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Jeremiah
Chapter Eleven
Jeremiah 11
Chapter Contents
The disobedient Jews reproved. (1-10) Their utter ruin.
(11-17) The people would be destroyed who sought the prophet's life. (18-23)
Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-10
(Read Jeremiah 11:1-10)
God never promised to bestow blessings on his rational creatures
while they persist in wilful disobedience. Pardon and acceptance are promised
freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the command
of God to repent
to believe in Christ
to separate from sin and the world
to
choose self-denial and newness of life. In general
men will hearken to those
who speak of doctrines
promises
and privileges; but when duties are
mentioned
they will not bend their ear.
Commentary on Jeremiah 11:11-17
(Read Jeremiah 11:11-17)
Evil pursues sinners
and entangles them in snares
out
of which they cannot free themselves. Now
in their distress
their many gods
and many altars stand them in no stead. And those whose own prayers will not be
heard
cannot expect benefit from the prayers of others. Their profession of
religion shall prove of no use. When trouble came upon them
they made this
their confidence
but God has rejected it. His altar shall yield them no
satisfaction. The remembrance of God's former favours to them shall be no
comfort under troubles; and his remembrance of them shall be no argument for
their relief. Every sin against the Lord is a sin against ourselves
and so it
will be found sooner or later.
Commentary on Jeremiah 11:18-23
(Read Jeremiah 11:18-23)
The prophet Jeremiah tells much concerning himself
the
times he lived in being very troublesome. Those of his own city plotted how they
might cause his death. They thought to end his days
but he outlived most of
his enemies; they thought to blast his memory
but it lives to this day
and
will be blessed while time lasts. God knows all the secret designs of his and
his people's enemies
and can
when he pleases
make them known. God's justice
is a terror to the wicked
but a comfort to the godly. When we are wronged
we
have a God to commit our cause to
and it is our duty to commit it to him. We
should also look well to our own spirits
that we are not overcome with evil
but that by patient continuance in praying for our enemies
and in kindness to
them
we may overcome evil with good.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 11
Verse 2
[2] Hear ye the words of this covenant
and speak unto the
men of Judah
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
Of this covenant — The covenant here
spoken of
was the covenant of the law of God
delivered by Moses
to which the
people more than once promised obedience.
Verse 5
[5] That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your
fathers
to give them a land flowing with milk and honey
as it is this day.
Then answered I
and said
So be it
O LORD.
So be it — God having ended his speech
the prophet saith
Amen
either asserting the truth of which God had said
or wishing that the people
would do according to their covenant.
Verse 8
[8] Yet they obeyed not
nor inclined their ear
but walked
every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon
them all the words of this covenant
which I commanded them to do; but they did
them not.
Did them not — For this God threatens to bring
upon them all his words of threatening
annexed to the covenant of the law.
Verse 9
[9] And the LORD said unto me
A conspiracy is found among
the men of Judah
and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
A conspiracy — All sorts of people have done
alike
as if they had conspired together to break my law.
Verse 11
[11] Therefore thus saith the LORD
Behold
I will bring evil
upon them
which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry
unto me
I will not hearken unto them.
I will not hearken — God will not hear
them crying to him in their adversity
who refuse to hear him speaking to them
in their prosperity.
Verse 13
[13] For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods
O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up
altars to that shameful thing
even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
That shameful thing — Baal
called a
shameful thing
because it was what they had reason to be ashamed of
and what
would certainly bring them to shame and confusion.
Baal — Signifies Lord
and was a common name given to more
idols than one; the Phoenicians used the name Baal
the Chaldeans
Bell. Learned
men say
that the Asians called the same idol Baal
whom those of Europe called
Jupiter. It is not improbable
that the Heathens acknowledging one supreme
being
worshipped him in several creatures; some mistaking the Sun
Moon
and
Stars to be he
others
other things; these they called Baalim
Lords
as they
called the principal god
Baal.
