was not only to be a restoration of the people to their own land. God does nothing by halves. The industry, social and national development, and the spiiitual life of Israel would be abundantly blessed. 1. The well-being of Ood^s people is viewed as connected. The spiritual with the material, and the material with the spiritual. There is no austerity in the religion of the restored, and yet their life is full of the spirit and practice of religion. The blessing of God upon the fruits of the eai th is gratefully recognized, and ■8 with a common thankfulness tlie people "flow together " to the great festivuls of the temple. It is only as men exhibit this spirit — the spirit of righteousness and thank- fulness — that the earth will yield the fulness of her increase. Other things being equal, the good man will succeed better than the wicked, even in secular pursuits. " Godliness is profitable unto all things," etc. (I Tim. iv. 8). 2. It is to be complete and glorious. How spontaneous the piety of the redeemed ! In the picture here sketched we seem to catch a glimpse of the fulness of the millennial joy. It is a state of overflowing, ecstatic blessedness. The religious and the secular pursuits of men are to be harmonized. Age is to forget its weakness, and the bereaved their grief. The Church is to share in the general prosperity, and, as a consequence of the efficiency and fervour of its minis- trations, the people are to be " satisfied with my goodness." When shall this vision of human life in its wholeness and its glory be realized ? Our own times exhibit few signs of such a golden age. Yet the Word of the Lord has spoken it, and we ahould with patience both labour and look for its fulfilment.— M.
Vers. 15 — ^17. — "Bahtl we^ng for her children." The great mother of Israel and Judah is represented by a figure as mourning over the desolation of the land. God comforts the sorrow thus occasioned by a promise greater than could be fulfilled In the return of the Babylonian captivity. Rahel was an ancestress of the Old Testament
OH. xxxL 1— 40.] THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 26
Church, vrhose spirit she might be said to personify. The Church of Christ may still be said to weep for her children, and to be comforted by the promises of God. Matthew's referecce to this passage is only accommodative — a spiritual and not a literal |)arallel. We may understand the passage, therefore, as rejiresen tative of —
I. The 80UK0W of thb Chubch. 1. Us occasion. The loss of her sons and daughters through sin, alienation, or death. Especially might this apply in times of spiritual sterility and worldly influence. The Church cannot look upon the indifference or hostility of her legitimate children without grief. 2. Its intensity. Loud and bitter, as of one not to be consoled. The blessing of which she is bereft proniised to be so great ; the consequences to the " banished ones " themselves may be so serious. Are Christ's people sufficiently alive to the losses which are continually inflicted upon his communion through worldliness or particular sins ? 3. lU character. Ver. 16, " Thy work." Energy has been put forth. All her resources have been exhausted in vain efforts for the recovery of the exiles. In the first instance our concern for the " banished ones " should lead us to persistent and manifold effort for their restoration ; and when that fails, we must cast ourselves in lamentation and prayer before God. In this way our sorrow shall prove to be a " work," in a double sense.
II. Hbb consolation. 1. The restoration of the lost ones ii promised. This would be tiie only adequate comfort for those who mourn over dear ones as spiritually dead. God's scheme of redemption is greater than our Utmost hopes or prepari\tions. 2. This viiU in a sense he the reward of her work. When direct and immediate efforts have failed, a further Divine grace will prove effectual. The children of tlie Church are beneath the eye of God, who will lead them back again from the captivity of sin, and even from tlie sepulchres of spiritual death. The labours and prayers of the faithful shall not be in vain in the Lord. The unity of sjiritiial labour in the past, present, and future (of. John iv. 37, 38). 3. Qod himself comforts her even now. In his " exceed- ing great and precious promises." By the Spirit of hope. By the gradual realization of the fruits of salvation. The end is made very real and bright through faith. — M.
Vers. 18 — 21. — Ephraim lemoaning himself; or, the penitent's restoration. The exiled Israelites are represented as about to grieve over their apostasy, and to seek God in confession and prayer. The answer of God is full of mercy and encouragement. The Captivity is to be brought back, and the cities of Israel are to be again occupied.
I. The 8TA8E8 AND PROCESSES OF TBUB EEPENTAN03L (Vers. 18, 19.) 1. Convic- tion and acknowledgment of sin. The unbroken steer a forcible metaphor, but not stronger than the circumstances warrant. How stupid and heinous our offences seem when once we see them in G6d's light ! It is sin that is bemoaned, not mere misfortune or pain ; and ihe wrong done to the Divine character by our unbelief and misconcep- tion. 2. Flayer for conversion. The stubborn resister of God's commands is now consciously helpless to convert himself. He feels how necessary the power and grace of God to " turn " him. 3. 2%e complete work of repentance is now accomplished. Sorrow for past sins and shame for inward depravity are felt as never before. With deeper knowledge of God's mercy and his own sin, the sinner attains to more intense sorrow and shame. " Smote upon my thigh " (cf. Ezek. xxL 12 ; Homer, ' Iliad,' xv. 113 : xvi. 124).
II. God's answbb to thk fenitent. (Vers. 20, 21.) He prophesies this experience from afar; he represents himself as overhearing it. The first beginnings of grace in ihe heart, although invisible to human eyes, are noted by our heavenly Father. 1. Com- placency, sympathy, and mercy are awakened in the Divine mind. 2. Encouragement is given. By promise of salvation, and by directions as to the way by which sinners are to return (ver. 21). 3. Ood declares his oum readiness to receive us. Ha will go forth like the father of the prodigal — M.
Ters. 31—34, — The new covenant. Religion is only possible and of advantage as based upon an understanding between mat, and God. The perpetuation of the word " covenant," in the New as well as in the Old Testament, shows how essential this idea is. And God's infinite mercy and royal condescension is shown in instituting a new covenant vvlien the old was " ready to vanish away."
L As BEbULTiNQ FBOU THB OLD COVENANT. 1. /( wou necessitated byjpast failur*.
Se THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. xxxi. 1— 4a