The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 259

~s alto~ether ~wt, an<l far more than met., by tho a~ain gathering up of all in One, oven m Chnst, which works such graco. But that ultimate redemption which is in Christ does not hinder, but that meanwhile, and for a weary while, hereditary sin may work woeful sorrow and harm. 'l'herefore- VI. Tms FACT APPEALS: 1. To all parents. Seek to cut off the entail. We may liave received such sad inheritance, but let us, as we may, reject it for ourselves and in so doing refuse to hand it on to others. Again and again has Goel given grace iosome one member of a godless house-as to Jo,iah, son of that Amon of whom it is said "llut Amon sinned more and more "-who has for himself and those who come afte; him broken the bad succession and begun a new and blessed departure. ·when ,ve have done our best, our children will have a sufficiently heavy burden to bear; let us not make that burden heavier, life more terrible, and holiness and heaven far less attainable for them, by banding down to them a legacy of evil example and of unhallowed habits and propensities inherited from ourselves. Do not let us sin so against our children. Yet many do. 2. To all chilrlren. Your fathers' 'sin will not excuse yours. Goo has turned judgrnent away from many an evil so11 because he had a godly father but never because he had an ungodly one. 'l'herefore if yours be the sad and to~ frequent lot of those who inherit evil from their parents, reject that inheritance and seek aud gain from your heavenly Father, though you may not be helped herei~ by your earthly one, the better, the most blessed inheritance of the children of God.-O. Ver8. 21, 22.-Death's doings. Dehold- I. DEATH'S CAR1''TVAL. In many an ancient continental city you may see portrayed in still vivid colours, on the roofs of theii· covered bridges,-as on that of the old • bridge at Luceroe,-on the walls of their churches, and elsewhere, the grim' Dance of Death.' These verses remind of those paintings, and tell in yet more fearful form of Death's dread carnival. With what diabolic zest he is represented at his work hero! He is shown to ns, not as coming in in ordinary manner to the sick-chamber, where his coming has long been expected and may even be welcomed; but as breaking in roughly, unexpectedly, cruelly, like a thief coming in at the windows. Nor as drawing near to the poor, the defenceless, the miserable; but entering into our palaces, the abode of the great, the rich, the strong. Nor as calling home those whose day's work is done, who have lived their life, and to whom eventide has long ago arrived ; but as cutting ruthlessly down the dear young children in the very blossom of their days. Nor as ridding the earth of the cruel and vile; but tearing from us the innocent, the children. Nor are vigour, strength, and promise any more a defence against him than decrepit old age; for "the young men " are his victims even as others. And no multitude of slain will satiate him. Ver. 22 represents the numbers of the dead as so great that they have to be left unburied and uncared for to rot upon the open field. It is true that this frightful picture is taken from the awful experiences of a besieged city, but with slight modifications it is true everywhere and always. This life is the carnival of Death. What are men but a long succession of mourners? .As the poet says- " Our hearts like muffled drums are beating Funeral marches to the grave." And when we contemplate the cruel consequences of this carnival of Death, which is going on still, the mind and heart reel, and faith in the fatherhood of God would fade utterly out of men's souls were it not that in brighter colours still the Word of God portrays- II. DEATH'S CONQUEROR. Christ has auolished death. The broken pillar, the iilrned- down torch, the "Vale, vale, in reternum vale," of the old pagan world, have now no appropriateness because no truth. Death is sorrow still, even to those who believe in him who is "the Resurrection and the Life; " but it is not and cannot be that hopeless, unutterable, unfathomable woe which it was till he came who bath abolished death. No doubt this terrible verse (ver. 21), which tells of Death's dread doings, is _yet far more true than we would like it to be, and often and often, in the blank desolation and shattered hopes which earth's bereavements bring to us, we fail to derive all the consolation and help which Death's glorious Conqueror has given to us. But, never- ou. 1x. 1-26.J 'l'HE BOOK OF 'rllE PROPHET JEllEMIA.H. 2G9