more expression of the pained human feel• Ver. 19.-We looked for peaoe, oto.; a ings of the prophet. It is possible that the repetition of oh. viii. 15. editor of Jeremiah's prophecies thought the Ver. 20.-0ur wiokednees, and the ini- pe.rngraph which begins here needed some• quity of our fathers. There is a mysterious thing to link it wit.h the preceding passage, oonnection between the sin of the past and e.nd selected his formula rather unsuitably. of the present. So in another prophet we Let mine eyes run down, ete. (comp. eh. xiii. read," Your iniquities and the iniquities of 27). Jeremiah's tender compassion shov.'ll your fathers together [will I requite]." itself in his choice of the expression, the Ver 21.-The throne of thy glory; i.e. virgin daughter of my people, just e.s we feel the temple (eh. xvii. 12; Ezek. xliii. 7), or e.n added bitterness in the premature death Jerusalem (oh. iii. 17). It is the same oon- of n cherished maiden. ception where Jehovah is said to "dwell Ver. 18.-A picture of the state of things between" [or, 'sit upon'] "the cherubim " after the capture of J crusalem : the slain (Isa. x.xxvii. 16; Pa. lxxx. l; xoix. 1). without, the famine-stricken within. The Ver. 22.-None of the vanities, or fa.lee latter are described allusively as" sicknesses gods (eh. iii. 17), of the heathen oan deliver of famine'' (so literally). As a peculiarly us in this our strait (want of rain), "Rain- striking e.-idence of the downfall of great- makers" is still a common name of sooth- ness, it is added that even prophet and sayers among savage nations. Thou alone priest have to go about into a land that they art God, and our God; or, in Jeremiah's know not. The verb used here can obviously phrase (not, Art not thou he, etc.? but) Art not ha.-e its ordinary sense of going about tlwu not Jehovah our God f and the ground for purposes of traffic. Aramaic usage of the appeal follows, Jehovah is the Maker su~gests, however, a suitable meaning; of all these things; i.e. all the heavenly what th1, prophet sketches before us is a phenomena, especially the olouds and the company of these ex-grandees " begging rain. their way" into e.n unlmowu land.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-.A plague of drought. I. .A PLAGUE OF DROUGHT IS Alf INSTANOE OF A NATURAL CALAMITY OCCASIONING GREAT DISTRESS, Jeremiah gives a vivid picture of the trouble such a plague causes. Men of all classes, from the noble to the plough- man, suffer under it; the animal world is driven from its natural instincts; universal desolation and agony prevail. Yet this is all natural. It is not the result of war nor of any human interference; it is a natural calamity. Nature is not always placid and pleasing. She has her frowns, her storms, her droughts. The world is not a waste, bowling wilderness; but neither is it a garden of Eden. Thorns spring up among the wheat. Even away from the perpetual deserts fertile fields are occasionally parched and withered. We must expect a mixed experience in human life, as we meet with it in nature. Showers of blessing are not always falling. There come also periods of dearth, seasons of natural distress. IL A PLAGUE OF DROUGHT IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE FOllM OF THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. Though the drought is natural, it is not, therefore, to be separated from all relation to human and moral affairs. God rules Nature through her laws when he does not superoede them. In his government of men God may overrule natural events to the execution of his decrees. When such a calamity as a plague of drought falls upon a land, it is well to ask whether there are no national sins for which it is sent as chastise- ment. Sometimes the calamities of nature are the direct result of human conduct. Thus Palestine now suffers from lack of water, partly because the foiling of trees h1111 diminished the rainfall, and partly because what rain there is is quickly drained off for want of proper irrigation arrangements. Still, we must not assume that every natural calamity is sent for the punishment of sin. '!'his is but one among many Divine purposes. ,vholesome discipline, ulterior advantages, the avoiding of worse though unseen calamities, etc., may enter into the Divino reasons for permitting tho trouble. Such calamities s!Jould make us examine ourselves, not humiliate ourselves without thought ancl clear cunviction of conscience. Ill. A !'LA.GUE OF DIIOUGHT IN NATURE SHOULD SUGGEST THE POSSIDILITY OF SP!P.ITUAL Dll.OUGllT. Ontward things are symbolical of inward experiences. There is a drought of the soul-when the soul is not partaking of tho "water of life," and it is the 011. xiv. 1-22.] 'l'l[l!, BOOK Ol<' 'l'lil~ l'IlOl'ilE'l' JEREMlAli.