The prophet foretelleth

Before CHRIST 599.

a Ezek. 34. 2.

Before

CHAP. XXIII.

1 He prophesieth a restoration of the scattered flock. 5 Christ shall rule and save them. 9 Against false prophets, 33 and mockers of the true prophets.

a

WOE

OE be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will part of this verse, imply that he either had, or should have, seed. But the historians and chroniclers of the times are called upon and directed to set him down "childless;" because he should have no child to succeed him on the throne. Dr. Blayney,

It is no improper reflection which may be drawn from the denunciations contained in this chapter, and from the subsequent accomplishment of them, that if the crimes here threatened with special judgments, such as oppression and violence, fraud and extortion, covetousness and injustice, have destroyed the thrones and families of the mightiest princes; how shall sinners and oppressors of inferiour quality expect to escape the punishments denounced against all such violations of the Divine law? Wogan.

Chap. XXIII. ver. 2.- the pastors that feed my people] That undertake the care of My people, though they do not faithfully execute their trust. W. Lowth.

have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you &c.] In Scripture language, to "visit" any one is to take such notice of him, and treat him in such a manner, as his condition requires. "The day of God's visitation," therefore, when wicked persons or nations are the subject, is the day of His vengeance, Isai. x. 3; but that the Lord hath visited and redeemed His people," is the highest expression of His love, Luke i. 68. In this passage of Jeremiah these different senses of the word are found together in a beautiful opposition. Abp. Secker. "To visit," in scriptural language, signifies to send good or evil judicially. Dr. Johnson.

3. And I will gather the remnant &c.] In that happy time of restoration, I will gather the remnant of Mine elect people out of all countries, both them of Judah and of Israel, into the bosom of My Church; where they shall be fruitful of all good works. Bp. Hall.

4. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them] I will set over them holy, conscientious, able pastors, which shall feed them with the bread of life. Bp. Hall.

5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, &c.] It hath been universally agreed by Christian, and allowed by several of the most eminent Jewish, interpreters, that this is a prophecy of the coming of Christ, and the glorious state of God's Church consequent thereupon. Nor is it possible to think of any other person or event, to which the characters here mentioned agree; whilst they all evidently conspire to point out the Messiah and His kingdom. Dean Stanhope.

3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

b

599.

Ezek. 34. 11,

4 And I will set up shepherds b Chap. 3. 15. over them which shall feed them: and 12. they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

14, 15.

40. 11.

5¶ Behold, the days come, saith c Chap. 33. the LORD, that I will raise unto Da- Isai 4. 2. & vid a righteous Branch, and a King Dan. 9. 24. shall reign and prosper, and shall John 1. 45. execute judgment and justice in the earth.

I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,] It is an usual figure, for the head of a family, and the descendants from him, to be represented by the root or body of a tree, and the branches growing out of that tree. God therefore having frequently declared, that the Messiah should be born of the house and lineage of David, the Prophet, here and in chap. xxxiii. 15, with allusion to this figure, mentions it as an act of Divine power and mercy, that "God would raise unto David a righteous Branch." Dean Stanhope. The Messiah is often called "the Branch," to denote His descent from the stock of David: see Isai. iv. 2; Zech. iii. 8 ; vi. 12 : and compare Isaiah xi. 1. W. Lowth.

—and a King shall reign and prosper,] The Messiah was, continually from the time of David, foretold under this character; and, as such, He was expected by the Jews. Accordingly the New Testament abounds in affirmations concerning the regal character of Jesus; in conformity with which, though His kingly authority be not so visibly and powerfully exerted, as it shall one day be, yet we are not left under any reasonable doubt, whether our blessed Lord be the promised Messiah. The amazing vengeance taken on His murderers, in destroying their city and their constitution; and the no less wonderful success of His Gospel, propagated and preserved in opposition to all its enemies, are instances of His unlimited “ power in heaven and in earth,” Matt. xxviii. 18. The enlightening of Jews and Gentiles, by bringing such multitudes of the one, and so many nations of the other, to the acknowledgment of the truth, are a partial completion of the prophecies, though there be still a nobler in reserve, when the fulness of both shall come in. He reigns now actually in the hearts of men, and subdues the most formidable of our enemies by the holiness of His law, and the mighty operations of His grace. His dominion and conquest indeed will be much more absolute, when the time shall come for every enemy to be utterly destroyed. In the mean time we may be well assured, that what remains shall certainly come to pass, because nothing has hitherto failed of what was seasonable and expedient to be done, as an evidence of Christ's regal authority. Dean Stanhope.

