JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS.

JEREMIAH was a priest dwelling at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. He was called to the prophetic office very young; on account of his youth and incapacity he modestly shrank from the honour assigned him, but his difficulties were overruled by the divine authority and promise of assistance. He therefore set himself to discharge the duties of his function, and did so with great zeal and faithfulness for about forty-two years, under very unfavourable circumstances.

He began to prophesy about seventy years after the death of Isaiah, and in the thirteenth of the reign of Josiah. The people of the Jews were almost wholly given up to idolatry and wickedness; and though, through the influence of that good young king, a short revival of religion and reformation of manners took place, the people were in general hypocritical, and soon relapsed into their former crimes, and became ripe for the judgments of heaven. Jeremiah predicted these judgments, and lived to witness their infliction. He was a man of remarkably quick and tender feelings; the persecution and ill usage he endured from his countrymen on account of his faithful reproofs, deeply wounded his spirit, and sometimes drew forth from him unguarded expressions; but in general the bitterness of his soul seemed to be chiefly excited by the sins and miseries of his countrymen, which he

pathetically bewailed. He was a man of unblemished piety and conscientious integrity; a warm lover of his country, and having his heart set upon the ordinances and interests of religion. So affectionately was he attached to his countrymen, that he chose rather to abide with them, and undergo all hardships in their company, than separately to enjoy a state of ease and plenty, which the favour of the king of Babylon would have secured to him.

A slight sketch of the history of Judah, during the period, will lead to a better understanding of Jeremiah's predictions and writings.

Josiah was early taken away from a nation so unworthy of such a sovereign. His two sons, who reigned in succession after him, were as remarkable for vice as their father had been for piety and goodness. The first, Shallum, or Jehoahaz, after a reign of three months, was carried captive into Egypt, where he died. His brother, Jehoiakim, was allowed to succeed him, on condition of paying a large sum of money to the king of Egypt. After about three years, the king of Babylon made a descent on Judea, took Jerusalem, carried away a number of captives, (chiefly of the most noble families,) together with a great part of the sacred vessels of the temple, and compelled the king to swear fealty to him, and promise a yearly tribute. After the first three years this tribute was withheld, and the king of Babylon sent forces, joined by the Syrians and Ammonites, who for several years harrassed the country, and carried away spoils and captives. In one of these skirmishes Jehoiakim was taken prisoner, and closely confined in order to be sent to Babylon, but in the mean time he died without the city, and his body, after having been treated with much ignominy, was cast into the fields without the honour of a burial,-exactly according with Jeremiah's prophecy. His son Jeconiah succeeded him, and followed his vicious example. After reigning only three months, Nebuchadnezzar, who had come to Jerusalem in person, carried him captive to Babylon, with almost all the people of any note in the country, and the remaining gold and silver vessels in the temple. Zedekiah, the uncle of this king, was

permitted to succeed him, on swearing allegiance and becoming tributary to the king of Babylon. But relying on the assistance of the king of Egypt, he revolted soon after, and drew on himself and his country the full vengeance of the king of Babylon. Gedaliah

was then left governor, who was treacherously slain by some of the royal family. The remnant of Israel, contrary to the advice of Jeremiah, (who assured them of safety in Judea, and destruction in Egypt,) determined to retreat into Egypt; thither he accompanied them, and continued warmly to remonstrate against their idolatry and evil practices, and to warn them of the consequences that would follow. It is generally supposed that his zeal and fidelity so enraged his countrymen, that they stoned him to death at Tahpanhes in Egypt. Soon after the taking of Jerusalem, and carrying away the Jews into captivity, Nebuchadnezzar brought upon the Tyrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Philistines, and other nations, the destruction foretold by the prophets of God. He also ravaged Egypt, and either killed or enslaved all the Jews that had fled there for refuge. Thus things stood with respect to the Jews, until, at the very time foretold by Isaiah and the other prophets, the Babylonian monarchy was overthrown, and the Jews restored to their liberty and country by Cyrus.

The prophecies of Jeremiah chiefly relate to the idolatrous apostasy and abominable wickedness of the people of Judah, and the severe judgments which God was preparing to bring upon them. The forty-fifth chapter relates personally to Baruch, the disciple of Jeremiah, and the six following chapters to the fate of several heathen nations: there are also some historical facts interspersed, and some occasional intimations of future restoration and deliverance; also of the coming of the Messiah.

