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Jeremiah
Chapter Thirty-seven
Jeremiah 37
Chapter Contents
The Chaldean army will return. (1-10) Jeremiah is
imprisoned. (11-21)
Commentary on Jeremiah 37:1-10
(Read Jeremiah 37:1-10)
Numbers witness the fatal effects of other men's sins,
yet heedlessly step into their places, and follow the same destructive course.
When in distress, we ought to desire the prayers of ministers and Christian
friends. And it is common for those to desire to be prayed for, who will not be
advised; yet sinners are often hardened by a pause in judgments. But if God help
us not, no creature can. Whatever instruments God has determined to use, they
shall do the work, though they seem unlikely.
Commentary on Jeremiah 37:11-21
(Read Jeremiah 37:11-21)
There are times when it is the wisdom of good men to
retire, to enter into their chambers, and to shut the doors, Isaiah 26:20. Jeremiah was seized as a deserter,
and committed to prison. But it is no new thing for the best friends of the
church to be belied, as in the interests of her worst enemies. When thus
falsely accused, we may deny the charge, and commit our cause to Him who judges
righteously. Jeremiah obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful, and would not,
to obtain mercy of man, be unfaithful to God or to his prince; he tells the
king the whole truth. When Jeremiah delivered God's message, he spake with
boldness; but when he made his own request, he spake submissively. A lion in
God's cause must be a lamb in his own. And God gave Jeremiah favour in the eyes
of the king. The Lord God can make even the cells of a prison become pastures
to his people, and will raise up friends to provide for them, so that in the
days of famine they shall be satisfied.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 37
Verse 10
[10] For though ye had smitten the whole army of the
Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among
them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with
fire.
And burn it — When God is resolved upon an
effect, the instruments are little to be regarded. It is not the arm of flesh,
but the power of God which is in that case to be considered.
Verse 12
[12] Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the
land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.
Went forth — Jeremiah knowing the city would
suddenly be taken, and that he could be no farther useful to the people, taking
advantage of the withdrawing of the Chaldean army, resolves to go to his own
country, to Anathoth, in the crowd of people that were going out.
Verse 13
[13] And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of
the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of
Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the
Chaldeans.
Of Benjamin — The gate that looked toward the
inheritance of that tribe.
Verse 16
[16] When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the
cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
The dungeon — The Hebrew words signify some
pit, or deep hole, where were some cells or apartments, in which they were wont
to keep those whom they judged great malefactors.
Verse 17
[17] Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the
king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the
LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into
the hand of the king of Babylon.
Is there — Hath God revealed any thing to thee, concerning the
issue of the return of the Chaldean army.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
37 Chapter 37
Verses 1-10
Thus saith the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans
shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
The punishment of evil
The great teaching of the text is that we must not allow
appearances to mislead us respecting the fact and certainty of the law of
retribution. God has threatened the transgressor with severe penalties, and we
may be sure that these penalties will be inflicted, however unlikely such
retribution may sometimes seem, and however long it may be delayed. By
wonderful ways God brings His judgments to pass.
I. We mark some
illustrations of the law of retribution furnished by the history of the
nations. Very memorable was the retribution that Israel brought on Egypt. At
the other end of their national history, Israel itself furnishes a most
striking illustration of the working of the law of retribution through all
improbabilities. When the Christ was crucified through weakness, the people
cried, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children.” How unlikely did it seem
that the Victim of Calvary could ever be avenged upon an unjust nation! And yet
that “wounded Man” rose up invested with strange powers, and burned their city
with fire. And let us not think that these instances of retribution are to be
placed in the category of the miraculous; they were the natural consequences of
great denials of truth and justice. Men unjustly “pierced through” are terrible
avengers in all ages and nations. For centuries did the kings and nobles of France
oppress the peasantry; it is impossible for us to think adequately of the vast
hopeless wretchedness of the people from the cradle to the grave. When Louis
XVI. came to the throne it seemed incredible that the long-suffering people
would ever avenge themselves upon the powerful classes by whom they were ground
to the dust, and yet by a marvellous series of events the wounded men arose in
awful wrath, burning palaces with fire and trampling greatness underfoot.
“Pierced through” were those hungry hopeless millions; but the day of doom
came, and every bleeding wretch arose invincible with torch and sword. For
generations the African was wronged by the American; the negro had no military,
political, or literary power; he was bought and sold as are the dumb driven
cattle, and it seemed as if the fetters of a shameful degradation were riveted
upon him for ever. “Was there a shied or spear seen among forty thousand in
Israel?” As late as 1854 Wendell Phillips wrote despairingly, “Indeed, the
Government has fallen rote the hands of the slave power completely. So far as
national politics are concerned, we are beaten--there’s no hope The future
seems to unfold a vast slave empire united with Brazil, and darkening the whole
West. I hope I may be a false prophet, but the sky was never so dark.” And yet
immediately after this the “wounded men” arose, deluging the land with blood,
and burning the cities of the great Republic with fire. Some of our writers
argue that retribution does not follow on national wrong-doing, because
territory gained by cruelty, treachery, bloodshed, is not as a matter of fact
torn away from its guilty conquerors, but such ill-acquired territory remains a
permanent portion of their splendid empire. But there are other ways of
inflicting retribution upon a nation than by immediately depriving it of
provinces. There is something very like irony in the government of God, and He
sometimes punishes the victors through the spoil. Our Indian Empire is said to
have been ill-gotten, and yet we retain it, that country being to Britain what
the tail is to the peacock--our glory and pride. But the gilded train, it will
be remembered, has been already splashed with blood, and the end is not yet.
