II. 'i HE BLESSINGS OP SUCH RESTORATION. There will be : 1. Gladness and joy. (Cf. vers. 4, 7.) Under the imagery of a festive dance the prophet declares this. The mournful monotone of humanity's sorrow, its ceaseless moan, shall be rejiLiced by the song, the dance, the shout of joy. 2. Peace. For centuries the vine-clad hills of Samara bad been the object of the marauder's repefited attack ; invasion after invasion had fallen upon " the planters " that planted there. But now, undisturbed, unmolested, they shall not merely plant, but eat the fruit of their vines. It is an image of unruffled peace which arises from the perfect security in which God's people shall for ever dwell. In the turmoil of life, amid its tossings to and fro, and its painful agitations, there are not a few to whom the thought of this blessed peace is the chief cliarm of the hoped- for future. 3. CTmiij/. (Ver. 6.) The watchmen of Epbraim, who were stationed on the high mountains to proclaim the advents of the feasts and festivals of God's people, •hall cry, " Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion." What a change here from the old sad
OH. xxzL 1— 40.] THK BOOK OF THE PBOFHET JEBEMIAH. 29
Then Israel would not worship in Zion, but itood aloof in her own worship within her own borders. But now Israel and Judah shall go together to worship in Zion. Not discord now, but blessed unity. It can hardly be questioned that the spirit of strife, which is an all but universal feature in human character, and never has been wanting in vigorous expression, must have been designed for some good end. But who will not welcome the dxy when it can be done without, and the nations shall learn war no more ? 4. Ood shall he all and in all. The going up to Zion shall be " to the Lord our God." This fact is the key-stone of the whole arch of promise and of blessing. Without it all would crumble away, could have no existence, still less permanence.
III. Its peocebb. 1. The proclamation of God's grace is made. Faith to believe it is given. Then and thence " praise " to God for his goodness and " prayer " pleading with God to make good his word. " Lord, save," etc. (ver. 7). 2. ITien God actually proceeiis to bring them away from the many lands where they are scattered. Distance is no obstacle (ver. 8). Their own infirmities shall not hinder (ver. 8). The dreadful desert, with its thirst, its pathless extent, its rough rock-strewn ways, shall not hinder ; for (ver. 9) G id shall give them " rivers of waters," and " a straight way wherein they shall not stumble." 3. We see them approaching their own land : " They shall come with weepin^i," etc. (ver. 9). It is the sense of God's goodness that more than aught besides leads to that godly sorrow which is the sure guarantee of complete abandonment of those sins which in the past had lirought such evil upon them, and which, until abandoned, would render restoration impossible.
IV. The reason and motive op it. Ver. 9, " For I am Israel's Father," etc. It is this fact of the fatherhood of God that explains the darkest experiences of life, for such experiences are God's disciplines, the pruning of the vine, etc. And it enables us to sustain them and warrants the highest and most blessed hopes for those who are called upon to endure them. God's fatherhood is at the same time the most awful and the most blessed fact the soul can know. Let us see to it that, by loving obedience to his wUl, we know only the Father's smile and escape the Father's frown. — C.
Ver. 1. — The steps of the kingdom of Ood. " I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." Day by day we pray, " Thy kingdom come," and what that means the next sentence of the prayer tells us. It is that God's will should be done on earth as it is done in heaven. All blessedness for man is contained in the fulfilment of this prayer, even as all man's misery is due to its non-fulfilment. But how do we expect the kingdom ol God to cunie ? By what means will the blessed condition of God's will being perfectly done on earth be brought about? The answer which is commonly ^iven is that, by means of tlie preaching of the gospel and the consequent conversion of the ungodly world, the kingdom of God shall come. Hence the prayer is perpetually put up that God would send his Spirit, and make his Word powerful in men's conversion. Now, God forbid that any shoulcl disparage such work, or do aught other than desire most earnestly that the preaching of God's Word may be far, far more successful U> this end ihau it commonly is. Would that the Church might win from the world far more numerous converts than have yet been given to her] God speed the work of conversion ! But it is not by this means alone that thecoming of God's kingdom is to be brought about. There is anotlitr, a more ancient, and we may also say a more scriptural and therefore more successful way, and that is hy the increase of godly families. When God is the God of all the families in Israel, then the nation shall be his people. The family, the Church, the kingdom of God, — these are the successive steps by which, according to the Scriptures, it is the Divine intent to bring in the kingdom.
I. The family. God has not taken means to secure the perpetuation of any special poliiical, ecclesiastical, or social institutions, but he has determined that, whilst these may come and go, the institution of ttie family shall abide. Therefore from the beginning " God made man in his own image," " male and female created he them." The Divine ideal contained this twofold element. And he has also ordered it that the one should be in all respects the complement of the other, and as such shoukl mutually seek and delight in the conipanionshii) of the other. And to their union he gave the blessed gift of children and the love ihat accompanies them, and so amid all '.he vicissitudes of nations and go\eriiments. tlje in»lilat:on of the familv has been
30 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ch. xxxi. 1— 40.