Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. I. THE CHARACTERS ADDRESSED "O earth, earth, earth,!" By "earth," we are to understand the dwellers on earth — man. the lord of this lower creation; andlooking to its origin, the term is one that is appropriately employed to designate man." 1. When addressed as earth, we are reminded of our native origin. "Man is of the earth, earthy." God made man of the dust of the ground. What, then, becomes of the boastings of man? How foolish the pride of pedigree, the pride of descent! The sable sons of Africa, the swarthy Hindoo, the Red Indian of America, the stunted Esquimaux, the tribes of Europe, and of all the islands of the sea, have all of them a common origin: they are all of them of the earth, earthy. 2. When addressed as earth we are reminded also of our true nature. We are not only from the earth, but we are of the earth. "Dust thou art," is the true description of every man, of every child of man. Yes, what is that muscular frame but brittle earth? What is that beautiful countenance but tinted earth? What are those sparkling eyes but transparent earth? What are those sensitive nerves. so keenly alive to pleasure and to pain, what are they but fine filaments of earth? What is that amazing structure the brain, the seat of the thinking powers, but just a curiously wrought mass of earth? 3. When addressed as earth, we are reminded of the source of our supplies. Not only are our bodies of the earth earthy, but it is from the earth that we derive all that is essential to their sustenance and comfort. It is on its kindly surface that we erect our habitations. It is from its yearly replenished storehouse that we derive the staff of life. It is thence we draw our supplies of corn, of wine, and of oil, while from its copious fountains issue those crystal streams that fertilise our fields and quench our thirst, and in other ways minister to our comfort; and by this, too, we are reminded to moderate our desires. Bread and water are the supplies that the earth most copiously yields, and to these only does the promise extend, "Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure." 4. We are reminded, when we are addressed as earth, of the earthly state of our minds, that state which is so aptly expressed in the words of the Psalmist, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust." The design of Gospel truth is to draw our affections from the world, to raise our minds above its grovelling pursuits, and to change the current of our desires, our feelings, and our affections; and for the effecting of all this it is perfectly competent, for "it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth." Why, then, is its success so limited? The reason is that the earthly is more potent than the heavenly, that the material outweighs the spiritual in our thoughts, affections, and desires. 5. We are reminded, when we are addressed as earth, of the tendency of us all. "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." These bodies, full of life and activity, must ere long drop into the grave. Those eyes now sparkling with life and intelligence, must ere long be closed in death. Those tongues, now eloquent with the language of hope and affection, must ere long be silent in the tomb. Upon that countenance, now flushed with the bloom of health, must ere long settle the damp dews of death. Let our thoughts and aspirations, then, be tending heavenward while our bodies are tending earthward. Let it be seen, that if our bodies are ripening for the grave our souls are ripening, for heaven. II. THE EXERCISE THAT IS ENJOINED. "Hear the word of the Lord." 1. The subject of attention: "The word of the Lord." In other words, the subject of that attention is the revealed will of God, the Holy Scriptures, the preached Gospel. It must be listened to, not as to "a tale that is well told," not as to "the voice of one that playeth well upon an instrument," but listened to with self-application, and with a believing heart. 2. This exercise of hearing "the word of the Lord" may be enforced by many considerations, especially when you take into account the Being who addresses you. It is God who speaks. It is He whose Word is life or death, which exalts to heaven or sinks to hell. Think of the Word itself, of the subject of which it treats. It is no indifferent theme on which it discourses. It is the Word of knowledge, it is the proclamation of mercy, it is the glad tidings of salvation. It is, too, a Word of judgment and of death, but only to those who contemn and refuse to hear it. And then, think of the universal adaptation of its truths. They are fitted for all, for saint and for sinner alike; for the most learned and the most illiterate; for the king upon the throne and the beggar by the wayside. Think, too, of your dying condition, as yet another consideration enforcing attention to "the word of the Lord." Soon you may be beyond the reach of its tidings of mercy. (H. Hyslop.) Parallel Verses KJV: O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. |
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