Verse 15
[15] What hath my beloved to do in mine house
seeing she
hath wrought lewdness with many
and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when
thou doest evil
then thou rejoicest.
My beloved — My people
saith God
though I
was formerly their husband
yet have wrought lewdness with many
that is
committed idolatry with many idols
and now what have they to do more in my
house? The holy flesh - Flesh of their sacrifices
being set before idols
as
well as before God
became polluted
and was abomination to the Lord.
Thou rejoicest — They were not only evil but
gloried in their wickedness.
Verse 16
[16] The LORD called thy name
A green olive tree
fair
and
of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it
and the branches of it are broken.
Fair — The Lord fixed thee when he brought thee first into
Canaan
in a flourishing condition
like a fair olive-tree
fit to bear goodly
fruit.
Broken — But thou hast so behaved thyself
that he who planted
thee
is about to pluck thee up. God is about to kindle a fire which will burn
thee up
and to break thy branches.
Verse 18
[18] And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it
and I know
it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
Thou shewedst me — This may be
understood with relation to that conspiracy which is mentioned in the following
verses.
Verse 19
[19] But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the
slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me
saying
Let
us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof
and let us cut him off from the
land of the living
that his name may be no more remembered.
Let us destroy — We have no other mention of this
conspiracy
but it is plain both from this verse
and what follows
that the
men of Anathoth (which was Jeremiah's own town) were offended at his
prophesying
and had conspired to kill him.
Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof — Let us not only put
an end to his prophesying
but to his life.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
11 Chapter 11
Verses 1-23
Verse 4
Obey My voice
and do them.
Obedience of primary import
Much is said about the demoralising effects of army life. Perhaps
there is a tendency to moral decline in the army
but one thing about army life
is good. It is a good thing to learn the lesson of implicit obedience to
properly constituted authority. A Christian must learn this lesson. No man can
be a Christian who does not obey God. And why should this be thought a
difficult thing? Soldiers do not complain because they are required to obey.
The hard thing about a soldier’s life is to be required to obey an unreasonable
and incompetent leader. Many officers are superior to the men in the ranks only
in official position. In all other respects they are inferior. But the
Christian is never subjected to this sort of humiliation. He has but one
Leader. The pastor is not the Master. Christians are all comrades
all
brethren
all equal before one Lord. One is yore Master. What He says
we will
do. Where He sends
we will go. (Christian Age.)
Verse 5
Then answered I
and said
So be it
O Lord.
The soul’s “Amen”
Jeremiah was naturally gentle
yielding
and pitiful for the sins
and sorrows of his people. Nothing was further from his heart than to “desire
the evil day.” Nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to have
played the part of Isaiah in this decadent period of his people’s history. But
what was possible to the great evangelic prophet in the days of Hezekiah was
impossible now. In Isaiah’s case the noblest traditions of the past
the patriotic
pride of his people
and the promises of God all pointed in the same direction.
But for Jeremiah there was an inevitable divorce between the trend of popular
feeling led by the false prophets
and his clear conviction of the Word of God.
It must
indeed
have been hard to prove that the prophets were wrong
and he
was right; they simply reiterated what Isaiah had said a hundred times. And
yet
as he utters the terrible curses and threatenings of Divine justice
and
predicts the inevitable fate of his people
he is so possessed with the sense
of the Divine rectitude that his soul rises up
and though he must pronounce
the doom of Israel
he is forced to answer and say
“Amen
O Lord!”
I. The soul’s
affirmation.
1. In Providence. It is not possible at first to say “Amen” in tones
of triumph and ecstasy. Nay
the word is often choked with sobs that cannot be
stifled
and soaked with tears that cannot be repressed. And as these words are
read by those who lie year after year on beds of constant pain; or by those
whose earthly life is tossed upon the sea of anxiety
over which billows of
care and turmoil perpetually roll--it is not improbable that they will protest
as to the possibility of saying “Amen” to God’s providential dealings. In
reply
let all such remember that our blessed Lord in the garden was content to
put His will upon the side of God. Dare to say “Amen” to God’s providential
dealings. Say it
though heart and flesh fail; say it
amid a storm of
tumultuous feeling
and a rain of tears. “What thou knowest not now
thou shalt
know hereafter.”
