The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 502

benumbs and paralyzes the more intense it becomes. Hence, if man is to be awakened from his spiritual slumber, God must cry aloud, lift up bis voioe with st.rength, as here, "0 earth, earth, earth," etc. Does not our own conscience bear witness to the truth of our backwardness to hear God's ,vord which the manner of this appeal implies. How often God has called to us, by his Word, his Spirit, his providence, and we have not ans"·ered! III. THOSE TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED. Thus we shall learn the importance and universality of this word. For by the earth which is appealed to we may understand: 1. Inanimate nature. A.s Isa.. i.," Hear, 0 heavens, and give ear, 0 earth." A.s if the prophet would call on the very stones to cry out and attest the momentous importance of this word of the Lord; as if the earth might be trusted to hear though man would not. A.nd is not this word important, in these days especially, when the sense of ein has become so feeble, and men trifle with it as a matter of indifference? It is every day ensnaring souls and hardening them more and more. And the time for awakening them is short. The crash of the gates.shutting against them will a.rouse them, but then it will be too lnte. When the ship has struck, the shock of the blow is but the prelude to the cry of despair, which tells that there is no hope, for there is no time to escape. Yes, men need to be warned, need to hear this word of the Lord; and woe to them whose duty it is to declare it if they fail so to do. 2. But earth or land tells of the people who dwell thereon-the inhabitants of the world. The prophet appeals to them all, not to a mere section of them. Not to Palestine, still less Judah only, but to the whole earth. For it is a word which all need to give heed to: the believer, that his compassion for sinners may be aroused; the undecided, that his indecision may come to an end; and the ungodly, that they may tremble with a. holy fear. Lastly- IV. THE A.UTHOR OF IT. This will show to us the heart of love that utters itself in it. The stern " threats of God do not lessen bis love but enhance it. They are the crowning marks of mercy. A shepherd, foreseeing a snowstorm that will drift deep into the hollows of the bill, where the silly sheep, seeking refuge, would find a grave, pre- pares shelter in a safe spot and opens its door. Then he sends his dog after the wandering flock to frighten them into the fold. The bark of the dog behind them is a terror to the timid sheep; but it is at once the sure means of their safety and the mark of the shepherd's care. Without it the prepared fold and the open entrance might have proved of no avail The terror which the shepherd sent into the flock gave the finishing touch to his tender care, and effect to all that bad gone before it, Such precisely, in design and effect, are the terrible things of God's Word" (A.rnot). It is because God is so intent on moving us from impending woe that be utters his impassioned appeals, and draws, in such terrible descriptions, the portraiture of his wrath. A. mother seeking her child lost in the bush does not once whisper its name, but she repeats it again and again, with shrill, clear, loving, strong cry. And it is the like cry of God that is beard in all his warning words, awful as some of them are. God wants that we should be saved. CoNCLUSION. But by the earth which is bidden bear the word of the Lord, our thoughts have snggested to them the company of the dead. They are in the graves. They are gone "earth to earth ; " and concerning them our Lord says, "Behold, the hour cometh when all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth" (John v. 25-28). What sball be the manner of that awakening, when the trumpet shall sound and the cry," 0 earth, earth, earth," etc., is again heard? What? Shall it be unto life and immortality, or to shame and everlasting contompt? All depends on how we hear the Word of the Lord now. May he grant that wo may both hear it and hear it aright!-C. Vera. 1-9.-.A king a,ddressed in mingled promise and warning. Here is the announcement of what Jehovah requires from the king and his executive in particular; although it will be seen that exactly the same principles apply to the conduct of the king as to the meanest of bis subjects. But inasmuch as the king was in circumstances of special power, responsibility, and temptation, it was just what might be expected from the Divine consideration for every man's position, that the king should receive spec:al counsels. If he acted wrongly, his conduct would be quoted and his example followed by every one who wished to act in the same way. 'I his warning message here, OH. xxu. 1-30.J THJ,J BOOK Ol•' THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. ~