Ver. 14. — Blindness. The prophets and priests are so dismayed that they wander through the streets of Jerusalem like blind men. No doubt the confused movement o( these men as they run to and fro, not knowing whither to turn, is the chief idea in the mind of the poet. But the image of blindness by which he illustrates it is suggestive of the secret of their confusion. They were, indeed, as blind men because spiritual blindness had seized on them.
I. The mek who were blinded. Priests and prophets. 1. Blindness would be least excusable in tluse men. They were not like the illiterate, nor even like the mass of the laity. Priests were trained in traditional lore, and prophets had access to new fountains of truth. 2. Blindness would be most dangerous in these men. They assumed the position of " men of light and leading." The world was made to believe that whoever else might be in darkness these teachers were fully illuminated. Their blindness was most fatal because they were " blind leaders of the blind."
II. The chabaoteb of their blindness. It was spiritual. These teachers had all their senses and faculties. They could see the standards and chariots and hosts of the invader. They could measure his forces and calculate his movements. They had intellectual as well as physical eyesight. But they could not see the hand of God in the whole transaction. They failed to discern that moral condition of the nation which had called thu judument of Heaven down upon its head. They were quite at sea as to the future. They di(i not understand the Divine purpose of the chastisement ; and they were helpless when called upon to guide their followers in the great emergency. When the wolf broke into the fuLl the shepherds were hopelessly confounded. So must it be with all unworthy guides. The moment of need will discover their worthlessness.
III. The causk of this blindness. Sin (see ver. 13). Priests and prophets had shed the blood of the just. Gri>ss ribuse of power and tyrannous violenee were iniquities enough to blunt the spiritual vision of the most gifted. This is one of the most teixible fruits of sin; It always tends to deaden conscience and darken the eye of the soul. We must do right if we would see truth. It is not only sensuality, passion, and gross worldliness that debase the soul beyond the power of perceiving higher things, but more spiritual sins — pride, bigotry, self-will, etc. — also blind it. Purity of heart is essential to clearness of vision.
IV. The effect of this blindness. "They wandered as blind men in the streets." Darkness of vision leads to confusion in action. We must see clearly that we may walk straightly. A confused conscience will make an uncertain will. Practical truth is not merely a subject for discussion in the seclusion of the study. It is a,necessary chait to guide our course by. When the seeing and teaching of this is at fault all life u thrown into helpless disorder.
oil. IV. 1—22.] THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEuEMlAH, 71
V. Thb onEB FOR THIS BLINDNESS. This is not suggested here. It is not the function of Lamentations to console and heal. But there is a remedy. For Christ c«me to " open the blind eyes " (Isa. xlii. 7). He is " the Light of the world," and all who fol- low him " shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life " (JohDviii. 12).
Ver. 15. — Gontamination, So horrible is the condition of Jerusalem after the siege that men regard the holy city as an unclean place, like a haunt of lepers or an abode of the dead. They cry, " Go aside I Unclean ! Go aside ! go aside I " as they would to one who incautiously approached too near to one of these banned spots. 'I'he dread of contamination is a natural testimony to the instinct for purity ; but it is often sadly perverted, lor while no feeling should be more related to truth and fact, it happens that no feeling is more subject to artificial, conventional regulations. We need to inquire what are the true causes of contamination and how real contamination may be avoided.
L What abb the true causes of contamination ? It is uncleanness that defiles. The primitive notion of uncleanness is connected with material things — the dirt that soils a garment, etc. Then disease which is loathsome and offensive, and death with its attendant corruption, are felt to be defiling. But to the soul true defilement can only come from what is morally impure. As Christ teaches, it is internal not external (Luke xi. 38 — 10), Jerusalem, when in her prosperity she abandoned herself to idolatry and immorality, was more unclean than when she lay in ashes a charnel-house of slaughtered citizens. Yet no man cried, " Unclean I" in the prosperous times. The degradation was thought to be defiling, while the sin which led to it was connived at. This mistake is common in various forms. The criminal with the brand of punishment upon him is shunned, while the far more vicious man who has contrived to keep himself safe is courted. Parents fear the corruption of manners which their children may contract by mingling with social inferiors, and yet permit them to mix with far more corrupt society if only the rank of it be higher than their own. Many people look with contemi)t on certain kinds of honest business, who will engage in pursuits of very questionable morality without compunction. Thus some regard trade as degrading and betting as gentlemanly. They would be ashamed to be connected with a shop ; they have no shame in their connection with the turf We want a healthier conscience, that will declare no honest pursuit to be dishonourable and no immoral one to be respectable simply because patronized by rank and fashion.