Ver. 23. — The perils of the lea. I. The feelino pboduobd by mabituib danqeb. Sorrow is far too vague a word for the feeling here referred to. Pear, anxiety, constant watchfulness against close and sudden and increasins; danger, a sense that utter destruc- tion may come at any moment, — these are the leelings going to make up the complex state of mind with which Damascus is so profoundly disturbed. No discomposing effect produced by a laud danger was enough to serve the prophet's purpose. Not but what land perils taken in the sum of them are gieater tliau sea ones ; but they do not produce the same effect on the mind. Away out at sea one is so completely at the mercy of the waters. There is no clmnce to say, " Run for your life." There is nothing lelt for it but patience, submission, and hope trying to rise above opposed emotions. Those who have been in such circumstances will be bedt able to realize the force and peculiarity of the figure here employed. The Old Testament furnishes one illusti'ation in Jonah's disobedient voyage, and the New Testament another in the experiences connected with the shipwreck ol Paul.
II. The way to prepare for such an hour. The hour in which human strength and wisdom can do nothing may come on us unawares, may come fated with terrible appearances beyond all previous imaginations, but it by no means follows that such an hour is to come unprepared for. Moie preparation is needed than simply that of count- ing on the clianci'S of escaping such an hour altogether. The horn: may be escaped, but all who go down to the sea in shiiis cannot escape it ; and therefore they do wisely to prepare for it, espcially as the preparation arises Irom a state of mind which brings the greatest positive blcssi Qgs. The peace that passeth all understanding is a peace that comprehends and subdues every possible disturbing cause. The att.iinment of this peace and the beiief.ts co7isequent upon it have been wonderfully proved in terrible cases of shipwreck. The true wisdom for us all in this world so full of perils, whether we have to face the dangers of sea or of land, is to have the real treasures of life in heaven. Then when we have done all that human resources can compass, we are sure that the most precious things remain safe beyond the reach of harm. — Y.
Vers. 34 — 39. — The fate of Elam. I. The elements of doom. 1. Loss vf active strength. The breaking of the bow ought, perhaps, to be taken somewhat literally. Elam may have been a people where skill in aichery reckoned for much of its strength. Whatever our peculiar natural strength may be, God can break it to pieces. We should never pride ourselves on what is peculiar to us, for the really best things are those which may iiecome common to all men. 2. The loss of all union. The two ways in which nations perish. (1) They retain their corporate existence, remain in their coimtry, but lose their independence and enter into servitude. (2) They are scattered, and lose all the outward signs of a nation. Thus in this scattei ing we have a symbol of the way in which men who have been joined together for evil purposes may be disunited. Union itself is strength so long as it lasts, even if no actual step he taken. God can destroy the .schemes of men and at the same time throw them into new relations as individuals, so that they may be forced each one into a new scheme and plan for himself. When God scatters and humbles nations, there is pain to the individual for the time in his fieling of nationality, but for all that the scatteiiiig is a good thing for the individual and for the world. 3. The destruction of the ruling men in Elam. God will set up his throne, 'i'he visible power and glory of those who represented Elam is to pass away. In a monarchy the king and his nobles give a centre, around which the whole nation ''athers. When this centre is taken away there is nothing to act &a a sufficient point of union for the scattered ones if they are so disposed. What God does he dues completely.
II. Note that the reason of all this is nowhere distinctly expbessed in THE PBOPHBCY. And yet we know there is nothing capricions and arbitrary in all this severity. Elam must have done much wickedness in the sight of Jehovah. Wherever there is suffering there is sin; and, more than that, when God indicates his own s[)ecial interference we know that he has a sufficient reason for it in the wrong-doing oi those with whom he thus deals.
268
THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ch. l. 1— 46-
III. The ei.embnt of hope. The captivity of Elam, as it is called, is not to endure for ever. A brightt-r future is coming, spoken of very indefinitely, but not therefore uiiceitainly. Not, of course, that Elam was to be re-establi.^heii liieniUy in its oM possessions and filory. Such vtrsps as this must be taken spiritually. It is God's way of setting before us the truth that, whatever may be lost by a particular community or a particular generation, only vauishes to reappear in a far greater gain to every individual, npiritually considered. — Y.
EXPOSITION.
CHAPTERS L. AND LI. On Babylon. CHAPTEB L.
We have now reached a point at which some reference is necessary to the contro- versies of the so-called " higher criticism." An attempt must he made to put the reader in possession of the data wliich are so variously estimated by critics of different schools. Theological considerations need not, and therefore ought not, to be admitted ; like every other critical question, that which we are now approaching can be argued out on purely literary grounds. At first sight, indeed, it would appear not to require a lon>< debate, seeing that in eh. 1. 1 and li. 60 the prophecy is expressly attributed to Jeremiah. But, on the other hand, it must be observed that the authorship of the heading in ch. 1. 1 is altogether obscure; very possibly, like those of so many of the psalms, the heading may be incorrect. And as to ch. li. 60, can we be absolutely certain that the expression, " all these words," was intended to refer to the prophecy which now precedes ch. U. 59 — 64? No doubt Jeremiah did write a prophecy against Babylon, and give it to Seraiah with the charge described in ch. li. 61 — 64. But how do we know that this prophecy has come down to us in the form in which it wag written ?
This attitude of reserve it not assumed without substantial grounds, derived from two sources — the epilogue (ch. li. 59 — 64) and tlie prophecy itself. First, as to the epilogue. It is clear that the words, " and they shall be weary," are out of place in ver. 64, and that they are wrongly repeated from ver. 58. But how rame they to be repeated ? Because, originally, the declara-