Jeremiah 50:6
My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
Sermons
Cannot You Rest?W. Birch.Jeremiah 50:6
Forgetting Our Resting PlaceS. Conway Jeremiah 50:6
The Soul's Resting-PlaceW. M. Taylor, D. D.Jeremiah 50:6
The Wolf Excusing HimselfD. Young Jeremiah 50:6, 7
Israel as Lost SheepA.F. Muir Jeremiah 50:6, 7, 17-20














This is a favourite theocratic title of Israel - the sheep of God's pasture. In itself an appeal to the traditional pastoral character of the nation, and to the marvellous guidance of their forefathers by Jehovah through the wilderness. He was the Shepherd of Israel. The extent of their apostasy is here described.

I. IT WAS COMPLETE.

1. They had wandered. The allurements of idolatry had led them on and on, and they had at length yielded to them. They had sought other pastures and acquired preferences for other worship. It is an evil sign when men lose taste for the simple services of a spiritual religion. God should be sought alone and for his own sake.

2. They became alienated. A natural consequence. Step by step they went so far that they could not find their way back. Spiritual unfaithfulness produces confusion and spiritual darkness. They forgot their own fold.

3. They became degraded and morally odious. They bore the sign of their spiritual fall upon them. Their history, too, was the record of their shame to the neighbouring peoples. The backslider can never erase the past. He will bear his Cain mark to the end, and even the heathen and unbeliever will despise him. Their oppressors are so struck with the justice of their sentence that they justify themselves in even greater cruelties than were warranted. There is no corner of the world where the backslider can escape God's curse or hide his shame. Do what he may, he will not be as other men.

II. YET IT DID NOT BAFFLE THE SHEPHERDING OF GOD.

1. To avenge. The overdone punishment is not lost sight of; it will be duly recompensed. And the sacred character of the exiles will add to the guilt of those who used it as an excuse for their cruelties. God is the Judge of his lost ones even to the end. He commits his authority to no other. He who causes a child of God to go further astray, and delights in his degradation and ruin, will have to account terribly for this to his Father and Saviour.

2. To bring back. God's arm is strong to destroy the detaining influences, and outstretched far enough to reach his wanderers, even to the extremities of transgression and ruin. And he can detect them in every hiding place and covert. He is the good Shepherd. No wilderness too wide, no mountain too high or rocky, for him to traverse. He will bring them back to righteousness and then to happiness and peace. - M.

My people have forgotten their resting-place.
God has made Himself the resting-place for the human soul; and unless we fix our heart upon Him we may rest, but it is only for a time. The rest which God provides for us is a rest which satisfies us, and it is a rest which we can always have, a rest which "remaineth," and which cannot be taken away from the people of God.

1. Many people are weary and very far from restful on account of business cares. You see continually in the newspapers that not only are there many bankruptcies and liquidations, and such like unpleasant occurrences, but the market reports tell us that trade is very unprofitable. Whatever happens, make the best of it. Don't wear away your soul in mourning and repining as if your soul were chained to a perpetually revolving grindstone. Look to the bright side of things. Do the best you can, and do not fear the worst is sure to happen. Remember that God still lives and cares for you. "Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." It is a severe trial of faith in God when death removes the bread-winner from a family. Ah: at such a time of bereavement there is no consolation excepting from trust in God's providential care. He is the Father of the fatherless and the Friend of the widow. Likewise, many a Christian man is ready to say in the desolateness of his sorrow, "I have to tread my path alone!" He does not say that God is dead, but be acts as if he thought so. To doubt the superintending care and consolation of God is practical atheism. When we are in trouble, that is the very time we ought to cast all our care upon Him, for "He careth for us."

2. Then, some may be much troubled because of something going wrong in your family. You may have an undutiful and wicked son or daughter. A man said to me some time ago, "My heart is almost broken!" I asked, "What is the matter?" He answered, "My son — has become an infidel! I would rather have given my life!" Is there no resting-place in such a time of trouble? Yes; there is. Take up your Bible again, and read what God did "for David's sake," how the children of David and their descendants were blest and kept from great evil "for My Servant David's sake." "The prayer of faith shall save the soul."

3. Some of the sharpest troubles experienced in this troublesome world come from misplaced or unrequited affection — what Shakespeare calls in his forcible way "the pangs of despised love." Our only course in this, as in every other heartbreaking matter, is to" take it to the Lord in prayer," trusting in Him, and leaving in His care all the responsibility of one's life.

