The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 308

olh·e·trec 11,ttains thero can be no doubt, It brings forth fruit in old age, and its leaf doth not wither (Ps. i.). _It was, therefore, a. fit emblem of permanent prosperiLy and strength. Such w.as the Divine intent in regard to his people. 'rheir blessedness was to abide. Thus i11 all these and yet other ways were they first. Dut- II. 'l'HEY. DECAME LAST, See the terrible similitude employed-the charred and shatterec! tree. But not more terrible than true. The smouldering ruins, the devastated city, the desolate land, which a few years afterwards the prophet looked upon, showed. how true bis word had been. They had become last indeed. Exalted to heaven, they had been thrust down to hell. None can avoid inquiring- 11!. THE OAOSE OF ALL THIS. It is declared to be threefold. 1. The evil of the people themselves. (Ver.17 .) Their persistence in idolatry in spite of all remonstrance, warning, and every ·inducement which should have withdrawn them from their siu. "Do not the abominQ.ble thing which I hate" had in every va1iety of manner been said to them by God, but in vain. He hated it because it was the root of so many other sins, and the destroyer of all the. good he had purposed both for and through the1n. 2. Their evil returning -upon ·themselves. Ver. 17, "The evil ... which they have clone against themseh,es.' 1 This is ever the way of.sin (Prov. viii. 3G). It wrongs our entire nature. What -a man sows. he ,reaps. The reason is debased, conscience trampled on, the power of will prostrnted, the soul impi·isoned, the affections perverted, the imagination defiled, the body often diseased, character ruined, substance wasted, all the true springs of happiness poisoned or stopped. He has sown to the flesh, and of the flesh he has reaped corruption. Yes, sin is ever done against ourselves. 3. The woe which comes from.the provoked anger of God. Besides these natural results of sin-the reap- ing which is according to the sowing, and which are terrible enough in themselves- there come the pilnitive inflictions of the wrath of God. History as well as the Bible is full of proofs of this on a large scale, and so a.re the experiences of individual trans- gressors, though in more limited form. And wherever sin, the primary cause, is found, there sooner or later will come these other causes which together work so dread a doom. CoNOLUBION. What effect should the contemplation of facts like these-and they are written and wrought for our learning-hav.e upon us? Should they not cause us to reject at once and. for ever all those suggestions which Satan iH ever plying us with- that sin will not be punished, and the transgressor may, after all, go free? In view of facts like these, how can that be believed'? •And should they not lead us to offer as our daily prayer the petition, "Give us a heart to love and dread thee, and diligently to live .after thy commandments"? And not only to dread and deprecate the wrnth which sin provokes, but to desire and seek after that preoccupation of the heart with the love of God which will bar out sin. "Guard my first springs of thought and will, Aud with thyself my spirit fill." c. Ver. 17.-Tlie limits of long-suffering love. I. Goo's uEALINOS WITIT ms ANCIENT PEOPLE WERE THOSE OF LOVE. '!'hat he should have chosen them and brought them into covenant with himself; that he should have taken such precautions to preserve them in thnt covenant. See the time selected for its establishment (cf. ver. 4}-- when their hearts were susceptible and softened by his great goodness to them, and therefore the more ready to receive and keep the impression of his will. And how forbearing he had been I For more than a thousand years they had been iu possession of the land, though they bad so often sinned. See, too, the mighty moti,es to which he appeals-fear of the curse pronounced on the disobedient, hope of the precious recompenses promised to Huch as should obey. And he enlists conscienco on his sid11. They all said" Amen" to tho covenant of God (ver. 5). Aud perpetually ho ba,l been reminding them of bis covenant (ver. 7). All this-and it is paralleled by God's dealings with men now-proves the loving solicitude with which God regarded his people. II . .AND THAT LOVE WAS LOX0·SUFFERING. It was not nlono that he lrnd o.llowed them so long possession of tho hml rrombr<l t0 thoir fathcrn, though they had orton  THE BOOK OF THE l'HOl'llE'r JEnEMIATI. [err. xr.1-28.