Vers. 6 — 10. — Hopes that betray. The king, continuing in Ws rebellion •gainst God as well as against Nebucliadnezzar, invoked the aid of Pharaoh-Necho. At the tidings of his advance the Chaldeans raised the siege, but only that they might defeat the Egyptians, and return again in greater force and fury.
I. The NAT0RK OF thkse hopes. 1. Uiey are based upon human meani oJone. 2. They arise from following the dictates of our own mil and wisdom.
II. Uow THEY BETRAY. 1. They are full (^promise, and gain confidence. 2. Hiey must fail, (1) because they are inadequate to the real need, and (2) they are opposed to the will of God. 3. 2%ey spiritually ruin. They lead us first to ignore and then to resist the will of God. In this alone is our welfare secured. For although the first expression and demand of that will be gloomy and severe, the end of it to the obedient is peace and aaivation (1 Pet. L 3 — 9). — M.
CH. mviL 1—21.] THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 125
Ver. 10. — OotTi purpose independent of means. The declaration of the certainty Ot the judgments upon Judah is absolute. They are not to be avoided by any human effort or apparent success. The soldiers of Chalden, although they were to be wounded
S" thrust through" equivalent to "dead"?), would still avail for the work they had to io, and would be raised again to do it.
I. The lesson. A twofold one, viz. : 1. The inevitableness of (he Divine will, whether it be to destroy or to save. 2, Ood's independence of human means. He can save by "many or by few." He is declared able " of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." It pleased him by "the foolishness of preaching" to save many, etc.
(1) The sinner in rebellion against God, however great his outward success and how- ever feeble the opposition to him, has reason to fear. It is an easy thing for his Mnkei to crush him. It will not require a great instrumentality. Herod was eaten of worms.
(2) The Christian worker should rejoice and be encouraged. Every true word or work will have its effect. He must succeed, however insiguificiint his company or his means.
II. The type. The ghostly army that was to " Imm the city with fire" represents the mighty power of God to create his agents, and symbolizes the death and resurrec- tion of Christ. It is the dead Christ who is raised again to fulfil the will of God in judgment and salvation. — M.
Vers. 11 — 16, — The servant of Ood accused of treason. This attempt of Jeremiah's to go out of Jerusalem, whatever its special purpose may have been (as to this there is great diversity of view), was at once suspected of being treasonable, or, at any rate, it was made an occasion of accusing and punishing him. His asseverations were not listened to, but quickly and with much anger be was consigned to a loathsome prison, where he languished for many days. This teaches that —
I. Those who are faithful to God will fbequbntlt be sdspeotbd of the worst HOTITEB. The immediate purpose to be served by going out from Jerusalem was innocent enough, viz. mere resort to the country as safer than the city, or to take possession of his inheritance in Benjamin. No effort was made at concealment, it was done " in the midst of the people." Yet he was accused of being about to " fall away [desert] to the Chaldeans." It would appear as if the prophet's persistent decla- rations of the success of the Chaldean arms and the downfall of Judah were attributed to his sympathy with the enemy. Many of the greatest servants of God have had similar experiences. Christ himself wag accused of the worst intentions against the Jewish nation.
II. How IB THIS? 1. Because the natural mind fails to understand the things of Ood. The motive power or central principle is so diverse, or the means employed are so peculiar, that the real benevolence of intention is not perceived. When Christians remember how hard it is for even themselves to justify God's ways, they ought to expect that others not expressly taught of him will fail thoroughly to apprehend their drift. The policy of the Divine life and service, even in its plainest duties and appointments, is surrounded with mystery ; its wisdom is not of this world. It is often hard for those who are condemned by Christ's ministers to realize that the denimciations to which they are subjected do not spring from personal enmity. The greatest efforts ought, therefore, to be made to prove how good and loving the spirit is in which words of Christian rebuke are uttered. And the whole conduct of believers should be careful and blameless. " Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matt. x. 16). 2. The naturoi mind is predisposed against truth and good- ness, — ^M.
Yen. 2—4. — " Oive ut of your oU." Here we have King Zedekiah, bis servants, anu his people, asking the prayers of the prophet of God, whose word of counsel and warning they had all along despised. The verses remind us of the parable of the ten virgins ; for, as there, the foolish say unto the wise, " Give us of your oil ; for our lamps are gone out," so here the foolish king and people entreat the aid of the wise servant of God when, as the midnight cry came to those virgins, so the dread judgment of (Jod came to them. " Pray now imto the Lord our God for us," say they who had refused to listen when he spoke to them from the Lord their God. Note—
I How OBIBVOUBLT WICKED THE PEOPLE HAD BEEN. (Cf. Vef. 2.) It WaS wlth them
128 THE BOOK UJT' THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh xxxvu. 1— 21
M with the family of the rich mnn told of in Luke xrl. He, being in tormentB, thought of his five brethren who were all of them livitig in sin. There, as here, there were none righteous. And so with Sodom and Gomorrah.
IL Tkt how vert anxious they were for tub pkophkt'b pratkbs. Ver. 3, " Pray now," etc. Reasons of this were : 1. They had waked up to the conviction that the prophet's message was true. 2. They were in sore peril, and knew not liow to help themselves. 3. They knew that the prophet had power with God. 4. 'J'hey felt they could not go to God in prayer themselves. How much of the asking for the prayers oi God's ministers on the part of those who are on their death-bed is owing to like causes !