IV. The feab op ridicule mat end in fatal results. Jeremiah pointed this out to the king (ver. 23). The horrible charge of having brought about the burning of the city would be attached to his name, and the guilt of it to his soul. Here was a far greater cause of alarm than the danger of a langh. Weak men who are moved by such contemptible motives as those that influenced Zedikiah should be roused by a rude shock, if that is necessary, for them to see the dread and solemn issues of life and the fearful evils they may evoke while trifling with/duty in childish timidity.
V. It is oue duty to conquer the pear of ridicule by faithful obedience to THE WILL OF GoD. Here lies the remedy (ver. 20). To some this fear is keen and almost irresistible. But it is wholly selfish. It is associated with morbid, self-regarding thoughts. If we realize the idea that God is speaking to us and watching us, all ideas of the thoughts of men about us should sink to the dust. With earnest convic- tions of duty and true efforts of obedience inspired by the grace of Christ, which is suffi- cient for us, we may brave this thorn in the flesh— the fear of man that bringeth a snare.
Yer. 20. — 77ie hlessedneis of obedience. Jeremiah entreats Zedekiah to obey the ▼oice of God urging him with promises of deliverance. Note here —
I. The ENTREATY. Jeremiah says, " I beseech thee." This is characteristic of the kindliness and earnestness of the prophet. It is also indicative of the character of God who inspired him. With St. Paul he might have said, " We are ambassadors therefore OB behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating you by us ; we beseech you od
OH. xxxvm. 1— 28.] THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 135
behalf of Chri8t, ... be ye reconciled to God " (2 Cor. t. 20). This Divine entreaty ■ienifies (I) earnestness — God truly desires our good ; (2) kindliness cmd sympathy ; (3) condescension ; and (4) tlie greatness of the issues at stake.
IL The duty. 1. This is obedience, the cardiaal duty of the Old Testament. The importance of this duty in the Kew Testament has been underrated. There, too, it takes a first place in the teaching of Christ (John xv. 14) and of his apostles — St. Paul (Rom. ii. 8), St. Peter (1 Pet. iii. 1), St. John (1 John iii. 24), and St. James (Jas. i. 22), Indeed, all religion consists in submission (passive faith) and obedience (active faith). 2. Such obedience must be implicit. Zedekiah did not understand the reason of the Divine command. To carry it out was unpalatable to him and his people. But once we know God's will, questions of mystery and of inclination should not affect ua. In the gospel dispensation obedience is more intelligent. We have spiritual principles in place of formal precepts. Yet here also there is often mystery and fear as to the results of obedience, and then our duty is the soldier's duty of unquestioning obedience.
"Theirs not to reason why; Theirs but to do and die."
III. Thb olaiu. 1. It rests on the will of Ood. The king Is to obey the voice of Gkid. The monkish dnty of obedience stayed with the ecclesiastical superior. But the spiritual Christian must feel that he owes his supreme alle>;iance directly to God. Our King and Father commands. We must obey his will. 2. It is determined by the rev9lati<m of the will of Ood. The obedience is to be given to the voice as it is made known by the prophet. " Which I speak unto thee." We are only responsible for obedience to God's will as far as he has revealed it to us. But we cannot plead total ignorance of his will. That has been declared by prophets and apostles, manifested in Christ, confirmed by the Spirit of God in our consciencei
IV. The pbomise. 1. Whatever happens. " It shall be well " — a vague promise, but BufBcient. We cannot tell what is well for ns. The thing God sends may not seem good as it approaches. But in the result it shall be well. That is enough for faith. 2. lAfe ia tteured. " And thy soul shall live." What is the use of the preser- vation of our possessions if our life is taken? Men toil for earthly gain and forget that the one condition of enjoying it may go at any moment Life in the highest sense, eternal life, is the full reward for obedience.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS.
Van. 4—13. — Foreshadowingi and ■cmaiogies of the cross. The pitiable fate of Jere- miah, BO uncalled for and unexpected both in its inflictions and deliverances, the light and shade so strongly contrasted, become charged as we proceed with a certain sugges- tiveness of something unspeakably greater yet to come. In other words, Jeremiah is perceived to be not only a prophet, but a type of Christ. The charge of treason, the defiance of legal safeguards and requirements by the princes, the wavering and help- lessness of the king, the living death in the miry dungeon, and the resurrection through the kind aid of Bbed-Melech, are types of the most unmistakable kind of the characteristic redemptive experiences of the Man of sorrows. And this is only one out of many proofs that humam history, especially sacred history, betrays a system <>/ correspondence in its events with those which constituted the earthly experience of the Messiah.
I. They call attention to the manifestation of Chbist and hklp to fix and IDENTIFY IT. All along the line of Old Testament revelation there were these finger- posts or indicators of the coming struggle between righteousness and sin. The cross is closely associated with the very first pages of revelation, and gives meaning and con- nection to the loftiest, deepest, and most anomalous utterances and occurrences of the Old Testament. With its many anticipations, echoes, and secondaries, the cross o/ Christ asserts itself as the central and most commanding principle of human history.
II. They reveal this same law operating throughout the woblb's hibtoby anu HUMAN EXPERIENCE. Prehistoric myths and heathen religions, aithoogh incapable ol attaining to such a Divine conception, yet presuppose and grope after u And in many
136 TflE BUOK; Of TilE PEOPHET JiSREMlAfl. [on. xiivm. 1— 2&