Jeremiah
ò
òòòòòòòòòòòò
Introduction[i]
The
Book of the Prophet Jeremiah has a different character from that of Isaiah. It
does not contain the same development of the counsels of God respecting this
earth that Isaiah does. It is we, that we are told many things in it concerning
the nations; but it is principally composed of testimony addressed immediately
to the conscience of the people, on the subject of their moral condition at the
time the prophet speaks, and with an eye to the judgment with which they were
threatened. Judah had forsaken Jehovah; for their repentance under Josiah was
but a fair appearance, and under the kings that succeeded him their degradation
was complete. The prophet's heart was overwhelmed with grief, because of his
love for the people; at the same time that he was filled with a deep sense of
their relationship with the Lord. The sense of this produced a continual
conflict in his soul between the thought of the value of the people as the
people of God, and a holy jealousy for the glory of God and His rights over His
people-rights which they were trampling under foot. This was an incurable wound
to his heart. He had pleaded for the people, he had stood in the breach for
them before Jehovah; but he saw that it was all in vain: the people rejected
God and the testimony that He sent them. God Himself would no longer hearken to
prayer made for Israel. Jeremiah prophesies under this impression: a sorrowful
task, indeed, and one which made the prophet truly a man of sorrow. And
although he could always say that, if the people repented, they would be
received in grace, he well knew that the people had even no thought of
repenting. Two things sustained him in this painful service: (for what could be
more painful than to announce judgment for their iniquities, to a people
beloved of God?) first of all, the energy of the Spirit of God, which filled
his heart and compelled him to announce the judgment of God, in spite of
contradiction and persecution; and then the revelation of the people's final
blessing according to the unchangeable counsels of God. After this brief notice
of the spirit of the Book of Jeremiah, the proofs and details of which we shall
find in going through his prophecies, let us now examine these in succession.
It
is well known that the order of the prophecies in the Septuagint is different
from that in the Hebrew Bible. But I see no reason for not receiving the
latter. There is no doubt that it does not preserve the chronological order.
The names of the kings [See Note #1] in the successive chapters clearly prove
this. But it appears to me that, where there is chronological confusion, the
subjects are classed, and that according to the mind of the Spirit.
The
first twenty-four chapters have rather a different character from those that
follow. To the end of chapter 24 it is a reasoning, a moral pleading with the
people. In chapter 25 there is a formal prophecy of judgment on divers nations
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. And afterwards we find prophecies much more
distinct from each other, and connected with historical details.
Chapters
30-33 contain promises of assured blessing for the last days. From chapter 39
it is the history of that which followed the taking of Jerusalem, and the judgment
of Egypt and Babylon.
We
will now state the different distinct prophecies; chapter 1, chapters 2-6,
chapters 7-10, chapters 11-13, chapters 14, 15, chapters 16, 17, chapters
18-20, chapters 21-24, chapter 25, chapter 26, chapter 27 (Jer_27:1, read Zedekiah instead of
"Jehoiakim"), chapter 28, chapter 29, chapters 30, 31, chapter 32,
chapter 33 (this last, however, is connected with the preceding one), chapter
34, chapter 35, chapter 36, chapters 37, 38, chapter 39, chapters 40-44, chapter
45, chapter 46, chapter 47, chapter 48, chapter 49, Jer_49:1-6,
Jer_49:7-22, Jer_49:23-27, Jer_49:28,
Jer_49:29, Jer_49:30-33,
Jer_34-39; chapters 50, 51. Chapter 52
was not written by Jeremiah.
]There
can be nothing more striking in the way of deep affliction than that of the
prophet. He is distressed; his heart is broken. One sees too that God has made
choice of a naturally feeble heart, easily cast down and discouraged (even
while filling it with His own strength), in order that the anguish, the
complaints, the distress of soul, the indignation of a weak heart that resents
oppression while unable to throw it off or overcome it, being all poured out
before Him, should bear testimony against the people whose inveterate
wickedness called for His vengeance. The affliction of Christ, whose Spirit
wrought that of Jeremiah, was infinitely deeper; but His perfect communion with
His Father caused all the anguish, that in Jeremiah's case broke out into
complaints, to be in secret between Jesus and His Father. It is very rarely
expressed in the Gospels. He is entirely for others in grace. [See Note #2] In
the Psalms we see more of His feelings. In Jeremiah's case, it was proper that
the anguish of the faithful remnant should be expressed before God. The
absolute perfection of the Lord Jesus, and the calmness which, through the
presence of God, accompanies His perfection in all His ways, allowed of no
complaint, whatever might be the inward anguish of His heart. He thanks in the
same hour that He can justly upbraid. Sympathy for others became the position
of Jesus. We see that our precious Lord never failed in this.
But
it was equally becoming that the outpouring of heart of the faithful, who
needed this sympathy, should be expressed by the Holy Ghost. It is not that
there was no weakness in the heart that poured itself out; but if the Spirit
lays it open, it is evident that He must express it as it is; otherwise it were
useless and false. Consequently Jeremiah enters much more personally into his
prophecies than any other prophet. [See Note #3] He represents the people in their true
position before God-such as God could recognise, as being before Him in this
character-in order to see whether, receiving from God that which applied to
this position, and expressing the sentiments inspired by such a position, it
was possible to reach the conscience and win the heart of the people; always
remembering that these sentiments were expressed according to the Spirit, and
accompanied by the most direct and positive prophecies of that which God would
bring upon the people. It is to be observed also, that a great part of that
which was written was not addressed in the first instance to the people, but to
God. This position of Jeremiah's, as the representative before God of the true
interests of the people, or of the remnant, causes him to be looked at
sometimes as though he were Jerusalem itself, and, at other times, as a remnant
separated from it and set apart for God.
But
these points will be better understood by examining the passages which bring
them into notice. The period during which Jeremiah prophesied was of
considerable length, and embraced the whole time of Israel's decline, from the
year after that in which Josiah began to cleanse Jerusalem and all the land,
until the final destruction of Jerusalem by the army of the Chaldeans; and even
a little while after in Egypt, a period of more than forty years-a period
throughout of distress and anguish. For although Josiah was a godly king, the
reformation of the people was only an outward one, as we shall see. So that the
anguish of one who saw with God was so much the greater on account of this
appearance of piety. "And Jehovah was not turned away from his fierce
anger, because of the sins of Manasseh." Nevertheless the prophet distinguishes
between the two periods, that is, the reign of Josiah, and that of his
successors.
Excepting
in chapters 21-24 there are no dates for the first twenty-four chapters. It is
probable that they were mostly given under Josiah's reign. They contain moral arguments,
the expression of the prophet's sorrow of heart, and solemn warnings of the
coming invasion from the north. The four chapters I have specified have no
chronological order, and are probably composed of prophecies given at different
periods. They contain the judgment of the different branches of the house of
David successively, as well as that of the false prophets who deceived the
people. They end by declaring the fate of the captives in Babylon, and of those
that remained with Zedekiah in Jerusalem-the two very different from each
other.
Note #1:
In
chapter 27 "Jehoiakim" should be "Zedekiah" (Jer_27:12 and Jer_28:1)
Note #2:
Compare
Matthew 26 where this is brought out in the most striking way. It is very
precious to see both this perfect result in Christ and at the same time all
that He felt in His heart as man, both as sensible to circumstances without and
so deeply exercised within. Perfect exercises within produce perfect quietness
in walk without, for in both God is fully brought in. If we avoid the full
dealing with the matter with God, the heart cannot act for Him as if all were
disposed of: and that is peace in action. Yet how precious to see the reality
of Christ's human nature in all the intimate exercises of His spirit.
Note #3: