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Jeremiah
Chapter Forty-two
Jeremiah 42
Chapter Contents
Johanan desires Jeremiah to ask counsel of God. (1-6)
They are assured of safety in Judea, but of destruction in Egypt. (7-22)
Commentary on Jeremiah 42:1-6
(Read Jeremiah 42:1-6)
To serve a turn, Jeremiah is sought out, and the captains
ask for his assistance. In every difficult, doubtful case, we must look to God
for direction; and we may still, in faith, pray to be guided by a spirit of
wisdom in our hearts, and the leadings of Providence. We do not truly desire to
know the mind of God, if we do not fully resolve to comply with it when we know
it. Many promise to do what the Lord requires, while they hope to have their
pride flattered, and their favourite lusts spared. Yet something betrays the
state of their hearts.
Commentary on Jeremiah 42:7-22
(Read Jeremiah 42:7-22)
If we would know the mind of the Lord in doubtful cases,
we must wait as well as pray. God is ever ready to return in mercy to those he
has afflicted; and he never rejects any who rely on his promises. He has
declared enough to silence even the causeless fears of his people, which
discourge them in the way of duty. Whatever loss or suffering we may fear from
obedience, is provided against in God's word; and he will protect and deliver
all who trust in him and serve him. It is folly to quit our place, especially
to quit a holy land, because we meet with trouble in it. And the evils we think
to escape by sin, we certainly bring upon ourselves. We may apply this to the
common troubles of life; and those who think to avoid them by changing their
place, will find that the grievances common to men will meet them wherever they
go. Sinners who dissemble with God in solemn professions especially should be
rebuked with sharpness; for their actions speak more plainly than words. We
know not what is good for ourselves; and what we are most fond of, and have our
hearts most set upon, often proves hurtful, and sometimes fatal.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 42
Verse 6
[6] Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey
the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with
us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Good or evil — Whether grateful or ungrateful to
us.
Verse 10
[10] If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build
you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I
repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
I repent — I am satisfied with the punishment your nation hath
undergone, and as to the remainder, will change the course of my providence.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
42 Chapter 42
Verses 1-22
Verses 1-6
All the people . . . came near, and said unto Jeremiah the
prophet.
The people and the prophet
I. Prayerfulness.
“Pray for us.” The prophet was implored to intercede with God on behalf of his
countrymen. That which prosperity had failed to teach, was quickly learned in
the day of adversity. God is honoured when His people cast themselves on His
all-sufficiency; and He will repay their confidence by revelations of enlarged,
and ever-enlarging, favour.
II. Teachableness.
“That the Lord thy God may show,” &c. Matthew Henry well says, “In every
difficult and doubtful case our eye must be up to God for direction: we cannot
be guided by a spirit of prophecy, which has ceased; but we may pray to be
guided in our movements by a spirit of wisdom, and the hints of providence.”
1. A teachable spirit is not a credulous spirit. It does not believe,
except on evidence; as the preacher is to persuade men, so is he ever to
re-echo the first words God addresses to His rebellious creatures, “Come, now,
and let us reason together.”
2. A teachable spirit is not a captious spirit.
3. A teachable spirit is not a reluctant spirit. (W. G. Barrett.)
The Lord shall answer you,
I will declare it unto you.--
Portrait of a true preacher
I. The true
preacher seeks his message for the people from Heaven. “I will pray,” &c.
There are preachers who seek their message from the theories of philosophy,
from the works of literature, from the conclusions of their own reasoning. But
a true teacher looks to Heaven. In his studies his great question is, “What
saith the Lord”; in his ministration his language is, “Thus saith the Lord.” We
cannot render the spiritual service to humanity, of which it is in urgent need,
by endeavouring to instruct it with human ideas, even though they come from the
highest intellects of the world. The ideas of God can alone renovate,
spiritually enlighten, purify, ennoble, and save the human soul.
II. The true
preacher delivers his message to the people full and faithfully. “I will keep
nothing back from you.”
Verse 20
For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord
your God, saying, Pray for us.
The hypocrisy of desiring the prayers of others without a suitable
conduct
I. Consider on
what principles desiring the prayers of others is grounded. They are these;
that it is our duty to pray for one another; that God hath often shown a
gracious regard to the intercessions of His servants for others; and that it is
very desirable, especially in some particular cases, to have an interest in
them.
II. When they who
desire the prayers of others may be said to dissemble in their hearts. They do
so when they desire them without sincerity; when they will not pray for
themselves; when they will not use proper means to obtain the blessings they
desire; and especially when they will not do what God by His Word and ministers
requireth.