Retribution may not come in the form of specially inflicted judgments, but it
will come. No pestilence, war, earthquake, or famine marks the Divine
displeasure, but the retribution arises out of the iniquity. With great
injustice and cruelty the French drove out the Huguenot, but in expelling these
sons of faith, genius, industry, virtue, the French fatally impoverished their
national life, and they are suffering to-day from these missing, elements which
none may restore. Retribution may not be revealed in material disaster, but it
will come. As Mommsen, one of the greatest of historians, declares, “History
has a Nemesis for every sin !” It may seem that all might and majesty are with
an unjust nation and that “wounded men” only are on the other side; but at
God’s call wounded men are Michaels wielding flaming swords. The foolishness of
God is wiser than men.” Sometimes we are greatly amazed and perplexed at the
way in which history unfolds itself--it would seem as if the diplomacy of evil
were too much for the Ruler of the world, as if Providence made hesitating
moves, weak moves, fatal moves; but we have only to wait a while to know that
God’s foolishness is wiser than men. “He taketh the wise in their own
craftiness”; “The Lord shall have them in derision.” “The weakness of God is
stronger than men.” The sun is sometimes weak, but its earliest ray in the dawn
is more than all our electric lights, the first faint beam of the spring is
infinitely more than all the sparks of our kindling; the sea is sometimes
weak--it is a mill-pond, we say--but in its softest ripple is a suggestion of
power that fills us with awe; the wind is sometimes weak, but in the gentlest
zephyr is hinted the majesty of infinite strength. Nature shows how the
weakness of God is immeasurably stronger than men; so does history with equal
clearness. The oft-quoted saying, “Providence is always on the side of the big
battalions,” is one with an imposing sound, but it is disproved by history over
and over again. The world’s Ruler defeated Pharaoh with frogs and flies; He
humbled Israel with the grasshopper; He smeared the splendour of Herod with worms;
on the plains of Russia He broke the power of Napoleon with a snowflake. God
has no need to despatch an archangel; when once He is angry, a microbe will do.
II. We note the law
of retribution as exemplified in the individual life. The great law works infallibly
in the personal history as it does in the national life. God has wonderful ways
of confounding us, and we may be sure that our sins will find us out.
1. Let us not permit ourselves to be deceived by flattering prophets.
Loudly does revelation declare the obligation of righteousness, and grievous
are the judgments that it pronounces against transgressors, but this in our age has been accepted
in quite a modified sense. Men will now hardly allow such a word as, “wrath”;
they will not permit a man to suffer simply as a punishment for his sin; the
violation of laws human and divine must be condoned and passed over with the
]east reprobation and vengeance. Let us rejoice in the growth of the sentiment of humanity, but we
must shut our ears to the effeminate and sentimental teaching which will
inevitably relax and destroy a noble morality. God is merciful, but fire does
not forget to burn, teeth to tear, water to drown, and no transgression of the
law can pass without detection and punishment. “And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth
the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay.” God’s complex system of retribution
permits not the cleverest sinner to slip through.
2. Let us not deceive ourselves because appearances seem to promise
immunity. Our modem knowledge of science, of the unity and interdependence of
all things, of the continuity and persistence of force and “motion, of the
inviolable integrity of all organisms, ought to make it easy to us to believe
that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap, however appearances may
promise otherwise. Let us not be beguiled by the immediate aspects of life and
circumstance. God’s blind men watch us; His lame men run us down; His deaf men
filch our secrets; His dumb men impeach us; His wounded men arise, every man a
messenger of revenge.
3. Let us not deceive ourselves because judgment is delayed. In
contending with God we are plotting against a Wisdom that seems sometimes to
hesitate and fail; but never is that Wisdom more profound than in the moments
of seeming perplexity, and if we yield to flattering hopes of victory, our
final overthrow will only be the more complete and irreparable for these
protractions of the conflict. In contending with God we are warring with a Power
that ever and anon seems baffled and beaten; it seems to retreat, it allows us
to win skirmishes here and there--only the more conspicuously to crush us in
the decisive battle, if we persist to fight it out to the bitter end. In
contending with God we are provoking a Justice which sometimes seems incapable
of asserting itself; but inveterate perversity discovers in the event that all
such hesitations and delays were the whettings of a sword which needs not to
smite twice. Slowly it may be, but surely, do we ripen for judgment; and when
once ripe, how little a thing is necessary to precipitate the calamity! As the
Hindoos say, “When men are ripe for slaughter, even straws turn into
thunderbolts.”
4. Let us improve the gracious respite. Many rebel altogether against the doctrine of grace,
sternly insisting on inexorable law, justice, retribution; they utterly
reprobate the ideas of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation. But mercy is a
fact as much as justice is. Within that great system of severities we call
nature there are ameliorative arrangements softening the rigours of broken law;
in human life and government, too, which is nature still, only on a higher
plane, mercy and forgiveness assert themselves, and society greatly prizes the gracious quality; and
it is therefore a mistake, judged by the light of nature, to make an antithesis
of equity and grace, as if these qualities were mutually antagonistic and
eternally irreconcilable--they both exist side by side in this tangible human
world with which we are so familiar. Now, the grand burden of the Gospel is to
bring into fullest light that doctrine of mercy hinted by nature, and to show
us that grace is not arbitrariness, the negation of law, the neglect of
justice, but that the fullest and most splendid revelation of grace may take
place on the basis of eternal truth and justice. (W. L. Watkinson.)