2. In revelation there are mysteries which baffle the clearest
thinkers. It must be so whilst God is God. There is no fathoming line long
enough
no parallax fine enough
no standard of mensuration
though the universe
itself be taken as our unit
by which to measure God. But though we cannot
comprehend
we may affirm the thoughts of God. That we cannot understand is due
to the immaturity of our faculties. But when He who has come straight from the
realms of eternal day steadfastly affirms that which He knows
and bears
witness to what He has seen
we receive His witness and say reverently
“Amen
Lord!”
3. In judgment. God’s judgments on the wicked are a great deep. Did
we know more of sin
of holiness
of the love of God
of the yearning pleadings
of His Spirit with men
we should probably understand better how Jeremiah was
able to say
“Amen
Lord!”
II. The ground of
the soul’s peace. “Yea
Father!” When face to face with the mysteries of the
atonement
of substitution and sacrifice
of predestination and election
of
the unequal distribution of Gospel light
be sure to turn to God as the Father
of light
in whom is no darkness
no shadow of unkindness
no note inconsistent
with the music of perfect benevolence.
III. The triumph of
the affirming soul. “Amen
Hallelujah!” Mark the addition of “Hallelujah” to
the “Amen.” Here the Amen
and not often the Hallelujah; there the two--the
assent and the consent; the acquiescence and the acclaim; the submission to the
win of God
and the triumphant outburst of praise and adoration (Revelation 15:3
R.V.). (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
Verse 8
They obeyed not.
Sins of omission
I. The great
commonness of sins of omission.
1. In a certain sense all offences against the law of God come under
the head of sins of omission. Every sin is a breach of the all-comprehensive
law
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and thy neighbour as
thyself.” How multitudinous our omissions in respect to this command! Too often
we have had other gods beside Him. So
too
in regard to our “neighbour.” What
sins of omission daily occur in our various relationships--our neighbours
our
children
our household.
2. Sins of omission are seen in all who neglect to perform the first
and all-essential Gospel command: “Repent and be converted”; “Repent and be
baptized”; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. Sins of omission in religious duties. Multitudes neglect the
outward worship of God. But others show religious regard; yet what omissions as
to prayer; how lax in devotion are the most of us! As to the Bible: left
unread! As to service: talents wrapped up in napkin! Our omissions lie upon the
horizon of memory like masses of storm clouds accumulating for a horrible
tempest.
II. The cause of
this excessive multiplicity of sins of omission.
1. The great cause lies in our evil hearts. Absence of clean heart
and right spirit is at the root: “Ye must be born again.”
2. The conscience of man is not well alive to sins of omission. While
conscience will chastise men for direct acts of wrong
not awake to sins of
neglect.
3. These sins are multiplied through indolence. In the face of
eternity
life
death
heaven
and hell
multitudes are simply ruined because
they neglect the great salvation
and are absolutely too idle to concern
themselves.
4. Ignorance. With many ignorance is wilful; have Bible
conscience;
yet sin against light and knowledge.
5. Men excuse themselves so readily about these sins of omission. A
more convenient season is anticipated for repentance
faith
prayer.
6. Many neglect because of the prevalence of the like conduct. To
omit to love and serve the Lord is the custom. But enlightened conscience warns
us that custom is no excuse for sin: it will be no plea at the bar of God.
III. The sinfulness
of sins of omission. They cannot be trivial
for--
1. Consider what would be the consequences if God were to omit His
mercies to us for one moment! Suppose Jesus had left an omission in His plan of
salvation; the whole would have failed
and humanity left without remedy or
hope.