4. It may be that your trouble is a sinful disposition. You feel that you cannot help yourself. But God can give you relief and rest if you trust in Him. As Jesus restored to health the man who was sick of the palsy, so God can restore your soul by heavenly grace. Lastly, I wished to give you an assurance of rest in God's paradise.

(W. Birch.)

I. THE HUMAN SOUL NEEDS A RESTING-PLACE.

1. This is true of the soul in innocence. As a creature he could not but be dependent. Without unquestioning trust in God, safety and happiness were impossible to man even before the fall.

2. How much more true is this since man has become a sinner. His nature is utterly weary. The cares and anxieties of life are wearing away his strength, and there is nothing binding him to earth but the fear of death The past is guilty, the future is hopeless, and so the present is restless.

II. JESUS CHRIST IS THE RESTING-PLACE THE SOUL NEEDS.

1. In Christ we have full redemption. No anodynes of earth can give the soul the rest that the blood of Christ can.

2. In Him we also have regeneration. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." A new centre has been given to his heart, a new aim to his life, a new joy to his experience.

3. He gives repose to the intellect. Christ is "the truth," and through confidence all mysteries are accepted as unquestioningly as a child accepts the statement of its parent. Jesus Christ alone brings to the soul the element of certainty, and, worn out by vain flights, it folds its weary wings and rests with quiet thankfulness on this tree of knowledge, which is also the tree of life.

4. He also gives repose to the affections of the soul. Earthly objects prove disappointing or fall away from us, or are torn from us and leave the soul all palpitating with agony, but no power can separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

III. THIS RESTING-PLACE OF THE SOUL IS SOMETIMES FORGOTTEN EVEN BY THOSE WHO HAVE KNOWN AND ENJOYED IT. A Christian may frequently have his peace in Christ" disturbed. At moments he may be walking through darkness. Job was a true man of God even when he was crying out, Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!" True, a Christian is not justified in being in this distressed state of mind. He ought to know better, &c.

1. When he falls into perplexity, doubting whether he is forgiven or not.

2. When he depends upon merely human and earthly resources.

3. When he loses his confidence in the midst of affliction.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

People
Babylonians, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar
Places
Assyria, Babylon, Bashan, Carmel, Chaldea, Gilead, Gomorrah, Jordan River, Merathaim, Pekod, Sodom, Zion
Topics
Along, Aside, Astray, Caused, Causing, Crouching-place, Err, Flock, Fold, Forgot, Forgotten, Hill, Keepers, Led, Loose, Lost, Memory, Mountain, Mountains, Perishing, Resting, Restingplace, Resting-place, Roam, Sheep, Shepherds, Turn, Turning, Wandered, Wandering
Outline
1. The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 50:6

     4125   Satan, agents of
     4684   sheep
     5057   rest, physical
     5398   loss
     5933   restlessness
     6200   imperfection, influence
     7785   shepherd, occupation
     8126   guidance, need for

Jeremiah 50:1-10

     4215   Babylon

Library
The Kinsman-Redeemer
'Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead their cause.'--JER. l. 34. Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood relation to a man had certain obligations and offices to discharge, under certain contingencies, in respect of which he received a special name; which is sometimes translated in the Old Testament 'Redeemer,' and sometimes 'Avenger' of blood. What the etymological
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors,
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is None of His. "
Rom. viii. 9.--"If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" 2 Chron. vi. 18. It was the wonder of one of the wisest of men, and indeed, considering his infinite highness above the height of heavens, his immense and incomprehensible greatness, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and then the baseness, emptiness, and worthlessness of man, it may be a wonder to the
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Godly are in Some Sense Already Blessed
I proceed now to the second aphorism or conclusion, that the godly are in some sense already blessed. The saints are blessed not only when they are apprehended by God, but while they are travellers to glory. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel which was covered with waves' (Matthew 8:24),
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Saved by Grace;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE GRACE OF GOD: SHOWING-- I. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED. II. WHAT IT IS TO BE SAVED BY GRACE. III. WHO THEY AEE THAT ABE SAVED BY GRACE. IV. HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE SAVED BY GRACE. V. WHAT SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT GOD SHOULD CHOOSE TO SAVE SINNERS BY GRACE RATHER THAN BY ANY OTHER MEANS. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS admirable Treatise upon the most important of all subjects, that of the soul's salvation, was first published in a pocket volume, in the year 1675. This has
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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