And it came to
pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem.
Jeremiah persecuted
After the
captivity and death of Jehoiakim, his brother Zedekiah, another son of Josiah,
sat upon the throne. He seems to have been of weak and superstitious rather
than of vicious character, though it is said that neither he nor his servants,
nor the people of the land,
hearkened unto the words of Jeremiah. They Seemed to be infatuated with the
idea that Jerusalem had, with the help of their Egyptian allies, strength to
resist the assaults and siege of the Chaldeans. False prophets had persuaded
the king that he would break the Chaldean yoke, and as this event was more
favourable to his own wishes than were the stern words of Jeremiah, they had
been accepted as truthful, while the true prophet was discredited. Jeremiah
seems to have been at liberty in the meantime. The king had sent a message to
him to pray for the deliverance of the city from the besieging Chaldeans.
Jeremiah had again told the king plainly that the city was doomed. The Egyptian
army had in the meantime come up, and the Chaldeans had withdrawn. Yet the Word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah to tell the king that this was but a temporary
withdrawal of the enemy;
that they would return again; and, moreover, that even though the Chaldeans
should be reduced to a few wounded men, even they should rise up and burn the
city. When God was for Jerusalem, He could make them victorious over their
foes, though they were but a handful, and without weapons; but when He was
against them, He could make their foes, however small a company of wounded men,
to have complete victory over them.
I. Jeremiah imprisoned. The advent of the Egyptian allies had
compelled the Chaldeans to raise the siege; and the gates of the city were
opened so that the people could go in and out again at will. This opportunity
was seized on by Jeremiah to leave the city for the country, which action led
to his arrest and imprisonment.
1. Jeremiah goes forth. The question of what was the object for which
the prophet left the city, has given rise to much discussion. The reading of
the authorised version simply is that “he went” (or purposed) “to go into the
land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.” This
is not very intelligible. It has been supposed that there was a new allotment
of land in the tribe of Benjamin, and that Jeremiah had gone up to secure his
portion. The simple fact is that, having left the city or been observed in the
act of so doing, suspicions as to his purpose were aroused in the mind of the
keeper of the gate, and so he was arrested. Jeremiah was perfectly free and
within his rights as a citizen to depart from the city if he chose, and to go
up into the land of Benjamin, where he belonged; but whether he was wise under
the existing circumstances is a question
2. Accused and arrested. As the prophet was departing from the city by the
gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard being there and recognising him,
either suspected him of desertion to the enemy, or hating him for his prophecies against
Jerusalem, feigned suspicion, charged him with the treason of intending to
desert the city and go over to the Chaldeans, and arrested him. The times were
critical, and suspicions were rife on every hand. Jeremiah had persistently
declared that the city would fall into the hand of the Chaldeans; had advised
the king and the people quietly to accept the situation and surrender; had
warned them again and again that resistance was not only useless, but would
bring worse calamities upon them. All this, of course, irritated the people,
and made Jeremiah very unpopular. Though he was free in the city, he was the
object of universal execration and hatred. Under these circumstances it would have been wiser
for Jeremiah to have remained in the city and taken his part with the
inhabitants; certainly it was unwise to lay himself open to a suspicion of
desertion by leaving the city at such a time, just after the delivery of his
last message to the king. Possibly he did not think that his visit to the
country would be misconstrued. Innocent men are not always men of prudence.
Jeremiah’s visit to the country may have been perfectly justifiable and
harmless, yet it had She appearance
of evil to those who were of suspicious inclinations. It is not always wise to
do the lawful things which lie before us, even though there be no actual harm
in the action. The prophet’s business to the country seems to have been
entirely of a private character. Perhaps he was disgusted with the king and
people, and just left the city in that state of mind. In any case he should
have taken counsel of God and considered the circumstances before exposing
himself to the suspicions
and malice of his enemies. In times of excitement and contention between God
and an evil-thinking generation, His servants have need to walk with the greatest circumspection.
On the other hand, the action of the captain of the guard was most
reprehensible, and illustrates the injustice with which unbelieving and wicked men are
commonly disposed to treat God’s people. He had no real ground for suspecting
Jeremiah of treachery and desertion to the enemy. But enemies who wish to find
an occasion against God’s people can readily do so. Unbelievers are apt to
judge the actions of God’s people by their own method of procedure. I heard an
officer in the English army say last autumn that all missionaries in India were
the merest mercenaries; that their only motive in coming out here was salary. I
asked him why, and on what ground he made such a charge. His reply was that he
could conceive of no other motive, and admitted that nothing would induce him
to devote his life to trying to convert heathen but a good round salary. I
immediately denounced him as a mere mercenary soldier and not a patriot.
3. Jeremiah’s denial. Upon being charged with treasonable intentions
m leaving the city, Jeremiah indignantly denied that he had any such purpose.
He met the charge
with a simple sharp word. “It is false”; or, as the margin has it: “A lie; I
fall not away to the Chaldeans.” He was both indignant at his arrest, and,
perhaps, from the heat of his denial, more so still at the charge of treachery.
To defame a man’s good name is often more intolerable than the prospect of endurance
of any amount of physical suffering. Joseph in Egypt thus suffered, being
innocent; Moses suffered in like manner; David seemed to care more that Saul
could think him capable of conspiring against his life than for the persecution
with which he was pursued, and sought more earnestly to clear his name than to
save his life. The first question that arises out of this part of the story is:
How should we meet such false charges as this, under which Jeremiah was
arrested? That must depend on circumstances. Paul defended himself by an
elaborate argument. Jesus adopted more than one method. Oftentimes He refuted the charges
which the Jews brought against Him, by showing them how absurd their statements
were, as in the case when they charged Him with being the agent of the devil.
Again, when He was under the cruel and awful charge of blasphemy, when death
was hanging over Him, He met the judge and false witnesses with perfect
silence. Silence does not always give consent. There are circumstances when it
is better to suffer both in reputation and body rather than attempt a defence.
There may be higher interests involved even than the preservation of a good
name and life itself. While it is perfectly right to assert innocence if one be
innocent, sometimes silence is a more effectual answer than denial. Time often
proves the best vindicator. I once heard Mr. Spurgeon say that he never
attempted to brush off mud that was thrown at him, for he was sure that to
attempt to do so would only result in smearing himself with the filth; but that
he always waited till it was dry, and then he could deal with it as dust, and
get rid of it without
a stain being left behind. It has been truly said that if we only take care of
our characters, God will in the end vindicate our reputations (Matthew 5:11-12). Though Jeremiah indignantly denied the charge, the denial did
him no good. It was not the truth which his enemies were seeking, but only an
occasion to persecute him. So we are told that the captain “hearkened not to
him,” but carried
him to the princes.
4. He is imprisoned. Irijah took the prophet to the princes. These
were not the same who befriended him in the previous reign and took measures to
conceal him from the wrath of Jehoiakim, but another cabinet who were in
authority under Zedekiah. They were as willing to believe the charge of treason
against Jeremiah as was the captain to prefer it. We have, however, learned
that to suffer for Christ’s sake is a part of the privilege which is accorded
to every disciple. There seems to be a double necessity for this. First we must
ourselves, even as did Jesus Himself, learn obedience by the things which we
suffer, and so to be “perfected through suffering” (Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 2:10; comp. 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 5:10). Besides, it is a matter of clear demonstration that suffering
for the truth has always been the most powerful testimony thereto.
II. The king and Jeremiah. After the prophet had been many days in
prison, the weak king sent for him secretly, and brought him out of prison to
make inquiry of him. This was a triumph for Jeremiah and a humiliation for the
king. In the long-run, the highest and haughtiest enemies of God will have to
bow to the lowliest of His friends. There are many instances where men who have
scoffed at religion and mocked at His messengers have, in moments of great fear
and extremity, sought out the very people whom they have despised and
persecuted to beg for intercession with God on their behalf. The city was
apparently re-invested by the Chaldeans, and in great straits for food (verse
21), and the king hoped that at last the prophet would relent and secure some favourable word
from the Lord. He seems, like all unbelievers, to have had the curious idea of
God, that He might be brought round to favour if only the prophets could be won
over first (Numbers 22:23.).
1. Is there any word from the Lord! This was the king’s question put
to Jeremiah. The Lord had previously given to the king a very sure word (verse
10), but he still vainly clung to the hope that the word of God would be
altered, though there was not the least evidence that the king or the people
had altered their lives. There are many persons in our day expecting that in
the end, notwithstanding that the word of God, finally communicated to us in
the Bible, is God’s last word to this world, the Almighty will change His mind
and not punish persistent sinners. Yet there was a word from the Lord. It was
very brief, and exactly to the point. “And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said
He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Now this was
a very brave and courageous action on the part of Jeremiah. If ever a man might
have been tempted to temporise and prophesy smooth things, this was the time.
There is nothing more sublime in this world than a clear and undisguised
declaration of the truth under any and all circumstances.
2. Jeremiah pleads his own cause. Having first delivered the message
from the Lord, wholly regardless of what might be the effect upon the mind and
disposition of the king, he now ventures to plead for his own release from
prison. It is a great testimony to Jeremiah’s loyalty to God that he suffered
his own private and personal interests to be in the background until he had
delivered the Lord’s message. He put his plea on two grounds: First, his
absolute innocence of any wrong done to either the king or the people. Why had
he been cast into prison? The only thing that could be said against him was
that he had delivered the Lord’s word as he had received it. Could he do less
than that? (Acts 4:19.) Would the king have had him speak lies to please the princes
and the people,
which must ultimately have brought them much damage? Secondly, he appeals to the truth
of his predictions, and asks the king to produce the false prophets who had
flattered him and the people with pleasant lies (Jeremiah 28:1, &c., 29:27-32). Had their false prophecies done the king any
good? Was it not now manifest that they were false friends as well as false
prophets? He therefore pleaded with the king not to add to his already heavy
account of iniquity by keeping him unjustly in prison.
3. The prophet’s sufferings mitigated. The king was evidently moved
by the prophet’s plea; but he was afraid of his princes, and did not dare to
grant the full petition of the prophet, but he so far ordered a mitigation of
his imprisonment, that he was taken out of the stocks and the dungeon and
simply confined in the gaol court. Jeremiah was, as we have said, a shrinking
and retiring man by nature, and keenly sensitive to physical pain. His
imprisonment was very severe, though there was worse in store for him (see the
next chapter). He felt that to stay in that dungeon and in the “cabins” would
end in his death. The king softened his imprisonment and ordered the prophet to
be fed with a piece of bread from the baker’s street as long as there was bread
to be had in the besieged city. In this incident we see how God tempers the
severity of suffering even when He does not entirely deliver us from it. (G.
F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Verses 11-21
And it came to pass, that
when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem.
Jeremiah persecuted
After the captivity
and death of Jehoiakim, his brother Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, sat upon
the throne. He seems to have been of weak and superstitious rather than of
vicious character, though it is said that neither he nor his servants, nor the
people of the land,
hearkened unto the words of Jeremiah. They Seemed to be infatuated with the
idea that Jerusalem had, with the help of their Egyptian allies, strength to
resist the assaults and siege of the Chaldeans. False prophets had persuaded
the king that he would break the Chaldean yoke, and as this event was more
favourable to his own wishes than were the stern words of Jeremiah, they had
been accepted as truthful, while the true prophet was discredited. Jeremiah
seems to have been at liberty in the meantime. The king had sent a message to
him to pray for the deliverance of the city from the besieging Chaldeans.
Jeremiah had again told the king plainly that the city was doomed. The Egyptian
army had in the meantime come up, and the Chaldeans had withdrawn. Yet the Word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah to tell the king that this was but a temporary
withdrawal of the enemy;
that they would return again; and, moreover, that even though the Chaldeans
should be reduced to a few wounded men, even they should rise up and burn the
city. When God was for Jerusalem, He could make them victorious over their
foes, though they were but a handful, and without weapons; but when He was
against them, He could make their foes, however small a company of wounded men,
to have complete victory over them.
I. Jeremiah
imprisoned. The advent of the Egyptian allies had compelled the Chaldeans to
raise the siege; and the gates of the city were opened so that the people could
go in and out again at will. This opportunity was seized on by Jeremiah to
leave the city for the country, which action led to his arrest and
imprisonment.
1. Jeremiah goes forth. The question of what was the object for which
the prophet left the city, has given rise to much discussion. The reading of
the authorised version simply is that “he went” (or purposed) “to go into the
land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.” This
is not very intelligible. It has been supposed that there was a new allotment
of land in the tribe of Benjamin, and that Jeremiah had gone up to secure his
portion. The simple fact is that, having left the city or been observed in the
act of so doing, suspicions as to his purpose were aroused in the mind of the
keeper of the gate, and so he was arrested. Jeremiah was perfectly free and
within his rights as a citizen to depart from the city if he chose, and to go
up into the land of Benjamin, where he belonged; but whether he was wise under
the existing circumstances is a question
2. Accused and arrested. As the prophet was departing from the city by the
gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard being there and recognising him,
either suspected him of desertion to the enemy, or hating him for his prophecies against
Jerusalem, feigned suspicion, charged him with the treason of intending to
desert the city and go over to the Chaldeans, and arrested him. The times were
critical, and suspicions were rife on every hand. Jeremiah had persistently
declared that the city would fall into the hand of the Chaldeans; had advised the
king and the people quietly to accept the situation and surrender; had warned
them again and again that resistance was not only useless, but would bring
worse calamities upon them. All this, of course, irritated the people, and made
Jeremiah very unpopular. Though he was free in the city, he was the object of
universal execration and hatred. Under these circumstances it would have been wiser
for Jeremiah to have remained in the city and taken his part with the
inhabitants; certainly it was unwise to lay himself open to a suspicion of
desertion by leaving the city at such a time, just after the delivery of his
last message to the king. Possibly he did not think that his visit to the
country would be misconstrued. Innocent men are not always men of prudence.
Jeremiah’s visit to the country may have been perfectly justifiable and
harmless, yet it had She appearance
of evil to those who were of suspicious inclinations. It is not always wise to
do the lawful things which lie before us, even though there be no actual harm
in the action. The prophet’s business to the country seems to have been
entirely of a private character. Perhaps he was disgusted with the king and
people, and just left the city in that state of mind. In any case he should
have taken counsel of God and considered the circumstances before exposing
himself to the suspicions
and malice of his enemies. In times of excitement and contention between God
and an evil-thinking generation, His servants have need to walk with the greatest
circumspection. On the other hand, the action of the captain of the guard was
most reprehensible, and illustrates the injustice with which unbelieving and wicked men are
commonly disposed to treat God’s people. He had no real ground for suspecting
Jeremiah of treachery and desertion to the enemy. But enemies who wish to find
an occasion against God’s people can readily do so. Unbelievers are apt to
judge the actions of God’s people by their own method of procedure. I heard an
officer in the English army say last autumn that all missionaries in India were
the merest mercenaries; that their only motive in coming out here was salary. I
asked him why, and on what ground he made such a charge. His reply was that he
could conceive of no other motive, and admitted that nothing would induce him
to devote his life to trying to convert heathen but a good round salary. I
immediately denounced him as a mere mercenary soldier and not a patriot.
3. Jeremiah’s denial. Upon being charged with treasonable intentions
m leaving the city, Jeremiah indignantly denied that he had any such purpose.
He met the charge
with a simple sharp word. “It is false”; or, as the margin has it: “A lie; I
fall not away to the Chaldeans.” He was both indignant at his arrest, and,
perhaps, from the heat of his denial, more so still at the charge of treachery.