There are four distinct collections of Jeremiah's prophecies, which are not placed in our Bibles in the order in which they were delivered. It is supposed that the first twelve chapters were delivered in the reign of Josiah. In that of Jehoiakim, xiii-xx. from ver. 11-14 of xxi., xxii. xxiii. xxv. xxvi. xxxv. xxxvi.

xlv-xlix. ver. 33. In the reign of Zedekiah, chapters xxi. 1-10. xxiv. xxvii-xxxiv. xxxvii. xxxix. xlix.

ver. 34-39. 1. li. When Gedaliah was governor, xl-xliv. Chap. lii. is supposed to have been added by Ezra after the captivity, to shew the correspondence between prophecy and event, and also by way of introduction to the Lamentations.

The above will furnish a general key to Jeremiah's writings. Many highly instructive passages demand particular notice from the serious reader of the Scriptures, but the style, being much less figurative than that of some other of the prophets, does not require so much explanation.

The vision of the rod of the almond tree, (chap. i.) signified the nearness, and the seething pot the severity, of the divine judgments. The nations who were to inflict those judgments lay to the north of Judea.

Chap. ii. is an affecting expostulation of God with his ancient people for their ingratitude and guilt. Alas! we too much resemble them, All who prefer sin to holiness, and the pleasures of the world to the favour and friendship of God, are as foolish, and will find themselves as miserably disappointed, as those who should forsake a living and abundant fountain, and with vast labour hew out a cistern, which at best could only hold a small quantity of standing water, and being broken, can hold no water at all, (ii. 13.) The latter part of the chapter alludes to the idolatry of the Jews under the figure of a breach of the marriage covenant.

Chap. iii. continues the figure, yet abounds with exhortations to repentance, and promises of mercy and pardon, notwithstanding every aggravation of guilt. The same strain is continued throughout the first section of the prophecy; from the whole of it we learn, (1.) That sin is the cause of calamity both to individuals and nations, ver. 9, 25-29. (2.) That God takes notice of all our sins, of our unthankfulness for his mercies, and neglect of the opportunities he affords us to repent and return, v. 23, 24. vi. 17. vii. 13, 14, 23, 24, &c. (3.) That notwithstanding all our sins, we have encouragement to return to God, iii. 22. iv. 14. (4.) That the sins of the people are a great source of grief to

their godly ministers. The whole section is most affectingly interspersed with expressions of grief for the miseries which the prophet was commissioned to denounce, but which the people brought upon themselves. (5.) That under every calamity, whether personal, domestic, or national, God has always been a refuge for his people, ready to hear their prayer, and to permit them to plead with him. Jeremiah, having been informed by divine revelation of the conspiracy of the men of Anathoth against his life, prayed against them, and was authorised to foretell their utter destruction, xi. 18-23; emboldened by the success of his prayers, he expostulated with God concerning the prosperity of the wicked, xii. 1-6. The Divine Being was pleased to answer the prophet's expostulation, (7-13.) and to promise the future restoration and conversion of his people, with a declaration that the unbelieving would utterly perish, 14-17. This change of speakers requires attention in order to understanding the sentiments uttered.

Chap. xiii. commences the prophecies delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim. The symbol of a linen girdle left to rot, signified the manner in which the glory of the Jewish nation should be marred during their long captivity. The scene being near the Euphrates, denoted that Chaldea, which that river waters, would be the scene of the judgments threatened; the incorrigible wickedness of Judea is still assigned as the cause of these calamities.

Chap. xiv. predicts a severe famine, the effects of which are described in a most pathetic manner, 1-6. The prophet then, in the people's name, makes confession of sin, and supplicates for pardon, 7-9. But God, who reads all hearts, and saw that the people in general were impenitent, declared his determination to punish, 10-12. The prophet still weeps over their miseries.

Chap. xv. The Lord declares, that had even Moses and Samuel (whose prayers had been so prevalent) interceded on behalf of this wicked people, their prayers should not have prevailed. The prayers of the righteous on our behalf should be esteemed a great privilege,