Verses 8-17. Three other like events of parallel magnitude have been witnessed: the fall of Babylon, as the close of the primeval monarchies of the ancient world; the fall of Rome, as the close of the classical world; and, in a fainter degree, the fall of Constantinople, as the close of the first Christianized empire. But, in the case of Jerusalem, both its first and second destruction have the peculiar interest of involving the dissolution of a religious dispensation, combined with the agony of an expiring nation, such as no other people or city has witnessed, such as no other people have survived, and, by surviving, carried on the living recollection, first of one, then of the other, for centuries after the first shock was over.Stanley. finished, in remembrance that Jerusalem and the Temple lie desolate. At least they leave about a yard square of the house unplastered, on which they write in great letters: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, &c.; ;" or else the words, "The memory of the desolation."-Trapp. Verses 13-17. The changing aspects of religious work. 1. That religious work is carried on with a great variety of instrumentalities (verses 14, 15). 2. That the value of religious work depends on the strength and symmetry of moral character (verses 13, 16, 17). (verses 13, 16, 17). 3. That there are Chaldean enemies ever ready to destroy character and depreciate religious work (verse 13). Verses 18-21. Official responsibility. 1. Demands that the post of duty should be the more tenaciously held in time of dauger. 2. Exposes to the first and fiercest attacks of the enemy. 3. Involves great suffering, and even death itself (verse 21), in trying times. 4. Often makes one long for the peace and security of the poor and obscure (verse 12). Verse 18. These likely were fired out of those secret corners of the temple where they lay hid. Our chroniclers tell us that William the Conqueror, firing the city Mayence in the walls whereof were enclosed an France, consumed a church there, in anchoret, who might but would not escape, holding it a breach of his reli Verse 9. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the wonder of all times, the paragon of nations, the glory of the earth, the favourite of heaven, how art thou now become heaps of ashes, hills of rubbish, a spectacle of desolation, a monument of ruin! If later, yet no less deep hast thou now pledged that bitter cup of God's vengeance to thy sister Samaria! Four hundred and thirty-gious vow to forsake his cell in that six years had that temple stood, and beautified the earth, and honoured heaven; now, it is turned into rude heaps. There is no prescription to be pleaded for the favour of the Almighty: only that temple not made with hands is eternal in the heavens. Thither he graciously brings us, for the sake of the glorious High Priest, that hath once for all entered into that holy of holies.-Bp. Hail. distress. At the last destruction of Jerusalem, certain Jews who had taken sanctuary in the Temple came forth when it was on fire, and besought the emperor Titus to give them quarter for their lives; but he refused so to do, giving this for a reason, which, indeed, was no reason-Ye deserve not to live, who will not die with the downfall of your Temple.-Trapp. Verse 21. "So Judah was carried away out of their land." The curse and the blessing of the exile. I. The curse consisted in this, that the Lord removed the people from before his face (chap. xxiii. 27; xxiv. 3, 20); became a blessing for the whole world, The mercy, the justice, and the wisdom of God are all equally displayed in this event. His mercy appears in bringing this judgment so gradually-from less to greater, during the space of twenty-two years-so that most ample warning was given, and abundant opportunity of repentance was afforded. That it was a most just punishment for their sins no one ever questioned, and the Jews themselves have constantly admitted it, even with tears. It was, in particular, a most righteous punishment of their idolatry, as Moses had long agɔ foretold in Lev. xxvi., where the suc cession of the Divine judgments is Ver. 22-26. The last vestige of Verse 25. We see by the example of Israel, how envy and jealousy, pride in high descent, and destiny, and love of power, lead to the most utter ruin. Passion makes men fools. Ishmael could not hope with his small 658 company to resist the Chaldean power. -Lange. Self-love and envy teach men to turn the glass to see themselves bigger and others lesser than they are. An envious spirit. 1. Cannot brook a superior. 2. Is disquieted with ambitious and wicked designs. 3. Does not hesitate to commit the worst crimes to attain its ends. 4. Loses the prize at which it clutches. (Jer. xli. 15). Verse 26. When the godless attempt to flee from a calamity they plunge themselves into it (Isa. xxiv. 17).— Starke. Jeremiah lived on in the land to see the misery and anarchy which followed the murder of Gedaliah; to tell the Jews who were flying to Egypt that if they stayed in the land they would be safe, that in Egypt they would meet with destruction-for that Egypt had been given up to the king of Babylon-finally to sing the future ruin of Babylon itself; the confusion and breaking in pieces of her idols, the deliverance of those in whose destruction and desolation she had rejoiced.-Maurice. Ver. 27-30. The release and preferment of Jehoiachin suggestive of the future restoration of his exiled people. 1. Their captivity, like his, might be painful and prolonged. 2. As in his case, a prince might arise who would have compassion on their sufferings. 3. As in his experience, they might be restored to freedom and comparative prosperity. 4. The darkest distress is not without some ray of hope. -The new king, Evil Merodach, having no such personal feeling against Jehoiachin as had swayed his father, strove to atone for the long sufferings of the unfortunate exile by setting him free, and entertaining him thenceforward at the royal table in suitable splendour. Legend has brightened the story of his last days, describing him as living on the Euphrates, in a sumptuous house, surrounded by a spacious paradise, and married to the fairest woman of his day, the chaste Susannah, the companion of the king of Babylon, and the chief personage of and high judge among the captives. It is added, moreover, that amidst all, he was still mindful of his native land, listening, with his brethren, to Baruch as he read the prophecies before them, and amidst weeping, fasting, and prayer, sending off help to the rem nant of his people in Jerusalem. But this touching picture is only a creation of national pride, to adorn with a fictitious prosperity the closing years of the last direct heir to the Jewish crown.-Geikie. Verse 29. The like whereto befel Joseph, whose fetters one hour changed into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, his stocks into a chariot, his goal into a palace. So God turned again the captivity of Job, as the streams in the South.-Trapp. Verse 30. So is, or might be, every true believer's portion; who should therefore "eat his bread with joy, and drink his wine with cheerfulness all the days of his life," which are not to be numbered by the hours, but measured by spiritual mirth; as monies are not by tale, but by value.-Ibid. Great principles illustrated in the books of Kings. I. That the Divine purpose in raising up the Jewish nation as a means of conveying greater blessing to the world is steadily kept in view. II. That the nation is prospered and strengthened in proportion to its fidelity to the Divine purpose. III. That the ambition to form foreign alliances was contrary to the fundamental law of the theocracy, and led to the introduction of the idolatry which ultimately wrought the nation's ruin. IV. That a nation, as an individual, cannot be purged of great evils without great suffering. V. That God is slow to punish, and delays the final blow till all possible means of reclamation are exhausted. VI. That great emergencies bring to the front the noblest and most highly gifted talent of the nation. VII. That the unfaithfulness and vice of the Jewish people did not prevent the carrying out of the Divine purpose. VIII. That true religion can alone give greatness and permanence to national life. |