To defame a man’s good name is often more intolerable than the prospect of endurance
of any amount of physical suffering. Joseph in Egypt thus suffered, being
innocent; Moses suffered in like manner; David seemed to care more that Saul
could think him capable of conspiring against his life than for the persecution
with which he was pursued, and sought more earnestly to clear his name than to
save his life. The first question that arises out of this part of the story is:
How should we meet such false charges as this, under which Jeremiah was
arrested? That must depend on circumstances. Paul defended himself by an
elaborate argument. Jesus adopted more than one method. Oftentimes He refuted the charges
which the Jews brought against Him, by showing them how absurd their statements
were, as in the case when they charged Him with being the agent of the devil.
Again, when He was under the cruel and awful charge of blasphemy, when death
was hanging over Him, He met the judge and false witnesses with perfect
silence. Silence does not always give consent. There are circumstances when it
is better to suffer both in reputation and body rather than attempt a defence.
There may be higher interests involved even than the preservation of a good
name and life itself. While it is perfectly right to assert innocence if one be
innocent, sometimes silence is a more effectual answer than denial. Time often
proves the best vindicator. I once heard Mr. Spurgeon say that he never attempted
to brush off mud that was thrown at him, for he was sure that to attempt to do
so would only result in smearing himself with the filth; but that he always
waited till it was dry, and then he could deal with it as dust, and get rid of
it without a
stain being left behind. It has been truly said that if we only take care of
our characters, God will in the end vindicate our reputations (Matthew 5:11-12). Though Jeremiah indignantly denied the charge, the denial did
him no good. It was not the truth which his enemies were seeking, but only an
occasion to persecute him. So we are told that the captain “hearkened not to
him,” but carried
him to the princes.
4. He is imprisoned. Irijah took the prophet to the princes. These
were not the same who befriended him in the previous reign and took measures to
conceal him from the wrath of Jehoiakim, but another cabinet who were in
authority under Zedekiah. They were as willing to believe the charge of treason
against Jeremiah as was the captain to prefer it. We have, however, learned
that to suffer for Christ’s sake is a part of the privilege which is accorded
to every disciple. There seems to be a double necessity for this. First we must
ourselves, even as did Jesus Himself, learn obedience by the things which we
suffer, and so to be “perfected through suffering” (Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 2:10; comp. 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 5:10). Besides, it is a matter of clear demonstration that suffering
for the truth has always been the most powerful testimony thereto.
II. The king and
Jeremiah. After the prophet had been many days in prison, the weak king sent
for him secretly, and brought him out of prison to make inquiry of him. This
was a triumph for Jeremiah and a humiliation for the king. In the long-run, the
highest and haughtiest enemies of God will have to bow to the lowliest of His
friends. There are many instances where men who have scoffed at religion and
mocked at His messengers have, in moments of great fear and extremity, sought
out the very people whom they have despised and persecuted to beg for
intercession with God on their behalf. The city was apparently re-invested by
the Chaldeans, and in great straits for food (verse 21), and the king hoped
that at last the prophet would
relent and secure some favourable word from the Lord. He seems, like all
unbelievers, to have had the curious idea of God, that He might be brought
round to favour if only the prophets could be won over first (Numbers 22:23.).
1. Is there any word from the Lord! This was the king’s question put
to Jeremiah. The Lord had previously given to the king a very sure word (verse
10), but he still vainly clung to the hope that the word of God would be
altered, though there was not the least evidence that the king or the people
had altered their lives. There are many persons in our day expecting that in
the end, notwithstanding that the word of God, finally communicated to us in
the Bible, is God’s last word to this world, the Almighty will change His mind
and not punish persistent sinners. Yet there was a word from the Lord. It was
very brief, and exactly to the point. “And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said
He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Now this was
a very brave and courageous action on the part of Jeremiah. If ever a man might
have been tempted to temporise and prophesy smooth things, this was the time.
There is nothing more sublime in this world than a clear and undisguised
declaration of the truth under any and all circumstances.
2. Jeremiah pleads his own cause. Having first delivered the message
from the Lord, wholly regardless of what might be the effect upon the mind and
disposition of the king, he now ventures to plead for his own release from
prison. It is a great testimony to Jeremiah’s loyalty to God that he suffered
his own private and personal interests to be in the background until he had
delivered the Lord’s message. He put his plea on two grounds: First, his
absolute innocence of any wrong done to either the king or the people. Why had
he been cast into prison? The only thing that could be said against him was
that he had delivered the Lord’s word as he had received it. Could he do less
than that? (Acts 4:19.) Would the king have had him speak lies to please the princes
and the people,
which must ultimately have brought them much damage? Secondly, he appeals to the truth
of his predictions, and asks the king to produce the false prophets who had
flattered him and the people with pleasant lies (Jeremiah 28:1, &c., 29:27-32). Had their false prophecies done the king any
good? Was it not now manifest that they were false friends as well as false
prophets? He therefore pleaded with the king not to add to his already heavy
account of iniquity by keeping him unjustly in prison.
3. The prophet’s sufferings mitigated. The king was evidently moved
by the prophet’s plea; but he was afraid of his princes, and did not dare to
grant the full petition of the prophet, but he so far ordered a mitigation of
his imprisonment, that he was taken out of the stocks and the dungeon and
simply confined in the gaol court. Jeremiah was, as we have said, a shrinking
and retiring man by nature, and keenly sensitive to physical pain. His
imprisonment was very severe, though there was worse in store for him (see the
next chapter). He felt that to stay in that dungeon and in the “cabins” would
end in his death. The king softened his imprisonment and ordered the prophet to
be fed with a piece of bread from the baker’s street as long as there was bread
to be had in the besieged city. In this incident we see how God tempers the
severity of suffering even when He does not entirely deliver us from it. (G.