and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.] This character is elsewhere given of the kingdom of Christ; see Ps. lxxii. 2; Isai. xi. 5; xxxii. 1; His laws being the most perfect rule of righteousness, and He Himself the most impartial Rewarder of every man according to his works, Rev. xxii. 12. W. Lowth,

Christ shall rule

Before CHRIST 599.

d Deut. 33. 28. + Heb.

Jehovah-
tsidkenu.
e Chap. 16.
14, 15.

7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

8 But, the LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north

6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely:] The laws which Christ has enacted are so holy, so wise, so good, that, if duly observed, the effect of them must be such exact justice, such uninterrupted order and peace, such gentleness and good will, and universal charity, as would make even heaven upon earth. Thus would the true Judah, the Israel of God, they that believe and practise His blessed doctrine, dwell in profound safety. Dean Stanhope.

Or we may understand this prophecy to be in part fulfilled in all true believers, the mystical Israel; and that it will probably receive its utmost completion when the Jewish nation shall be restored: a blessing foretold by most of the ancient Prophets, who generally join Judah and Israel together, as equally sharers in the blessings, and forming no more two, but one kingdom. See note on chap. iii. 18. W. Lowth.

- and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.] He shall really be what the title imports: (see the note on Isai. vii. 14;) He shall be "JEHOVAH," or the true God, and "our Righteousness," or the means of our justification: compare Isai. xlv. 24, 25; 1 Cor. i. 30. The title of Jehovah is elsewhere given to the Messiah by the Prophets; see Isai. xl. 10; xlviii. 17; Hos. i. 7; Zech. ii. 10, 11; Mal. iii. 1; and being that name which denotes the essence and immutability of God, and acknowledged by the Jews as incommunicable to any creature, intimates to us the Divinity of Christ. By the personal union of this to the human nature, and by the invaluable merit which His sufferings thence derived, He expiated the sins of the whole world, and so became "our Righteousness." W. Lowth, Dean Stanhope.

We seldom find the kingdom of Christ mentioned, but Righteousness is immediately mentioned as the firstfruits of it. Righteousness left the earth at the fall of Adam, and returned again to visit and to bless it, at the birth of Christ. He was conceived without stain, lived without sin, and died without guilt. He conversed in the world, yet contracted none of its pollution. His bitterest enemies, Jews and Gentiles, joined to attest His uprightness. See Matt. xxvii. 19; Luke xxiii. 4; Matt. xxvii. 4; Luke xxiii. 47. The kingdom which He came to establish was a kingdom of righteousness. He called men from the way of sin by His sermons; He allured them from its pleasures by His example; He cleansed them from its guilt by His blood; and rescued them from its power by His Spirit. Thus did Jesus of Nazareth answer His title of "the Just One;" and evince Himself to be the true Melchisedek, or "King of Righteousness." Bp. Horne.

7,8. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, &c.] This wonderful work of God's, in restoring the Jewish nation after their dispersions all the world over, together with the bringing in of the fulness of the Gen

9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

Before

CHRIST 599.

10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of || swearing the Or, cursing. land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and

tiles, which will be also effected by these means, will so far exceed the miracles which He wrought in their deliverance out of Egypt, that this latter will not deserve to be compared or mentioned with the former. W. Lowth.