2. Reflect what an influence they would have upon an ordinary commonwealth.
If one person has a right to omit his duty
another has
and all
have--watchman
judge
merchant
husbandman; society soon collapse
kingdom
break to pieces.
3. Think how you would judge of omissions towards yourselves. In the
case of your servant
you instantly resent it. So in a soldier. Even in your
child: to neglect your command is regarded as equally criminal as to commit
offence.
4. Consider what God thinks of omissions. Saul was ordered to kill
the Amalekites--not one to escape: he saved Agag and best of the cattle;
therefore the Lord said
“I have put thee away from being king over Israel!”
Ahab was commanded to kill Benhadad on account of great criminality: Ahab only
captured him; therefore
“Because thou hast let this man go
thy life shall be
for his life!” The man with one talent was condemned because he neglected to
sue it.
IV. The result and
punishment of sins of omission.
1. They will condemn us. “The King shall say
I was hungered and ye
gave Me no meat
” etc. The absence of virtue rather than the presence of vice
condemned them. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”
2. If persevered in
they will effectually shut against us the
possibilities of pardon. “He that believeth not”--is there pardon
rescue for
him? No; he “is condemned already
because he hath not believed on the Son of
God.” Will the mercy of God blot out sins uurepented of? Nay; sins will cling
to us as the leprosy to the house of Gehazi. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 9
And the Lord said unto me
A conspiracy is found
A sad relapse
1.
The
prophet calls the people’s relapse a plot or conspiracy; thereby suggesting
perhaps
the secrecy with which the prohibited worships were at first revived
and the intrigues of the unfaithful nobles and priests and prophets
in order
to bring about a reversal of the policy of reform.
2. The word further means a bond
which is the exact antithesis of
the covenant with Jehovah
and it implies that this bond has about it a fatal
strength and permanence
involving as its necessary consequence the ruin of the
nation. Breaking covenant with Jehovah meant making a covenant with other gods.
If you have broken faith with God in Christ
it is because you have entered
into an agreement with another; it is because you have surrendered to the
proposals of the tempter
and preferred his promises to the promises of God. (C.
J. Ball
M. A.)
Verse 14
Therefore pray not thou for this people.
Futile prayers
It is futile to pray for those who have deliberately cast off the
covenant of Jehovah and made a covenant with His adversary. Prayer cannot save
nothing can save
the impenitent; and there is a state of mind
in which one’s
own prayer is turned into sin; the state of mind in which a man prays
merely
to appease God
and escape the fire
but without a thought of forsaking sin
without the faintest aspiration after holiness. There is a degree of guilt upon
which sentence is already passed
which is “unto death
” and for which prayer
is interdicted alike by the prophet of the new and of the old covenant. (C.
J. Ball
M. A.)
Verse 21
Prophesy not in the name of the Lord
that thou die not by our
hand.
Intimidating the prophet
Think of Bunyan when he is brought before the judge
and the judge
says
“You! a tinker! to go about preaching! Hold your tongue
sir!” “I cannot
hold my tongue
” says Bunyan. “Then I must send you back to prison unless you
promise never to preach again.” “If you put me in prison till the moss grows on
my eyelids
I will preach again the first moment I get out
by the help of
God.” (Life of John Bunyan.)
Intimidators put to silence:--There is the story of a
conversation between the burgomaster in Hamburg and holy Dr. Ducken when he
first began to preach. The burgomaster said to him
“Do you see that little
finger
sir? While I can move that little finger
I will put the Baptists
down.” Mr. Ducken said
“With all respect to your little finger
Mr.
Burgomaster
I would ask you another question. Do you see that arm?” “No
I do
not see it.” “Just so
” said Mr. Ducken
“but I do; and while that great arm
moves
you cannot put us down
and if it comes to a conflict between your
little finger and that great arm
I know how it will end.” It was my great joy
to see the burgomaster sitting in the chapel at Hamburg
among the audience
that listened to my sermon at the opening of the new chapel. The little finger
had willingly given up its opposition
and the great arm was made bare. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》