III. The hypocrisy
and evil of this conduct. It is an affront to the all-seeing and holy God; it
is likewise deceiving their friends; and prayers offered for such persons are
not likely to be of much avail. Application--
1. We may hence learn, with what dispositions of mind we should
desire the prayers of others. Whenever we ask the intercessions of others, let
it be in sincerity; with a firm persuasion of the power of prayer; that it is
not in vain to seek God; and that it is our duty to engage the assistance of
our friends, by their application to the throne of grace. Be solicitous that
you concur with them by praying yourselves without ceasing in the best manner
you are able; and with your chief dependence for acceptance, not on your own
prayers, nor those of your friends, but the mediation of Jesus Christ.
2. That we should be ready to pray one for another. Whenever we think
of an absent relation or friend, or hear of him, or receive a letter from him,
let us lift up our hearts to God for him in a short petition, as his
circumstances may require. But we should be particularly mindful of those who
desire our prayers.
3. It is peculiarly wicked to dissemble in our hearts, when we profess
dependence on the intercession of Christ. (Job Orion, D. D.)
Dissembling with God
I. Consider, what
was that great and general duty, against which the Jews, on the occasion before
us, rebelled. “Ye disembled,” said Jeremiah, “in your hearts.” Dissimulation,
like other sins, admits of degrees. The heart may dissemble radically and
entirely, so as to be wholly hypocritical; so as not to feel any portion of
that love to God, of that faith, of that gratitude, of that sense of duty, of
that purpose of obedience which the tongue expresses. Or it may dissemble
partially; feeling weakly and insufficiently those sentiments towards Him,
which dwell with parade and seeming warmth upon the lips. The doom which awaits
the complete hypocrite, cannot be doubted. Let the partial hypocrite beware,
lest he at last come to the same place of torment.
II. Consider, each
for himself, how strong is the probability that you may be guilty, in a greater
or a less degree, of dissembling in your heart before God. We have in our hands
the Word of God, which describes the character of a true Christian. We have
before our eyes the practice of the world. When we compare them, we cannot but
perceive how vast is the number of professed Christians who evince little of
the spirit of true Christianity in their principles and conduct: and therefore
stand self-convicted as dissemblers in their hearts before the Most High. When
you call to remembrance the multitudes even among those who styled themselves
the followers of God, which in ancient times the sinfulness and deceitfulness
of the heart betrayed into hypocrisy: when you survey the multitudes of His
professed followers, which in this your day the same sinfulness and
deceitfulness render hypocritical before Him: have you not reason for serious
dread that you may yourself be found a dissembler in His sight?
III. A scriptural
rule, which may assist you in discovering whether, if the Son of God were now
to call you to judgment, you would be found dissemblers in your hearts. “Where
your treasure is,” saith our Lord, “there will your heart be also.” In other
words, Whatever be the object which you judge and feel to be the most valuable;
concerning that object will your heart snow itself to be the most steadily and
the most deeply interested. Apply this rule to yourself. Thus you may discover
with absolute certainty whether your heart is fixed upon God, or whether it
dissembles before Him.
1. Compare the pains which you employ, the vigilance which you
exercise, the anxiety which you feel, concerning worldly objects, on the one
hand; on the other, concerning religion.
2. When you receive a kindness from a friend, you feel, I presume,
warm and durable emotions of gratitude, and an earnest desire to render to your
benefactor such a return, in proportion to your ability, as may be acceptable
to him. You are receiving every day from God blessings infinitely superior to
all the kindnessess which can be conferred upon you by any of your
fellow-creatures. Do you feel then still more lively and durable emotions of
gratitude to Him?
3. Your worldly prosperity is an object which you pursue with
industry and solicitude. Are you still more diligent, more anxious, in pursuing
the welfare of your soul?
4. You have various occupations to which you resort, as opportunities
offer themselves, from inclination and choice. Among these is religion to be
found? Does religion stand at the head of them?
5. When you are informed of the events which befall another person,
you rejoice, if they are such as promote his worldly advantage; you lament, if
they impair it. Do you experience greater joy when you are assured of his
advancement in religion? Do you experience greater sorrow if you learn that he
has gone backward in the ways of righteousness? (T. Gisborne, M. A.)
Insincerity in prayer
Rarely do men come to Christ, says Leighton, “as blank paper--ut
tabula rasa--to receive His doctrine; but, on the contrary, all scribbled
and blurred with such base habits as malice, hypocrisy, and envy.”
──《The Biblical Illustrator》