Meanwhile, the deliverance of Israel after the flesh is infinitely surpassed by the rescue of Israel after the spirit from a tyranny and bondage, with which the Egyptian is not worthy of being named. And the remembrance of the former is in great measure swallowed up and defaced by the abolition of those ceremonial rites and festivals; in the place of which have succeeded the two Christian sacraments, and our seasons of publick thanksgiving, as commemorations and perpetual monuments of this latter and better redemption. Dean Stanhope.

9. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;] The following head of prophecy, though probably delivered at the same time with the foregoing one, treats of a subject entirely different. Jeremiah testifies the horrour he felt within him on contemplating the wickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, and the vengeance which God was about to execute upon them for the corruption which had been diffused through the whole land, by the influence of their evil doctrines and example, ver. 9-15. He exhorts the people in the name of God, not to listen to the words of the prophets, who prophesied of peace when evil was determined, and would infallibly take place, as would in time appear; and charges those prophets with speaking of themselves, and not from the Divine commission, ver. 16-22. God asserts His omnipresence and omniscience; and reproveth the audaciousness of the false prophets, who affected to place their own idol dreams on a level with the all-powerful and efficacious word of Divine revelation; declaring Himself against the several species of those impostors, ver. 23-32. la fine, He requireth all sorts of persons to desist from an indecency in common use, of styling His word a burden;" and threatens severely to punish those, who, in defiance of this command, should continue to cast such a slur upon it. Dr. Blayney.

all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, &c.] The Prophets were sometimes struck with a dreadful apprehension of those judgments which they denounced upon others. See the note on chap. xv. 18; Isai. xv, 5; Ĥab. iii. 6. W. Lowth.

10.—for because of swearing the land mourneth;] However slightly some may think of taking God's name in vain, it is a notorious fact, that all manner of crimes grow common and barefaced along with it: and therefore, in proportion as that increases among any people, they gradually ripen for destruction. Accordingly we find the Prophet here declaring expressly, that, because of swearing the land mourneth." And Hosea

66

|| Or, filthiness.

f Isai. 1. 9.

& 9. 15.

11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel

to err.

14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem || an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Beg Chap. 8. 14. hold, I will feed them with & wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is || profaneness gone forth into all the land.

|| Or, hypocrisy.

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the

puts that down in the first place, as the leading sin of those many, for which "the Lord had a controversy with the children of Israel. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish," Hos. iv. 1-3. Abp. Secker.

and their course is evil, and their force is not right.] Or, "And their violence is evil," as in the margin. Men abuse their power to the wronging and oppressing of their brethren, and add violence to the power they are possessed of, in order to compass their wicked designs. W. Lowth.

11.-in my house have I found their wickedness,] See the note on chap. vii. 30.

13, 14.- I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; &c.] He compares the sins of the prophets of Samaria and of those of Jerusalem together, and pronounces the latter to be more enormous; because the prophets of Jerusalem pronounced their false prophecies in the name of the true God, and made Him responsible for all their impostures: the wickedness of their lives also reflected dishonour upon His name and religion. Compare chap. iii. 11. W. Lowth.

18. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, &c.] As if the Prophet had said, Who among these false prophets can pretend to have the secret counsels of the Almighty communicated to him? Compare 1 Cor. ii. 16. W. Lowth.

19. Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord &c.] This is spoken metaphorically. See chap. iv. 11, 12.

against false prophets.

prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

Before

599.

17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say h Chap. 6. unto every one that walketh after the Ezek. 13. 10. || imagination of his own heart, No Zech. 10. 2. evil shall come upon you.

14. & 8. 11.

+ Or,

stubbornness.

18 For who hath stood in the || counsel of the LORD, and hath per- Or, secret. ceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

23.

19 Behold, a whirlwind of the i Chap. 30. LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD shall k Chap. 30. not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

24.

20. The anger of the Lord shall not return, &c.] "It shall not return unto Me void," as we read in Isai. lv. 11. The expression is taken from a messenger, who comes back without executing his commission. W. Lowth.

| in the latter days ye shall consider] At last ye shall by woeful experience find all this verified, and shall then be deeply affected by it. Bp. Hall.

