I. THE JUDGMENTS FORETOLD. The people are to be driven forth into exile and captivity. The whole book tells of their sorrows. Jeremiah's prophecy is one long denunciation of the wrath of God about to come on the guilty land. He was sent to declare this in the hope that those to whom he spoke might yet turn to the Lord and live; like Noah, that "preacher of righteousness" who warned the godless of his day of the judgment that was coming upon them. More particularly in these verses Jeremiah declares (Ver. 17) that not even the meanest and poorest will escape. The "wares" spoken of tell rather of the few mean possessions, the small trifling properties, of a poor man, which in his haste he would gather together in a bundle and so endeavor to save (cf. Exposition). In former judgments it was mainly the high and lofty, those of wealth and station, who had suffered; but now all, from the highest to the lowest, should be included in the overwhelming desolations about to be poured forth. And so the prophet represents the poor and wretched hastily gathering up their little effects, and making off' with them as best they may. And Ver. 18 adds yet other terrible features to this delineation of the judgment that is coming: "Behold, I will sling out," etc. This, therefore, shows how ready they must have been for such treatment. David selected smooth stones from the brook, such as were fit and apt for his sling, and with them he went forth to meet Goliath. Not any missile, not any stone, would serve. And so if it were possible, as it was, for a people to be "slung out" of a land, they must have made themselves fit for such judgment, or else they would not have been subjected to it. And this they had been doing for many a long year. "When the husbandman seeth that the harvest is come, he putteth in the sickle." This is true of the visitation of judgment as well as of grace. The violence of the people's expulsion from their land is also indicated: as a stone is hurled forth from the sling. And the completeness of the judgment: "at this once," i.e. completely, thoroughly, at one blow. Former judgments had been partial, temporary, long drawn out. This was to be complete, perpetual, and "at once" as a stone is in a moment driven forth from the sling. And their far-distant destination is suggested. God intended that they should be carried far off into the land of their exile (cf. Isaiah 22:18). But note - II. THE FACT THAT THESE JUDGMENTS ARE DECLARED TO HAVE A PURPOSE BEYOND THEMSELVES. All was to be done "that they may find." It is plain, therefore, however we supply what must come after the word "find," that there was a definite Divine purpose in all these calamities. They were not to be an end in themselves, but to lead on to one beyond. And surely this must be the purpose of all God's judgments; he can have no satisfaction in them simply as punishment. His heart is set on what is to come forth out of them, and the result has regard to them. "That they may find;" they who have sinned so terribly, they shall learn by these judgments that he sends. III. WHAT THAT PURPOSE IS. What is it that they may find? Our translators have simply added the words "it so," thus leaving undetermined what the finding is to be. But surely that which God would have them find is all that which hitherto they could not be persuaded to believe in, e.g. the bitterness of disobedience, the vanity of idols, the sure truth of God's word, the uselessness of all religion that is not from the heart, etc. But all this to the intent that they may find, as at last many of them did, the way of repentance and return to God. God had made them for himself, as he has made us all for himself. It is blasphemy to think of him as creating human souls, endued as they all are with such vast capacities, with any other design. And hence it is that the heart of man is unquiet, has no rest, until it find rest in God. God will not suffer it to be otherwise, blessed be his Name. And since for Judah and Jerusalem nothing else would do, they should go into bitter exile, and suffer as in the very fire, "that they might find" God; that they might come to themselves, and say, "I wilt arise and go to my father," etc. "God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth;" and for the persistently impenitent a most awful will it is. As the late Duke of Wellington was wont to say, "There is only one thing worse than a great victory, and that is a great defeat;" so we may say there is only one thing worse for the ungodly than this set will of God for their salvation, and that is that his will should not be as it is. IV. WHAT, THEREFORE, WE ARE TO LEARN FROM THIS. 1. Give thanks and praise to the Lord God for his most gracious purpose concerning men, that they should find him (cf. Psalm 100., "Oh be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands... for it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture"). 2. Compel him not, as Judah did, to resort to sore judgments ere we will seek and "find" him. 3. At once take Christ's yoke and learn of him, and so find rest in our souls by finding him. - C.
He hath made the earth by His power. These words give us two ideas concerning the universe.I. It is ORGANISED BY WISDOM. 1. This stands opposed to the idea of —(1) The eternity of the universe. The universe is not eternal in its elements, or combinations. There was a period far back in the abysses of eternity, when there was nothing, — when the Absolute One lived alone.(2) The contingent origin of the universe. It sprang from no fortuitous concourse of atoms: "By wisdom hath He founded the earth," etc. God has hollowed out the oceans, and arranged the systems of clouds. 2. The scientific student of nature sees design and exquisite adaptations in every part of nature: "By His knowledge the depths are broken up. We are raised by science," says Lord Brougham, "to an understanding of the infinite wisdom and goodness which the Creator has displayed in all His works. Not a step can we take in any direction without perceiving the most extraordinary traces of design; and the skill, everywhere conspicuous, is calculated in so vast a proportion of instances to promote the happiness of living creatures, and especially ourselves, that we feel no hesitation in concluding that if we knew the whole scheme of Providence, every part would appear in harmony with a plan of absolute benevolence." II. It is organised by the WISDOM OF ONE BEING. "He" — the Lord God. It is not the outcome of many intelligences. One intellect drafted the whole. (David Thomas, D. D.) People Jacob, Jeremiah, TarshishPlaces Tarshish, Uphaz, ZionTopics Abide, Abidest, Baggage, Belongings, Bulwark, Bundle, Dwell, Dweller, Fortress, Gather, Goods, Ground, Inhabitant, Inhabitress, Leave, Merchandise, O, Pick, Shut, Siege, Town, Walled, WaresOutline 1. The unequal comparison of God and idols.17. The prophet exhorts to flee from the calamity to come. 19. He laments the spoil of the tabernacle by foolish pastors. 23. He makes an humble supplication. Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 10:17-187259 promised land, later history Library May 16. "It is not in Man that Walketh to Direct his Steps" (Jer. x. 23). "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23). United to Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are accepted in the Beloved. He does not merely take my place as a man and settle my debts. He does that and more. He comes to give a perfect ideal of what a man should be. He is the model man, not for us to copy, for that would only bring discouragement and utter failure; but He will come and copy Himself in us. If Christ lives in me, I am another Christ. I am not like Him, but I have the … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Possessing and Possessed An Instructive Truth Dwight -- the Sovereignty of God Of the Exercises of a Religious Man Of Hiding Our Grace under the Guard of Humility A Wise Desire "And Hereby we do Know that we Know Him, if we Keep his Commandments. " "Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah," How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. " Meditations for Household Piety. "For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live. The Creation God's Sovereignty and Prayer Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 10:17 NIVJeremiah 10:17 NLT Jeremiah 10:17 ESV Jeremiah 10:17 NASB Jeremiah 10:17 KJV Jeremiah 10:17 Bible Apps Jeremiah 10:17 Parallel Jeremiah 10:17 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 10:17 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 10:17 French Bible Jeremiah 10:17 German Bible Jeremiah 10:17 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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