VI. They cease not till their work is done. See this history. The heart o' the deceived evil-doer protests that God cannot deal so. But he has dealt so with ungodly men, not once nor twice alone ; and when lie declares that he will again, of what avail is man's mere protest that he will not ? Cf. ths whole Book of the Revelation. How loudly, therefore, do facts like these cry out to the sinner, "Flee from the wrath to come'M— C.
Vers. 4, 6, 12. — Dayi whose duties are indelible. Note the particularity of the dates given in each of these verses. Not the year only, but the month ; and not the month only, but the day ; and sometimes not the day only, but the hour, whether morning or evening, during the light or dark. Now —
I. There are such datb. In the record of the Flood we have such exactness of date. And in the later history of Jerasalem, the story of its decline and fall under its last kings, we again and again, as in this chapter, meet with such careful giving of exact dates. And in our own experience, looking back over the record of our lives, how vividly I'ome dates stand out I We know the year, the month, the day, and hour, and it seems likely that we shall never forget them nor the events connected with them.
II. But these days are nearly always days of fain and distress. It was so in the instances given in these verses. There are anniversaries which we keep, but these are for the most part joyous days, the memory of which we will not willingly let die. But the fact of our keejiing them shows that there is probability that such memory would die if we did not carefully keep it up. But the days whose dates are indelible need no anniversaries to remind us of them. We cannot forget them, though, perhaps, we would fain do so. They are burnt in upon our souls so deeply that they are written as on a rock for ever. And they are days, not of joy, but of sore distress ; as when first the fierce Babylonian forces beleagured the holy city, and as when after weary months of obstinate defence the awful famine at length broke them down ; and as when the firoud conqueror in his rage burned down the sanctuary of Gk)d. Days of judgment were they, never to be forgotten by Israel any more. And there were many such days. We read of the " fests " of the different months, many of which commemorated these sad events.
IIL And theib dates abe indelibly written in oub souls. 1. Btcavtt of the contrast which they offer to well-nigh all other days. If any mark stands out con- spicuous—like the black marks on a white page, or white on black — it proves that the ground upon which such mark stands out so conspicuously is of an entirely opposite colour, a complete contrast. And so the very blackness of these indelible days proves that the days against which they stind out so conspicuously have been of a far other and happier kind. Our very trials, ty the vividness with which we remember them, prove tiie general goodness of our God, because they are such exception to his rule. 2. Btoause of their intensity. The mark is not merely dark, but deep. The sword pie:ces through the soul. It is the intensity of the pain that makes it so memorable. 8. Bt-mtise of the sltodow they cart. All our after life may be darkened — ^it often is so— by
OH. ML 1—34.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. Sli*
the effect of some awful blow, and the shadow ever starts from and guides our thoughts up to the terrible fact wliich has caused it.
IV. But these dates abe not indelible fob eveb. Of. our Lord's illustration : " Pi. woman when she is ia travail hath sorrow, . . . but as soon as she is delivered . . . she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy." So it is oftentimes even in this world. Life would not be bearable were all sorrows indelible. But they are not. The lapse of time, the pressure of necessary work, the awakening of other interests, and, above all, the I estowment of new joys — all tend to scatter the gloom of the soul and to thrust into oblivion memories that could only give pain. And none of them shall follow us into our eternal home. We shall not — it does not appear possible — forget facts that have occuiTed, but we shall see them in such new lights and irradiated by such love of God that all the pain that belonged to them will depart an<i be seen no more.
** Help, Lord, that we may come To thy saints' happy home. Where a thousaiid yean As one day appears ;
Nor go Where one day appears Ab a thousand years
For woe I"
CL
Ver. 6. — Famdne. One of the most frightful that ever befell any city is told of here. Its ghastly details may be traced out fi-oni this verse and difi'crent parts of the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This verse tells how the store of bread gradually failed; ch. xxxvii. 21 and xxxviii. 29 with what difificulty ever so little was gained (also Ezok. V. 16 ; v. 16 ; xii. 19), Then Lam. iv. 7 and v. 10 tell of the sufferin,j;s of the nobles ; Lam. iv. 5 and Ezek. iv. 12 — 15 of the degradation of the high-born ladies of Jerusalem, snatching morsels of bread from the dunghills, 'i he cries of the poor little children (Lam. ii. 11, 12, 19 ; iv. 4) ; the hard-heartcdness of their parents (Lam. iv. 3). Fathers ate the flesh of their own sons (Ezek. v, 10) ; mothers that of their new-bom babes (Lam. ii. 20 ; iv. 10). Thus frightful was this famine. And it is ever a fearful thing, let the cause be what it may. Note —
I. Whebefobe they abe sent. 1. At punishment : (1) For violation of natural law. When men will crowd together in space too limited or on lands that will not yield sufficient, or will out of gieed or selfishne^8 refuse to cjiltivate aright the land they have, then sooner or later famine will come. (2) For violation of Divine laws. So in the case of famine told of here. But : 2. They are sent as prompters and promoters of repentance and amendment. In case of violated natural laws they have again and again performed this needed office. Men have spread themselves abroad, couiniunica- tions between one district and another have been o|iened up, improved methods of cultivation have been adopted, wiser and juster laws have been enacted, and men's energies and thoughts have been roused to devise remedies and safeguards ajjainst the recurrence of the evil. And when it is the Divine laws that have been violated, the Divine laws against sin — for natural laws are also Divine — famine has brought many a prodigal to himself, and led him to .say, " I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned." It did so in the case of the Jews.