F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Verse 17
Is there any word from the Lord?
. . . There is.
Is there any word from the Lord?
The man who asked this momentous question belonged to the class of
solemn triflers. He came with the right question in his mouth, and sometimes to
get a right question is to be half-way on to the answer. To get the question rightly
stated is ofttimes already the answer half-given. And he came with his question
to the right quarter. He had come to the man that had a living connection with
God. Yet we know from the way he treated the answer to the question that he
came in the wrong spirit. Not that there was any gaiety or carelessness about
his manner. He was as solemn as solemn could be when he asked this question of
the prophet of God, “Is there any word from the Lord?” But he went away to show that he had
been merely trifling with the question.
And what was possible for Zedekiah is possible for you and for me. We may come
to the Word of God with the right question in our mouth, we may come with a
solemn reverent manner about us, we may pride ourselves that we are not of those who make
jokes about the Word of God, or treat the ordinances of God’s house with any
levity, we may pride ourselves that we are not of those who turn the house of God into a
theatre or place of amusement, we have the conviction that the institution of
God’s house is meant to get us into a closer connection with God, we believe
that the Word of God which lies before us is a very message from God to man,
and we come to the open Bible Sunday after Sunday with this question
professedly, “Is there any word from Jehovah?” any word from Jehovah about my
duty for to-day, about my duty for to-morrow--is there any word from Jehovah?
We have got the right question, and we come in a reverent manner. God forbid
that we should be triflers as Zedekiah was, and mistake solemnity of manner for
obedience to the Word of God. By his sword on the field of battle the King of
Babylon had won this right--the right to put on the head of whomsoever he would
the crown of Judah. He offered it to Mattaniah; he offered it, accompanied by
one condition. The King of Babylon could not afford that Judah should form an alliance
with Egypt, that great rival power to him. He was in a gracious mood, and
though he had conquered Israel, he was willing that an Israelite--one of the
seed royal should yet hold the throne of David. And in that gracious mood he
offered to Mattaniah the throne of Judah, accompanying his offer with this
simple condition: he asked him to swear loyalty to the King of Babylon, and
take an oath of allegiance to the
King of Babylon. It was meant to keep the King of Judah from
forming an alliance
with a hostile power, from forming an alliance with Egypt. And Mattaniah had
sense to see it was a grand offer that was made him. He knew that this king had
power to take him away in chains to Babylon, and to take his people with him.
He knew that human nature was frail, he knew that this new-made king had much
reason to keep him walking in the path of gratitude. But knowing that human
nature was frail, he wanted to fence him in by the continual remembrance of
that oath, and he changed his name from Mattaniah, “the gift of Jehovah,” to
Zedekiah, “the justice of Jehovah.” And ever afterwards when that king’s name
was mentioned, it would take his mind back to that oath when he sware by the
justice of Jehovah that he would be loyal to the king who had so befriended him.
At first he felt no inconvenience from his vow, but as the years passed on his
gratitude seemed to melt away. The King of Egypt made overtures to him, and his
people were inclined to listen. He had prophets in great number, and they urged
him to accept the overtures of the King of Egypt. There was one prophet in his
city that warned him that he could not do a dishonourable thing and prosper.
There was one prophet who reminded him that the man of God was a man who,
though he swore to his hurt, would keep his oath. We may suppose that Jeremiah
pleaded with Zedekiah even with tears “Do the righteous thing.” What will the
heathen nations say, what will outsiders say, if the people of God break their
bargain and lightly hold their oaths? Will not they, blaspheme the God of
Israel? An honourable heathen man will keep his oath. So spoke Jeremiah, as he
pleaded with his king, but his warning voice fell unheeded on that deaf ear. By
and by came the army of the Chaldeans and besieged Jerusalem. They were closely
shut up for a while, and still the prophet of God was allowed to remain in the
prison. The king had secret hopes that the King of Egypt would come to his
help, and so long as he had hope from another quarter he would not trouble the
messenger of God. By and by the army of the Chaldeans removed from the city.
They went away to fight the army that was coming from Egypt to help the
besieged. The general that was at the head of these forces knew well how to
conduct a campaign. He had no desire that the army that was coming to help
Israel should get the length of Jerusalem. He would rather deal with them
separately. He went and met the army and turned it aside the way that it came,
and then he came back to the city and closely invested it on every side. Then,
when all hope of Egypt was shut off; then, when Zedekiah had proved that they
who lean on Egypt lean on a broken reed which enters into the heart of man and
pierces him; then it was that the old, old story was told. When death is
thundering at the door the scoffer takes down the Bible from the shelf. So was
it with Zedekiah. So long as he had one single hope from men, of being himself
able to overcome, or of getting help from Egypt--so long he left the prophet of
God to pine in the prison cell, and did not feel it necessary to go and seek
help from him. But when at last all hope of being saved in any other way was
taken away, then he secretly came to the messenger of Jehovah as the scoffer
secretly takes out the Bible and tries to find out what the Word of the Lord is.
Then he came and asked this question, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
Zedekiah had made God the last shift, and God had a good excuse for withholding
any light from the king who had acted so dishonourably. But He is
long-suffering, He is patient, even though we make Him the last shift. Even
from the bed of death ofttimes He hears the cry for mercy and reveals His will.
