@& The Patience and Goodneſs of God to this Remnant of his an« cient People is very remarkable ; he leaveth them not even in their Rebellion, but lendeth Jeremiah, whom he had before ſent to pre= vent their going into this Idolatrous Country,to try 1f in Egypt they would be brought to a better mind. & It ſthould ſeem that the ge- nerality of the Jews that went into Egypt had planted themſelves at theſe four places, Of Migao! we read Exod. 14. 2. and Numb, 33.7. from which places we may learn, it was a City or Town upon the Borders of the Red-Sea, We ſhall read of it again, Chap. 46. 14, It was a place which might have minded them berter of their Duty and Obligations to God, for upon their removal from thence, God divided the Red-Sea for their fore-fathers. Noph was another Cuy in Egypt, of which we read, 1/a. 19. 13. Chap. 2. 16. and 46. 14. Ezek. 30. 13. 16. The Greeks and Latines call it M:mphis ; it 1s thought to be that City, which is now called Cairo, Pathros was a Region or Province, ſome think it derived its Name from Pathry- ſom the Son of Mizraim, Gen.10.14. It is the ſame ( as ſome thiak ) which is ſince called Thebazs.
2 Thus ſaith the LORD of hoſts, the God of Iſrael, Ye have ſeen all the evil that I have brought upon Je- ruſalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day, they are a deſolation, and no man dwellerh
therein c. : © He referreth to the late deſtru&ion of it by the King of Babylon; this Remnant of the People, was a Brand pluck'd out of that fire,
the Grandeur of Princes was not ſo great, but ic might admit of as -Plain a thing as this. Others ſay the Palaces of their Princes were! - very vaſt, ſo that the Brick-kiln might be at a diſtance from the en-
try into the Dwelling-Houſe, though it was at the entry of the;
and their Eyes had been Witneſles,to the Deſolations that God had
| he. | "2 Becauſe of their wickedneſs which they have com-
mitted to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn
—
OE ON I EY IE 4
MD. -
LIV,
29.12,
CO OT INT IIEY
v VERSA It WTF 9b 3d *R o
+ ana."
—_—— OO
Chap: XKLIV.
* 2 Chr.
36 15.
ICh.42.18 7
+ Heb.
Out of the midſt of
Judah.
t Heb. wicked neſſes or puniſhe
ment. s
T Heb:
Contrite.
* Lev.17. 19 Chap.
Zl,
Jo.
7 © KK burn incenſe, and to ſerve other Gods d, whom they knew not, zeither they, you, nor your fathers e.
d As they were eye-witneſſes to the effe&, ſo-it was nothing but their unbehefmade them ſtrangers to the cauſe; for God by his
Prophets had told them that the great moving cauſe was their paying |
a Divine Homage to Idols. e The fin of whichis aggravated from this, that they were as much Strangers to the Idols, as to the Peo- ple with whom they joyned in the Worſhip of them, neither they nor any. oftheir Fathers having had any experimental knowledge of what they had done, nor could do for ſuch as adored them.
4 Howbeit *I ſent unto you all my ſervants the pro- phets, riſing early and ſendingthem, ſaying, Ohdo not this abominable thing that TI hate. |
5 Bur they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedneſs, to burn no incenſe unto
other gods f.
f Theſe two Verſes contain another aggravation of this Peoples ſin, viz. That they did this againſt light, and admonitions to the contrary. God had by his Prophets let them know that this was an abominable thing, a thing which he hated, and thar not with an ordinary degree of hatred, yet they would not hear, ſoas to ield Obedience to God, but went on in their Idolatries.
6 Wherefore * my fury and my anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and inthe ſtreets of Jeruſalem, and they are waſted and deſolate
as at this day p.
g For theſe very Reaſons, their Idolatry, and contempt of my Word by my Prophets, the very ſins you are now committing, -I have given Judah and Jeruſalem into the hand of the King of Babylon, and it is ( as you at this Day ſee it ) waſte and deſolate.
7 Therefore now thus ſaith the LORD, the God of hoſts, the God of Iſrael, whereforecommit ye 1hjs great evil againſt your ſouls ? to cut off from you man and woman, child and ſuckling f out of Judah,to leave you
none to remain þ. | þ What prudence can guide you to do ſuch aGtions as theſe, by which you cannot hurt God, butyour ſelves only ? You are now but a few of many, what love have you for your Country,in taking courles which will certainly tend to the utter extirpation of thoſe few, ſo as there ſhall be neither Man, nor-Woman, nor Child, no Suckling remaining of all the Jews. | 8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath, with the works
of your hands z, burning incenſeunto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut your ſelves off, and that ye might be a curſe, and a reproach amongſt all the nations of the
earth &.
; Tdolsare uſually thus defamed, and indeed nothing can argue a greater ſtupidiry than for any to pay an Homage ( confefledly due to the Supreme Being ) to what is the Work of Mens hands,and there- fore muſt be made by one Superiour to that order of Beings in which Tdols are. But how doth the Prophet ſay, that they worſhipped the Works of Mens hands? For it is apparent from Yer. 77. that they paid this Homage to the Queen of Heaven, which is not the Work of Mens Hands. So. It was before Images which are but the Works of Mens Hands. And this certainly was the Idolatry of the generality of the Heathens, they worſhipped an unknown Divine Being before a Creature, either as repreſenting it, orrather putting them in mindofit. k The term that doth not denote the Idolaters end of intention, for none ever did any at intentionally to ruine themſelves, it only ſignifies the end of their Work, that their ut- ter ruine would be the certain conſequent of their Work
9 Have ye forgotten thef wickednels of your fathers, and the wickedneſs of the kings of Judah, and the wic-. kedneſs of their wives, and your own wickedneſs, and the wickedneſs of your wives, which they have com-
mitted inthe land of Judah, and in the ſtreets of Jeruſa-
lem /?