Then that the inn should be in a wilderness was a sort of necessity, to round his wi~b off and make it perfectly express the state of his mind. Travellers had often wide. stretches of wilderness-land to cross, where, just because it was wilderness, some sort of shelter needed to be provided for the night. But it might not be an inn in anything like our understanding of the word-perhaps nothing more than a rough enclosure, where only that was provided which the bare necessities of the moment demanded. II. Wnv THE PROPHET WISHES FOR THIS. The settled society in which the prophet .6as been living has become rotten in all its important relations. Jeremiah has a people whom he must describe as" my people." He is connected with them by a tic of nature which no repugnance of his can destroy. But, though they are bis people, that cannot make him to overlook, excuse, or tolerate their iniquities. Nay, the very fa.et that they are bis people helps to make the iniquity more burdensome to him; for with one's own people one has so much to do. A righteous son of Sodom, if such a character were imaginable, sickened witb all the abominations around him, might well 'have left his kinsfolk, if they would not listen to his warning or profit by his refusal to join in their wrong-doing. And Jeremiah may be looked on here pretty much as if he had been a dweller in Sodom, for Jerusalem was spiritually Sodom. Adultery, knavery, habitual lying and wrong-doing,-these were sad elements to be charged as going to the substance of the social life of the people. And the prophet wished to be free from all entanglement with such. Of course we are not to take his wish literally. It is but an emphatic way of indicating how separated he was in the spirit of his mind from such considerations as ruled in only too many hearts of Israel. Though among his people, he was not of them. United aocording to the flesh, there was a great gulf between them according to the spirit. His people though they were, he yet was com- pelled to look upon them as travellers whom he casually met just for a little time. And so must God's people ever learn to look upon many of those whom they are con- tinually meeting on earth. For enduring society there must be something more than natural ties, frequent intercourse, or community of intellectual tastes and pursuit.s. It is a small thing to be brought together in the concerns of time if we are not also brought together in the concerns of eternity. Sad it is to think that there may be a closer bond between those who have never met on earth than between those who, on earth, have lived for years together I 'l'hose who are travelling to the same place may never meet by the way, but when they do meet it is not in the traveller's mere lodging-~lace, but where there are many mansions, and whence they "go out no moro for ever.' A mansion is itself a place that abides, and those who dwell in it are meant to abide also.-Y.·
Ver. 3.- Wickedness prevailing, and why it prevails. "These wicked people,0 says the prophet, "prevail, but their prevailing does not come by truth and good faith." I. WE HAVE HEnE AN ADMISSION THAT WIOKEDNESS PilEVAILS. It is, indeed, one great consideration in the prophet's unutterable grief that wickedness is so strong and successful. Man, weak and puny as he is in some respects, is in others strong to achieve very impressive results. In mere physical strength there are many brutes that far excel him, but he has faculties which so multiply his strength as to put the rest of creation under 4is feet. That man, with his peculiar nature, shoulu be strong to do good, means that if his choice so falls he may also be strong to do evil. 'fhe prophet looks out, then, upon wicked men who prevail in their plots and schemes. He has no wish to minimize their success. He uses a strong word to indicate it. 'l'he word used to indicate the prevailing of the waters at the Deluge is the word also used to indicato the prevailing of the wicked here.- The wickedness is not only extensively present, but manifestly successful. There must be no shirking of this faot. It is another matter, inrl.eed, what the success may be worth, and how Jong it may last; but there it is, such as it is. 'l'he wicked prevail by putting the good into prison, and even to the taking away of their lives. They prevail by seducing the weak and self-indulgent into temptation. They prevail by deceiving the simple. They go upon the mnxim that everything is fair, and has in it the highest necessity if it helps toward the attain- ment of their ends. And their cnda they do attain, making a boast of their success, and sneering at the scrupulosity of those who will not follow in their strps. II. THE INSTADILITY OF THIS PREVAILlNO JS BINTED AT. Integrity, truth, good 264. THE DOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ou. rx, 1-20,
faith, are thrown to the winds. The prophet does not need to have extorted from him an admission that the wickcll prevail; but along with the admission he makes an assertion which, even in the midst of his melancholy, gives him confidence and a measure of satisfaction. This prevailing, great and proud as it is, cannot last, for it lacks the essential constituents of endurance. The man who gains his ends by deceit and perfidy must of necessity deceive himself as much as he does others. He persuades himself that he will never gr?w weary of what he so ~uch enjoys. He forgets, too, that e>'ery one ~:horn he deceives may_ be thereby learm~g a lesson which some day may come bac~ m unexpec0d and terrible treachery to himself. There is not a single rnstance of wicked prosperity that need alarm or perplex us. The more wickedness raises its head in boasting, the more sudden may be the final overthrow. III. THOSE WHO CLEAVE TO TRUTH ALWAYS PREVAIL IN THE END. They do it by the best kind of prevailing-that of vanquishing the evil in their own hearts; and, so far as their overcoming is also an overcoming of others, they do it in such a way as provokes no retaliation. He who bas a settled regard for what is real and true and abiding, keeps out of bis future those very things which bring confusion to the wicked, The prevailing of the righteous may not, indeed, be exhibited so as to impress the eyes of the world; but that is a small matter. He who overcometh looks forward to God's rewards, which are such that the world cannot appreciate them. The great thina- is to be calmly conscious in our own breasts that we are winning the victory God ;ould have us win.-Y.