here it is called villany, to denote the hainouſneſs of it, eſpecially inthole whoſe Office it was to teach others that they ought not todo it, Rom. 2, 22, Falſhood in diſcharge ofatruft is ordinarlly attended with a debauchery of Lite, nor indeed can 1t be reaſon- ably imagined, that thoſe who humovr Men, have debauched thett Conſciences, and declared things as the will of God, which they {now are not fo, to ſhou!d be true and honeſt in their Conver- {ition towards Men. iThe ſecond Crime of theſe falſe Prophets was, What gave them their denomination, teaching People what God never bid them ſpeak. h Now this, fairhthe Lord, T nnow, 22d am a witneſs to, their Adulter tes are in ſecret, but I am a Wit- neſs to them 3 the poor People do nct know that they teach them lyes, bur I know it. God will deal with Men not according to what Men like. themſelves know of them, and can prove a- gainſt them, but according to what he know's, and can witneis againſt them. :
24 Y Th: ſhalt thou alſo ſpeak to Shematah the | Nehelamire, ſaying /. | :
{ We have no guidance from any other Scripture, to teach us who this Shemaizh was, bur it is very probable that he was one of thoſe who at this time were in the Captivity of Babylon, and ſo came tothe knowledge of Feremiab's Letter, mentioned 1n the beginning of the Chapter, and wrote what fojlowethto Z-pha- niah, the. Son of Maz{ciah the Prielt, and the reſt of the Prieſts, to have Jeremiab punifhed ; but why ne 1s called th: Nehelamit? is not ſo evident, for that the word is derived from DIM, Cholem. a Dreamer, is not very probable,we read of no fuch placein Fudea as Nehalam or Halem, but we cannot imagine that the Names cf all the Towns in Fudah are to be found in Scripture, he is thrice in this Chapter called th= N-helamire lo as it is probable that there was luch a place as Nebelam, from Whence he was.
25 Fhus ſpeaketh the LORD of hoſts the God of Iſracl, fayins, Becauſe thou haſt ſear letters in thy naine te all the people that are at Jeruſalem, and to Zephaniah the ſon of Maaſciah the prieſt, and to all the priefts, ſaying, : ;
25 The LORD hath made thee prieſt ”: in the {te:d of Jehoiada the prieſt z, that ye ſhould be Ofh-
Wer 5 : This 15 the greateſt miſchief of falſe Teachers, they are the cauſes of People truſting inlyes, and trom hence the fins of falſe
. | Prophets are ordinarily aggravated.
23 Thereforethus {aith the LORD, Behold I will puniſh Shemaitah the Nehelamite, and his ſeed » : he ſhall not have a man to dwell among this people wr, neither ſhall he behold the good that I will do for my people, faith the LORD x, becauſe he hath taughr rebellion agalult the LORD y.
u Puniſhments of this lite ordinarily are extended to the Chil. dren of {intul Parents, for Parents fake, who are puniſhed in their Children, being Res Parentum, a conſiderable part of their Parents Goods and Portion. w He and his whole Poſterity ſhall be root- ed out ; x And neither he nor they ſhall live to the time of my Peoples return from the Captivity of Babylon. y Becaufe by the taiſhoods which he hath taught, he hath been an inſtrument ro make people diſobey the Commands of God. We had the fame clauſe, Chap. 28.-16, and ſuch kind of threatning we find Amos 7. 17. denounced by that Prophet againſt Amaziah the Prieſt of Bethel, forbidding him to prophefie at Bethel, becauſe it was the King's Court and Chapel, To obſtruct the Revelation of God's Will to People, or to publiſh what is contrary to it, to ſeduce Peop]e from believing 1t, or yielding obedience, are both Crimes thar have been, and will be of fataij conſequence to them, and their Families, who are ſo hardy asto incur the guilt of them.
CH AP. XXX.
God ſheweth Jeremiah the Deliverance and Retuyn of the Jews, x, —— 9. He comfortetb Jaob, 10, I7. Their return (hall be gracious, Wrath onthe Wicked, 18, —— 24.
Lo,
HE word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, faying a,
a This Title is thought to exterd to all we have, both in this
and the next Chapter, both which multly conſiſt of comtortable
Promiſes of the reſtauration of this people, and teacheth us what
ccrs in the houſe of the LORD * tor every man zhat i mad, oand maketh himſelf a prophet, that thou ſhould{t * put him 1a priſon, and in the ſtocks p.
m Tat is High Prieſt, as ſome have thought, but it appears from 2 Kings 25. 18. that Scratzh was at this time the High Prieft, and this Zephaniah was the fecond Prieſt, as he'is there ft1-
led ; as alto Chap, 52. 24- nor muſt any think, that the Fehoiada here meant was the immediate Predeceſſor of Zephaniah, for be- fides that Jehozadz was High Prieſt, which Zephaniah never was ; there was near 200 Years betwixt the Death of Fehozada, and this cime, in the ſtead therefore here fignifieth, that thou ſhouldſt be like the good High Prieſt Fehoiala, nnleſs fome other Fehoiada was mears who was turned out, and this Zephaniah put 1n his room. 0 That thou mighteſt have a care of Religion, and parti-
cularly take care of Perſons, who being mad or phrenetick make themlelves Prophets. p The Prieſts had a power toreſtrain ſuch Perſons by imprifoning them, or putting them inthe Stocks, by which maſt agree a particular puniſhment is expreſſed, bur for the nature and way of it, it is not determined. Thoſe who in fo incertain a thing, have a mind to read what hath been ſaid, may find it both in Mc. Pool's Synopſes Criticorum, and the Engliſh An- notztions upon this Verſe,but theLearned Author of chem reciting what Authors have {aid concludes, 1t at laſt nor with any cer- eainty to be deterinined,
27 Now thcrefore, why haſt thou not reproved Jeremizh of Anathoth, which moketh himſelf a pro- PRet tO you 9. _
q He means it of an ative real reproof, as appears by what went betore ; he would have had Feremizh impriſoned or put to thar puniſhment which they called the Stocks, the nature of which we cannot determine, concluding him to be but a mad Man, and one who was not made a Prophet by any immediate miſſion from God, but had only made himlelt a Prophet.
ought to be the matter of ourSermons; we ought to ſpeak nothing
for fubſtance, but what we. can juſtifie to come from the Lord | which all Doctrine doth, that is bottomed on Scripture, though opened, and made more plain and intelligible by words formed in our Own minds. |
2 Thus ſpeaketh the LORD God of Iſrael, ſaying,
Write thee all the words that I have ſpoken unto
thee in a book 6. .