Jeremiah 15:1-21
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds,a saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
4 And I will causeb them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroyc my people, since they return not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the motherd of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Jeremiah 15:1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, as when Moses by his prayers saved the nation, Exodus 32:11, and Samuel in Mizpeh was heard, when the Lord terrified the Philistine armies by thundering from heaven, and scattering all their host. 1 Samuel 7:10.
Jeremiah 15:2. Such as are for death, to death. By death is here evidently intended the pestilence; which, with the sword, the famine, and the captivity, should consume the whole nation.
Jeremiah 15:3. I will appoint over them four kinds of visitations, saith the Lord; words which are often repeated by this prophet with some variations: chap. 14:15. First, the sword, which shall defeat and slay the young men in the field, a martial spirit being denied them in this crisis of affairs. Next, the dogs and foxes shall feed on the slain, Then vultures and ravens shall succeed in the feast. And lastly, the wild beasts shall follow and complete the carnage. What a revolting portrait to the pride of Judah.
Jeremiah 15:8. The mother. Jerusalem, here called the metropolis or mother-city, having borne many children, and become the mother of many cities, against whom Nebuchadnezzar, the spoiler, came.
Jeremiah 15:12. Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? The reference seems to be to the Chalybes, a northern nation on the Black sea, famed as workers in iron, and skilled in tempering steel. From this nation, the name of our chaly-beate waters, or tepid mineral springs, is derived. Strabo 12. God had promised, Jeremiah 1:18, to make Jeremiah “like a fortified city, like a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass.” The words then are full of strong consolation, that the invasion against Judah, as a revolted nation, should hurt neither the prophet nor the praying remnant.
Jeremiah 15:17. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers. See Psalms 1:1. I have not gone to their feasts. I sit alone. And where, alas, is my joy in the Lord?
Jeremiah 15:18. Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar? This is a rough reading. The sense is, wilt thou deceive me in the above promise of divine support, as a man is deceived, who coming thirsty to brooks and fountains, finds them dried up. When the prophet spake these words, there was great drought and dearth in all the land: Jeremiah 14:3.
REFLECTIONS.
Jeremiah continues here to preach the same sermon to the Jews, but with new modifications, and if possible with more impressive figures. Manasseh's sins had so sapped the morals of the nation, as to frustrate every effort for the salvation of the people. But let us observe what an honour God here puts upon his praying servants; with what respect and affection he speaks of Moses and Samuel, who had been dead many centuries. If any thing could have reconciled him to Israel, it would have been their intercession. “This shows the power of prayer, and what pleasure God takes in his worshipping servants,” says the judicious Orton. “It also shows what a blessing those are who offer up earnest prayers for their country, and how desirable and necessary it is that we should abound in supplication on this account.
We next see how difficult it is to bear censure and reproach with patience and cheerfulness. Jeremiah was much out of frame, through the strife and contention of his countrymen; and it is indeed hard to live peaceably and keep our temper, when we live among bad neighbours, who are disposed to pick quarrels and spread slander.
Faithful ministers have reason to expect opposition. Jeremiah had pursued no secular business, which is often the source of envy and contention; he acted in his own sphere, and delivered his messages faithfully; and merely on this account these wicked men hated and persecuted, and did all they could to silence him as a troublesome man. Let none of God's faithful servants, particularly his ministers, wonder, if they are called by evil names; and if they who are reproved, and will not be reformed, censure their best friends, and those who would save them from destruction.
Ministers in such circumstances are to meditate on the word of God; to digest it, and endeavour thoroughly to understand and relish it. They are not to study to please men by sinful compliances, and by bringing down christian precepts to their standard; but to deliver their messages faithfully, and urge men to come up to the purity of the christian standard. They are to distinguish between the precious and the vile, to reprove the wicked and the careless, to encourage and comfort the righteous. They are to consider themselves as God's mouth, to speak nothing but what his word requires; and when they do so we are to consider them as God's mouth, and pay as much regard to what they say, as if God himself spoke to us. These are maxims necessary to be regarded by us at all times, especially amidst prevailing degeneracy; and in so doing God will support and deliver us, and we shall stand before him with honour and acceptance through Jesus Christ.”