OF Gk>D. 1. God will do all that is possible for our highest good. We may believe witi: William Law "that no creature can sufler from any evil from which infinite goodnest- can deliver it." Qod has gone so far as to give his only begutten Son to die for us (John iii. 16). We may be sure that he will do all else that is ever possible for the salvation and blessing of his children. May we not, then, well hope that an ever- lasting love will outlast and wear down all opposition of the stubborn but finite natures even of the worst of us, though it take vast ages to accomplish the result? At m1 events, he is a rash man who would set limits to the future triumphs of the "ceaseles.-, unexhausted grace" of God. 2. We should return to him with trust and love. Tl,< worst man living, if he repent, netd not dread a harsh reception, for God's love has oul lived his sins. Here is infinite encouragement for penitence; here is hope for tic lowest. God loves even him. Surely, therefore, God will welcome his unworthy chi!i; when he rettirns home. We have in this everlasting love of God inducements to ur < us (1) to repent and no longer abuse his goodness ; (2) to trust in him ; (3) to love hiui in return for his love ; (4) to find our rest and joy in him ; (5) to devote ourselves to hi- service (with love " all tasks aie sweet ") ; and (6) to love our brethren with Qod-like love for the sake of God's love (1 John iv. 11).
Vers. 15—17. — Rachel weeping for her childrm,. I. Bachel has natubal cause FOE HEB GBIEF. Sword, pestilence, and famine ravage the land. The invasion by Nebuchadnezzar desolates the old home of the family of Rachel, bringing death to those who cling to it and scattering the survivors in exile. Such a calamity was in itseii most mournful ; but the disappointment it brought to the cherished hopes of Israel in a "olden future deepened the distress to despair. It looked as though it were the shipwreck of all the Messianic dreams of ancient prophecy. So also the " massacre of the innocents,' with reference to which these words of Jeremiah are quoted in the New Testament, wan more than an ordinary disaster. It threatened Christ and his redemption. If earthly
JSBEHIAH — ^It. (
18 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, li^"- J^^^i. ■!■— iw
trouble is great, how far greater would be the destruction of the higher spiritual hopei of (Jod's people 1 We may be thankful that we have n* such cause of distress as that of Rachel at Ramah and at Bethlehem. Though the Christian's earthly fortunes may be tempest-tosserl, his highest hopes are founded on a Rook. No worUUy trouhle can touch these. It is noteworthy that Rachel, and not Jacob, is here represented as weeping for her children. It is the mother's heart that breaks first when her children are taken from her. Even the savage tigress knows this natural grief. It is so hitler that no earthly consolation can assuage it.
II. Rachel aivBS natural vent to hbb obiek She weeps. She may thank God for tears ; they are nature's relief to a burdened heart. It is best not to hide a sorrow till it eats out the heart like a canker.
" Give sorrow words ; the grief that does not speak Whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break."
Christ does not inflict harsh and unnatural restraints upon mourners, like those of Stoicism. At the grave of Lazarus "Jesus wept." St. Paul invites sympathetic Christians to "weep with them that weep." Yet it is well to convert our tears into prayers. If the bruised spirit cannot speak, cannot think, can but moan, yet it may make its inarticulate cry an utterance to heaven that the all-pitiful God will heir. The mistake of the mourner is not that she " refuseth to be comforted " — " comfort scorned of devils" may be but a mockery — but that while she weeps she forgets to bring her burden to him who has prcimised to sustain. It is natural to express s-orrow ; it is Christian to carry the sorrow to Christ.
III. Rachel has Divine consolations foh hbe griep. Human comfort is vain in such anguish as hers. Our little platitudes with which we would quiet the mourner are plasters that only irritate the wound they cannot heal. But God has his higher con- solations. He does not bid the tears to stay without good reason. Rachel is to reirain her voice from weeping because there is hope for her in time to come. Jesus bade tlie widow of Nain not to weep because he was about to restore her son. God will wipe away all tears from his cliildren's eyes by giving them a real harvest of joy for their sowing in tears. The Christian is comforted by hope. He should not sorrow as those without hope. Israel was to be restored to Canaan. The Christian families shall be reunited in the home above.
Ver. 18. — Ephraim's return. I. The most abandoned op God's ohildkbn mat ■ETUBN TO HIM. Ephraim was unfaithful before Judah, and fell into greater wicked- ness. The northern tribes were punished for their sins by a scattering that destroyed for ever their national existence as a separate kingdom. Yet even Ephraim is to return. No one of God's children — no one of the great human family, we of the New Testament revelation may say — is beyond God's love. God loved Ephraim as well as Judih. Ephraim is a dear son (ver. 20). God loves the whole world. Therefore all may return ; therefore we may be sure God has a way by which all can return. Christ, lifted up, will draw all men unto himself.
II. God leads his children to desire to eeturn to him bt means op ohastisb- MBNT. Ephraim says, " Thou didst correct me, and I received correction." Herein is one of the chief ends of suffering ; even when deserved for sin it is not to give penal deserts and only satisfy justice, but rather to urge the wrong-doer to see his fault and repent. Chastisement leads to reflection, humbles, makes us feel our need and help- lessness, shows the want of God and his consolations, and so inclines us to return to him. To profit us, however, it must be rightly endured. We must receive correction, not harden our hearts against it.
III. Before returning to God, men abb both foolish and obstinate in sin. Ephraim is like "an untaught calf." Ephraim had worshiiiped calves; in course of time Ephraim degrailed himself to the nature of his gods. We cannot rise higher than the object of our worship. Every man is made after the image of his God ; but in all men this special quality of Ephraim js found so long as they remain away from God in sin. 1,^ They &va foolish as the untaught calf. The wicked man may be worldly wise, but he is ignorant in spiritual matters— must become a little child, and learn as a child, If he would enter the kingdom of heaven. 2. They are obstinaie. Pride and self-will
DH. XXXI. 1—40.] THE BOOK OP THE PKOPHET JEREMIAH. 19
rule the unrepentant heart. Herein is the great hindrance to the wholesome fruits of chastisement.