Vers. 4, 5. — Betuming penitentt. This picture of the restoration of Israel Is interest- ing for the prominence given to the spiritual reformation of the people. It would \m vain for them to return to their land unless they also returned to tlieir God. The spiritual recovery that thus forms the centre of the Messianic restoration is typical of the recovery of God's wandering children as returning penitents. Consider the leading points of it,
I. Repentance fob the past. The two elements of repentance are here indicated. 1. Sorrow far ain. The children of Israel are depicted as "weeping as they go." A due sense of sin will produce sorrow. The penitent will feel himself • "miserable sinner." But to be genuine the sorrow of penitence must rise directly out of the conviction of sin. If it were induced by sympathy, by sensational influences, etc., it would be a vain and useless thing. Moreover, grief arising out of the fear of the painful consequences of sin is not the grief of repentance. This must be a sorrow of conscience directly produced by regret for the sin itself. 2. Change of conduct. The penitents are to " come " and " go," etc. The prodigal arises and goes to his lather. Mere idle tears are not repentance. Real repentance is the turning round of the soul from dark- ness to light, the active desire to amend one's ways. It is true that repentance is not regeneration. It is not a renewal of nature nor is it the realization of a better life. But it is the first step towards this, and it must grow out of an honest desire to attain it.
II. Awakened beligious devotion in the present. 1. Inquiry. They "geek the Lord ; " they " ask the way." The penitent becomes the seeker after light. Truth, which was once a matter of indifi'erence, or a subject of abstract questions, is now felt to be of great practical importance. 2. A return to Ood. The sinnsr had feared the visitation of God, but the per^Hent now voluntarily seeks to enter his presence. There is awakened a desire to be reconciled to God and to enjoy close communion with him. 3. A revival of interest in pullic worship. The penitents are described with their faces turned Zionward. Love to God induces interest in the worship at his house, no doubt a far less important thing than the spiritual return to God, yet noteworthy as an evidence of this. One of the leading signs of a change ol heart is a renewed interest in the ordinances of religion. 4. Brotherly companionship. Tliechildrenof Israel and the children of Judah come together. The tears of repentance melt away the old barriers of jealousy and contention. When on our knees before God we are all brethren. The forgiveness of our sin by God is conditional on our mutual forgiveness of one another (Matt. vL 14, 16). Through anion with the common Saviour idl the redeemed hecom* one family.
III. A NEW COVENANT FOB THE FUTUBE. Repentance is but a beginning. Th« wicket-gate is entered ; now the pUgrimage must be followed. The soldier is enlisted (
27« THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. u 1—46.
the warfare lies before him. The Chri.stian must \iye In the future, not wasting hia remaining days in idle srief for the misspent past, but " forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before." It is dangerous to depend upon the new-born fervour of the hour of penitence. We need a solid conviction, a firm resolution, a covenant. He who becomes a Christian enters a covenant. He receives blessings from Christ, but he binds himself to the service of Christ. In the course of years he may be tem|)ted to forget it. He therefore needs constant prayer and watchfulness. God will not be satisfied with the fact that some one " great trans- action " is " done." The transaction is the forming of a perpetual covenant. It brings the obligation of lifelong fidelity — faithfulness " unto death."
Ver. 6. — Lost sheep. L Men abe like God's bheep. In the Old Testament the .lews appear as the only flock, but Christ teaches us that all mankind is so regarded by God. 1. We are like sheep, because (1) we are foolish and prone to err ; (2) we are weak 'and defenceless ; and yet (3) of some value in the sight of God. 2. We are like OocTs sheep, because (1) we are not our own masters, we belong to God ; (2) he watches over us, guides, feeds, protects, and blesses us.
II. Sin is like the stbayinq of lost sheep. 1. It is straying fi'om Ood. The shepherd goes first ; the way he chooses may be narrow, steep, rugged ; it may seem to lead to pastureless deserts or to dangerous forests ; but it is the duty of the flock simply to follow the shepherd wherever he goes. It is our one duty to follow God in Christ. To sin is to follow the devices and desires of our own heart instead of following his will. 2. It is straying fi-om our own vocation. There is a path for the sheep. There is a path for every man — a way of life into which he is called to walk. When he knows this, if he turn from his duty to any other way, no matter how pleasant and profitable it may be, he is failing in his mission, wandering from the right way.
III. Men are led astbat bt bad shepherds. It is terrible to think of the fatal work of men of great talents who have spent them in deluding or debasing their fellows. What vast harm has been done by the evil genius of great men ! Intellectual leaders, philosophers, religious teachers, poets, directly turn men astray when their teaching is false and corrupt. Political leaders bring nations into great criminal wars. Court influence is potent for evil when the court is corrupt. Nevertheless men cannot throw off their own guilt upon their leaders. For they act with their free-wilL
IV. The result of STBAvma is houeless WANDERiNa. 1. It is to be homeless. The sheep are lost on the mountains. Ctod is the Home of his sheep. To be far from Gh)d is to be on the wild mountains, open to the tempest, at the mercy of the fiercest foes. 2. It is to be restless. The sheep "have forgotten their resting-place." The fascination of liberty to roam over the mountains tempts the sheep to wander from their shepherd. They soon find that this very liberty becomes a curse, and the wander- ing a doom of wretchedness. What the soul wants is rest, and it can find no rest but in God.
V. Christ beoovxbs the wandering sheep. The sheep could not find their way back to the fold, neither could men find their way back to God. Christ came to seek as well as to save. As the good Shepherd, he gave his life for the sheep. They who have wandered furthest are not beyond recovery by Christ. If but one sheep be still straying, he will not be satisfied till that one is brought back. If, then, we have wandered, our safety will be found in hearkening to the voice of the good Shepherd and following him back to our home in God.