“There is,” said Jeremiah, “there is word from the Lord to thee. Thou shalt be
delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon.” An honest, kindly, blunt,
definite statement. “Thou shalt delivered into the hand of the King of
Babylon.” Ah, sometimes we have seen it in the individual, that deceitful
disease consumption has laid hold on him, and the prophets of smooth things
say, “You will get better”; and they feed his hopes upon this; and the prophet
of God comes his way and tells him he is a dying man, that there is no escape
for him. It is felt to be impend. The prophets of smooth things would not have
plainly said, “Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the King of Babylon.”
They would have hid that. But this is the kinder way of the two. Yet Zedekiah
did not act upon the light that he had received. Somehow he had a hope that he
would escape. Even though the walls had a breach in them there was that private
way of escape. That was his last resource, and so long as he thought there was
the least possibility of escape he was scarcely prepared to receive the Word of
the Lord, this message that God had sent to him, so that he did not act upon
it. He bore no grudge to the prophet for speaking so plainly. He had no
unkindly feelings towards him, but the opposite, he had very kindly feelings
towards him, and was willing to run a serious risk of difficulty with his
cabinet rather than not do kindness to the prophet of Jehovah, the faithful
servant of king and country. And thus it came to pass that they were again
brought together in friendly conference. He had done an act of kindness to the
prophet of the Lord. The cup of cold water that is given to a disciple never
loses its reward. After that deed of kindness done there was a fuller
revelation of the will of God. At first it had only been, “Thou shalt be
delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon,” and the second time Jeremiah
pointed to the way of salvation. “Escape there is none if you are to trust to
your own power to fight or to trust to Egypt. There is no escape; thou shalt be
delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon. The simple question is whether
you are going just now to give yourself into his hands or are going to wait
until you are dragged by force by his servants into his presence.” “Go forth
now.” he says, “and surrender to him, and though thy sin has been great he will
pardon thee. Surrender to him, lay down thine arms, yield to him, and thou
shalt live, and thy city shall be saved.” It was a double-sided message this.
The first part of it was, “Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of
Babylon.” That was certain. The second part was, “If thou surrender now thou shalt
find salvation.” This is a message for us to-day. Have not we acted as that
ungrateful king acted? Although rebellion was in our blood, has not God treated
us with grace and given us this fair earth, and life on such an earth as this
is a blessing not to be lightly esteemed. And our King, when this race
rebelled, might easily have swept it off. Instead, He gave us another chance
also. And though He treated us so kindly, allowed us with rebellion in our very
hands to love and enjoy the benefits of life on this fair earth, have not we
done just what Zedekiah did, forgotten allegiance to our gracious King and
listened to the overtures of His enemy, and gone and done what Satan wanted us
to do? And our city, what is it but the city of destruction? We see that death
is coming nearer, escape there is none, and we come to the Prophet of God, not
to Jeremiah, but to Jesus, who is the Mediator of the new covenant, and we say
to Him, “Is there any word from Jehovah?” And He says, “There is.” “Thou shalt
surely die, thou shalt surely be delivered into the hands of God.” We cannot
escape. We will be delivered into the hands of the King against whom we have
rebelled. That is one fact there is no blinking of. And we say, “Is that all
the message?” Thank God it is not all. Jesus says, “There is a way of
salvation.” Don’t wait until you are taken and dropped by force into His
presence by that servant of His that is called Death. But go forth now and
yield to Him, surrender to Him, and all will be well. Let us mark well the
penalty that followed Zedekiah for his disobedience to the Word of Jehovah. He
went away clinging to that hope that he would yet escape. He did not act upon
the light that he had been given. He still had the hope that he would escape by
that private path, by the way of the king’s garden, and so he had not courage
to go out and put himself into the hands of the princes and the King of
Babylon, the princes that were at the head of the army. He did not act upon the
light he had received when Jeremiah pleaded with him to do it. “Obey,” said he,
“the voice of the Lord, and it shall be well with thee and thy house.” All that
Zedekiah could say was, “I am afraid the Jews will mock me if I do--mock me,
they will mock me.” He had not a doubt that Nebuchadnezzar would pardon. He
knew there was pardon awaiting him out there, he knew there was life awaiting
him out there, but he
knew that he would be mocked if he did it. Many a one has been laughed into
hell; I never knew of any one being laughed out of it. Ofttimes the young
seeker feels that it has come to a point, and, just when he is taking the step,
it is the jeer of the companion that comes in. “I am afraid my companion will
mock me.” A godless companion will mock you. What of that? Are you not manly
enough to be laughed at? “They will mock me,” said poor Zedekiah, and he had
not courage to be mocked. That cursed pride had scared him past the gate that
led to salvation. And by and by there was a breach in the walls, and the
princes of the King of Babylon s army were in the breach, and when Zedekiah saw
that, he took the secret way of escape; and by night he made for the hills away
down through the ravine that led to Jericho, escaping away to the hills of
Palestine. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after him and overtook him on
the plains of Jericho, and brought him before the king. Then he saw his two
sons put to death before his eyes; then they came to him and put his eyes out--be was only
thirty-two years of age; then they loaded him with fetters, and condemned him
to this awful imprisonment for life. And the bitterest pang in the torment of
all, he had this knowledge, that he might have escaped it if he had only done
what the Lord had wanted him to do. “Had I only obeyed the voice of Jeremiah I
might have had my two sons yet; I would have had my eyesight; I would not have
had these chains.” It was the sting of the scorpion in his torment, this memory
of what might have been, had he only taken the step--a single step of
surrender. (James Paterson, M. A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》