22. But if they had stood in my counsel, &c.] If they had received a commission and directions from Me, and had delivered them accordingly to My people, they would have laboured to turn them back from their vicious courses. Bp. Hall.

23. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can these false prophets think to impose upon Me, or vent their own dreams in My name, and I not discover them? As if either distance or secrecy could place any thing out of the reach of My power and knowledge. W. Lowth.

In these words are set forth three Divine perfections, to expose the folly of those wicked men who thought, or who acted as if they thought, that they could sin securely, and that God had no knowledge, and took no notice, of their ways. God therefore, by the mouth of His Prophet, declares that He is present in all places: "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." He declares, that no transactions can escape His inspection : "Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith the Lord." These two perfections are mentioned expressly. A third is plainly implied, namely, His irresistible power: for if a sinner, who thinks to con

Mockers of the

Before CHRIST 599.

m Ps. 139. 7, &c.

Amos 9. 2, 3.

24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his n Judg. 3.7. neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

& 8. 33.

+ Heb. with whom is.

o Deut. 18. 20.

28 The prophet † that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against ch. 14. 14, 15. the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

ceal himself from his Maker, is not only mistaken, but pursues his own ruin, the reason is, because God, who is present every where, and who beholds every thing, hath also a power to deal with every one as His wisdom shall direct Him. His presence is infinite, His knowledge is unlimited, and His power is irresistible. Dr. Jortin.

28. The prophet that hath a dream, &c.] Away with all fraud in this holy service: that prophet, which hath but dreamed, let him confess it is but a dream; and he that hath indeed a vision and word from Me, let him deliver it as My message faithfully: for what hath this "chaff" of idle dreams to do with the pure grain of My visions and revelations ? Bp. Hall. The difference between true prophecies and counterfeits is as evident as that between "the chaff" and "the wheat." W. Lowth.

29. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer] Like a "fire," to dissolve and melt the hearts of relenting sinners; but like a strong "hammer," to batter and break in pieces the rocky and flinty consciences of obstinate and hardened offenders. Witness Saul submitting to the reproof of Samuel, 1 Sam. xv. 24; the Ninevites repenting at the menaces of Jonas, Jonah iii. 5; Felix trembling at the reasoning of St. Paul, Acts xxiv. 25; and Ahab mourning, when Elijah telleth him of his sin, and forewarns him of his punishment, 1 Kings xxi. 29. That, which in the Epistle to the Hebrews is spoken, if I mistake not, of the essential WORD of GOD, the second Person in the ever blessed Trinity, is also in an analogy true of the revealed word of God, the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles; VOL. II.

true prophets threatened.

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith

the LORD.

33 ¶ And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

Before CHRIST

599.

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even † punish that man and his + Heb. house.

35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD an

visit upon.

that it is "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow," Heb. iv. 12. Bp. Sanderson.

30.

-the prophets, that steal my words] That fraudulently keep back the word of the Lord from the people; and that take from each other, by compact and agreement, those prophecies, which themselves have falsely devised, and unjustly ascribed to God. Bp. Hall.

31.- that use their tongues, and say, &c.] Who, by their smooth tongues, persuade the people it is the word of the Lord which they deliver, when it is nothing but their own fancy. Bp. Hall.

33. And when this people, &c.] The remaining part of this chapter is directed against those, who called the word of God, spoken by the true Prophets," a burden," by way of reproach; meaning, that it always portended evil, and never good; a burden signifying a calamitous prophecy. Ahab intended to cast the same slur on the Prophet Micaiah, when he represented him as one that never prophesied good concerning him, but evil," 1 Kings xxii. 8. Dr. Blayney. The Jews quibbled on the word, which in the original has different senses. See the note on Isai. xiii. 1.

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36. — every man's word shall be his burden; &c.] You shall be severely accountable for your loose and profane speeches, wherewith you deride and pervert the words and messages of God Himself. W. Lowth. The words of God were delivered with a salutary tendency to warn sinners of the danger of their situation, and to call them to repentance. Those therefore, who make a right use of them, will have no cause to complain; but

2 C