cannot pass from premise to conclusion, because you are dealing with an infinite quantity, and the amount of your power simply depends on the amount of your capacity to receive from God. Touch His infinite hand and you can do anything.
4. Jordan has got into poetry as the symbol of the passage to the better life. We speak of passing the stream of Jordan, meaning the stream of Death ; just as we say " across the water," meaning that we leave our own sweet land for some far-off place of promise. Jordan was the little silver line which separated Canaan from the outer world ; and the Jew, in his captivity, looked upon it as dividing him from the city of his passionate desire, while he dwelt in a city for which he had but scant liking. What wonder that Christian souls have called Death the Jordan, and spoken of their holy land as Canaan ! To pass over Jordan has long been a proverb for dying, and the fields of Canaan flowing with milk and honey a sweet symbol of the Christian's place of rest.
It is a felicitous expression and gathers within itself all possible troubles, all life's tempests, and within its broad compass also points all too plainly to the final overwhelming catastrophe that soon or late rounds the whole ; it is so intense with force, so human, " How wilt thou do in the pride of Jordan ? " And wise men always reckon on the possibility of flood. What will you do in the " rainy day," when no more money can be drawn from the bank ? " Oh ! I have insured against that." That is wise ; and,