Jeremiah 43

Jeremiah 43:15-29

land among you. 28. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shall thou say unto them, Thus faith the LORD of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink. 29. For he, ‘I begin to bring evil on the city’ which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, faith the LORD of hosts.

Judgment here begins at the house of God, but it spreads far and near. The neighbouring nations must drink at the same cup, and at last Babylon herself take it in turn.

1. The judgment is represented under a wine-cup of forty. The fine of all these nations had provoked God’s wrath, and heavy it falls on them; like men intoxicated with liquor, without wisdom or might, they should become an ealy conquest, and the sword of God devour them. Nor would their reluctance to submit to their doom avail any thing, v. 28. The prophet is commanded to make them drink, denouncing the judgments of God, that would quite overwhelm them and sink them into ruin, from which they should never, or at least not for a long while, recover. Now, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God: then all resistance is vain.

2. The nations who are the subjects of this prophecy are, first Jeruches and the cities of Judah: their fine being most aggravated, they suffer first. Egypt, on whom they placed dependence, next falls under the Babylonish yoke: then all the mindful people, the boniering nations; none, as Tyre and Zelon, that had been the friends; others, as Mosh and Zelon, who had been the inveterate foes of Judah, but now sink in the promiscuous ruin: far and wide the rapid conqueror spreads his arms, even to all the kingdoms of the then known world, at least to the whole extent of that great monarchy, which was termed, from its vast territory, universal. At last the fifty quers of nations herself must be laid in the doft, and the king of Shethart, or Babylon, see chap. ii. 21. must drink at the same cup, and perish as the kingdoms he had destroyed. It is added, v. 18. as it is this day, in a parenthesis: probably that was inserted by Jeremiah, who lived to for the ruin of his country; or by him, whether Baruch or Ezra, who collected these prophecies when the event had verified the prediction.

3. If God spares not his own people, let not the rest of the nations, of whom they have learnt idolatry, think to go unpunished. His determination is fixed, and the accomplishment of it is inevitable. Now, (1.) When God arises to judge, the greatest nations are but as stubble before the whirlwind. (2.) Wherever sinners are, however many, however mighty, surely they shall not go unpunished.

4. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, ‘The LORD shall rose from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation, he shall mightily sow upon his habitation, he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations: he will plead with all flesh, he will give them that are wicked to the sword, faith the LORD. 32. Thus faith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33. And the stain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: ’they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried, they shall be dung upon the ground. 34. ¶ ‘Howl, ye shepherds, and cry, and wallow yourselves as the alien, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter, and of your dispersions, are accomplished, and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35. ‘And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an hourling of the principal of the flock shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture. 37. And the peaceable habitations are cut down, ‘because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 38. ‘He hath forsaken his covers, as the hon: for their land is a desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

Jeremiah 43:30-32

The sword threatened is Nebuchadnezzar’s; but the war is of God, who clothes him with all his power, and enures to him the victory. The terribleness of the judgment is here described.

1. The tremendous voice of God shall be heard from on high in mighty thunderings. He shall now open his habitation, the earth in general, or Jerusalem in particular; or not of his habitation.

tion, from the heavens, where he hath placed his radiant throne. He shall give a shout, as when contending armies rush into the battle, and as those that tread the grapes at the vintage; and so loud the sound, the most distant realms shall hear, even to the ends of the earth.

2. Righteous vengeance shall soise the wicked. The Lord hath a controversy with the actions for their wickedness, and he will plead with all flesh, will bring them to his haunt, and he will give them that are wicked to the sword; from nation to nation the judge shall go in circuit. A great whirlwind shall be raised up from the end of the earth: the Chaldean army left, then the Medes, afterwards the Greeks, and lastly the Romans, all God’s executioners of vengeance; and those who fall by their arms are the stain of the Lord, from one end of the earth to the other; he marks the victims, and gives the sword its direction. Unlamented they shall fall, v. 33. for want of monsters, or because their friends and relations are so occupied with their own danger that they are ostensible to every thing before, unburied they shall lie as dung upon the earth, and no compassionate hand be found to gather the scattered corpses and hide them in a grave.

3. The shepherds are called upon to howl for these horrible desolations: either the kings of the earth in general, or the rulers of Judah in particular, to whom the words them to be addressed. Wallow yourselves in the other, ye principal of the flock, in the deepest agony, must bitter sorrow, and hopeless misery; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished, like sheep before the wolf, toot, worried, and dispersed; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel, irreparably broken in pieces. Then slight will be vain, and all hope of escape desperate, v. 35. See chap. xxxix. 4—6. Shrinks shall attend an every day, the heart of the mightiest fall, ruin and desolation universal be spread around, and even the peaceable habitations are cut down, the palaces where peace and plenty reigned; or, as is common in the ravages of war, they who lived inoffensively, and never provoked the scourge, shave in the general calamity of the land, because of the fierce anger of the Lord, the cause of all these fearful judgments. He hath forsaken his covers as a lion; either God, going forth against the shepherds and their flocks to destroy them; or rather Nebuchadnezzar, routed up from Babylon; and the land is desolate, ravaged by his army, because of the fierceness of the oppressor, or oppressing sword, and because of his fierce anger; either the wrath of God or of the king of Babylon, rushing forth to the slaughter. Now, (1.) War is a dreadful scourge. (2.) The rulers, who were deepest in transgression, shall be chief in suffering. (3.) Wo unto the sinful soul against whom God rises up as an enemy. May others judgments be our warnings, that we may hear and fear, and do no more wickedly.