The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 361

Vers. l-9.-Thankfulness through contrast: a harvest se,·mon. These verses are a terrible picture of drought and famine. Our thankfulDess .for what God has· done for us in tbe bounteous harvest he has given may be called forth the 'more by considerin"' the contrast with our happy lot which these verses present. Contrast is a great. teachei'.'. lt is the black board on which the teacher's white markings are more clearly seen, the dark background of the sky on the face of which the stars shine out the more. Now, this chapter is all concerning, not a bountiful han·est, but a dread, famine. We cannot deter- mine the date of this famiue, but it appears to have been one of those premonitory judg- rncnts of God sent to teach his sinful people wisdom, so that the more terrible judgments of t be future years might not be needed. "A terrible drought had fallen upon the land, and the prophet's picture of it is like some of Dante's in its realism, its pathos, and in its terror. In the presence of a common calamity all distinctions of class have vanished, and the nobles send their little ones to the wells, and they come back with empty vessels and drooping heads, instead of :with the gladness that used to be heard in the 1ilaces of drawing water. Far afield the ploughmen are standing among the cracked furrows, gazing with despair at the brown chapped earth, and out in the field the very dumb creatures are sharing in the common ~orrow. And the imperious law of self-preservation overpowers and crushes the maternal instincts. 'Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.' And on; every hill-top, where cooler air might be found, the once untameable wild asses are standing with opeo nostrils, panting for air, their filmy eyes failing them, gazing for the rain that will not come. lt is a true descrii;tion-so they say who know what drought in Eastern la_nds is and does. How it distressed the earth, the beasts, and man, is all vividly por- trayed." The pits, some of them natural hollows in the hard -rock and in caves, where evaporation was less speedy; others of them dykes and cisterns, the works of- 111an ;- but all alike were empty. The ground was split by reason of the long drought into wide and deep fissures; earth's wounds for man's sin, mute mouths crying to Heaven for pity, the lips of earth sufferini, waiting for a drop of water to relieve the torment of its awful thirst. And not the land only, but the dumb brutes were involved in the common woe. The hind, driven down from her high places into the fields in search of the grass that has disappeared from the lofty heights, meets with disappointment here clso, and in ber agony of hunger and thirst forgot and forsook her young, whom she, aLove most other of the beasts of the field, was wont to care for and chetish tenderly; aud the hardy wild asses (ver. 6) found their hunger even greater than they could bear, and panted in terror and distress. And man-all ranks and ages were smitten, the people g,·nerally were languiahing. 'l'he gates of the cities and other chief places of concourse were "black unto the ground," with the sad, coloured garments of the mourners who ];~nt prostrate there; and one long, loud, bitter cry went up from the whole city of God. But what a contrast iB our wndition to theirs I Seo it in the aspects of the fields ere harvtst was gathered in. In the gifts of all nurturing powers from heaven-rain, dew, awl fountains of water. In the abundanceJ.rovided for man and beast, and in the con- tentment and peace of the herds of the fiel , In tho glad congratulations of all classes 011. xrv. 1-22.] '!'HE BOOK Ob' '.rHE PUOPHE'l' JEltgMlAII. 3G2 - - - - - - -------- in the land, from the labourer to the noble, because of what God has given. The wholo nation rejoices, a cry not of sorrow but of. gladne.'\S goes up from the home o[ the rich 11nd poor, high and low alike. And this contrast is Reen also in the thoughts o[ Go<l promp,ted by the two events. "The dearth" made the people think that God was as a ~tranger in the lan<l,, one who knew nothing of them or their need. If we [elt concem- mg our distresses that God was as a stranger to us, they would be much harder to bear. But so Judah and Jerusalem thought, Nor was this the worst thought; for if God knew how they were suffering, and yet no help came, did not a yet darker su mise seem warranted? Was it not as if he were" as a wayfaring man that but turned aside to tarry for the night," and who therefore, having no interest in the place or the ])eople, would, care but little for the_m? This was a terrible thought indeed. If our mind be haunted with the dread thought that God looks on unmoved at our affiiction, and cares not for.our distress-what, then, can we do? But so they thought. The sun rose and set, the stars looked a.own upon them just as they had done at other times; but there was no h~art of love in their calm, unmoved gaze; and so it Reemed there was no heart in God, and that he, unmoved by their appeal, left them to perish. Or could it be that, after all their boasting in him as mighty to. save, One mightier than he had arisen and overpowered him; that he was" as one astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save"? \Vas there some cruel fate which, after all, was ruling over their destinies, and so pre-· venting the.mighty One, of whom their fathers told, from coming to their help as in the days of old? Such dark and terrible thoughts float about the minds of men in the hour of dire distress such as this dearth had brought upon them. .And so all hope was quenched, the voice of prayer was stifled, their hearts died down in complete despair. 'l'be dearth in itself was had.enough, causing bodily a~ony beyond all description, but its horrors were heightened and awfully intensified by the dark thoughts about God to which the· distress gave rise. But in all this, what a contrast does our happier lot present? The thoughts of God which the harvest he hns given prompt are the very opposite of those wbich, as we have seen, haunted the minds of those who suffered under the dearth. Not as a. stranger ignorant of us and our wants does God appear, but as One who" kp.oweth that we have need of all these things," and who openeth qis hand and filleth us with good. And still less as a wayfaring man, and who therefore hns no concern nor care for land or people. Every golden car of corn has been a tongue as well, and has told eloquently. though silently of our Father's care. 'l'he wide-stretching fields of corn ha:ve been filled with these myriad witnesses to.his love, and have stood up in their se1Tied ranks, to give the- lie to the unbelieving heart, that would harbour hard thoughts of God. As 1111 with one consent yield to the sumrne1· breeze, so with like oneness of consent, do they attest his unfailing goodness and his ne. er-ceasing care. .And they proclaim him, too, as the Hope of his people, and their Savi ur indeed. He is no "mighty man that cannot save." For o.11 the treasures of the field, created, preserved, allcl ripened for our use, in spite of all adverse influences which tnreatened them, all show that he is mighty to save. His hand held in check every J- ostile. power, every destructive storm, every killing frost, every blighting mildew, every creepiog caterpillar, and all else that would have robbed us of the corn ho h11.1 giver. Oh, what a gospel do the fields preach I .And how differently God might have dealt with us! For whilst there is so vast a contrast between our harvest and that dl'arth of which these verses tell, there bas been no such contrast between our conduct nnd that which brought upon Judah the calamity from which they suffered. Have we not roe.son to make the same confession which was made concerning them?-" 0 Lord, . . . our iniquities testify against us," etc. (ver. 7). \Vhat, gratitude then, does such lung-suffering love call for from us! Let, theu, our harvest lcaLi us to do that which J udah's dearth led the prophet to do-to turn to God, and confess him as our Hope and our Saviour in time of trouble, In this way he is agnin standing at our doors and knocking for nclmission. '!'he "miracle of .the loaves" is done over again for our comfort and help. We nave" the joy of harvest," let him have it also in gathering""' into the garner of his faithful souls for timo and for eternity.-C.