The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 14
Chapter XIV · Vol. III, pp. 1248–1249
1 A grievous famine 7 causeth Jeremiah to pray. 10 The Lord will not be entreated for the people. 13 Lying prophets are no excuse for them. 17 Jeremiah is commanded to bewail their calamities.
1 The worda of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the 1dearth.2
a ch.7.1; 11.1; 16.1.
1 Heb. words of the dearths, or restraints.
2 See note * below.
* The time of this dearth is unknown, and conjecture is useless. But it is never to be forgotten that all nations and periods are liable to such visitations; and that while much may be done by improved agriculture and freedom of commerce to mitigate or prevent famine, yet these are still insufficient to protect from occasional dearth: while these advantages themselves are not of man's procuring, but of God's bestowing, and could, in judgment, be as easily withheld as the rains or the dews, or 'the fruitful seasons,' Ac.14.17.—C.
2 Judahb mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
b Is.3.26. La.2.9,&c. Joel 1.5,8,11-13,17-20. La.4.8. ver.12; ch.8.21; 13.18. 1 Sa.5.12.
3 And their nobles have sent their little ones3 to the waters: they ccame to the pits,4 and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; dthey were ashamed and confounded, and ecovered their heads.
4 Becauseg the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, hthe plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
g Le.26.19,20. De.28.23,24; 32.24. Joel 1.19,20.
h Joel 1.11.
5 Yea, ithe hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
i Job 39.1-4. Ps.29.9.
6 Andj the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; theirk eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
j Job 39.5,6. ch.2.24.
k La.5.17; 4.17. 1 Sa.14.29.
7 Ol LORD, though our iniquities ntestify against us, odo thou it for thy name's sake:5 for ourp backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
8 O qthe Hope of Israel, rthe Saviour thereof in time of trouble, swhy shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and tas a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9 Whyu shouldest thou be as a man astonied,6 as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art vin the midst of us, and we are called by thy name;7 leavex us not.
10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thusy have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, ztherefore the LORD doth not accept8 them: ahe will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
y ch.2.23-25,36; 3.1,2,5; vii. ix.; 8.5; 11.8,10,13; 13.22,27. Ho.11.7.
A.M. cir. 3396. B.C. cir. 608.
z Is.1.11-15. ch.6.20; 15.1.
8 Because they had rejected Christ, who was manifested to them in the sacrifices of the temple, as to Christians in the sacrifice of Calvary, Is.53.3, comp. Ep.1.6.—C.
a ch.44.21,22. 1 Ki.17.18. Ps.109.15. Ho.8.13; 9.9.
11 Then said the LORD unto me, bPray not for this people for their good.
b Ex.32.10. ch.7.16; 11.14; 15.1.
12 Whenc they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and an oblation, I will not accept them; but dI will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! ebehold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace9 in this place.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name; gI sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
g ch.23.16,21,26,32; 27.10,15; 28.9; 29.8,9,21. Eze.13.2-8,16,17,22. 2 Th.2.11. 2 Pe.2.1. Mi.2.11; 3.6,11. La.2.14. Is.9.15,16; 30.10,11; 56.10-12.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; hby sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
h ch.6.15; 20.6; 23.14,15; 28.15-17; 29.20-32. 1 Ki.22.25.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy ishall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword: and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour jtheir wickedness upon them.
17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them, kLet mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for lthe virgin daughter of my people nis broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
18 If oI go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest 1go about into a land that they know not.2
o La.4.9. Eze.7.15. ch.9.21; 6.11; 15.2.
1 Or, make merchandise against a land, and men acknowledge it not, ch.5.31; 2.8, with De.28.36,64. ch.15.4.
2 'Yea both the prophet & the priest go about the land' (in search of a morsel of bread; see ver.15) 'and care not'—are become dead to all feeling of the national calamities, the coming of which they denied, but of which they are now themselves both the witnesses and the victims.—C.
19 Hastp thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is qno healing for us? rwe looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
20 Wes acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for twe have sinned against thee.
s ch.3.13,25. Ezr.9.5-15. Da.9.5-20. Ps.106.6-40; 32.5. Pr.28.13. 1 Jn.1.7.
t Ps.106.6. Ho.4.1,2. Da.9.8. Ps.51.4. 2 Sa.24.10. ch.3.21; 7.26; 16.12,17.
21 Dou not abhor us, for thy name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory:3 remember,v break not thy covenant with us.
u Ps.51.11; 25.11. Jos.7.9. Ps.74.1,2,10,19-23. ver.7. Da.9.7,15-19.
3 The temple and ark, ch.17.12; 3.17. Eze.43.7. Ps.48.1; 87.2,3; 132.13,14. Da.9.17. Is.6.1.
v Ps.74.1,2,19,20,22; 106.45; 89.39,40,50. Ex.32.13. De.9.26,27. Ne.1.5; 9.32. Is.63.15-19; 64.8,9.
22 Are there any among the xvanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? yart not thou he,4 O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee; for thou hast made all these things.
x ch.10.15; 16.19. De.32.21. Ac.14.15. 1 Th.1.9. Is.44.9-20.
y Ps.135.7. ch.5.24; 51.16. De.28.12. 1 Ki.8.36. Job 5.10; 38.26,28. Ps.147.8. Joel 2.23. Zec.10.1,2. Mat.5.45. Ac.14.17. Is.30.23.
4 Thou he. The Hebrew original is often equivalent to 'the true and eternal God.' See De.32.39. Is.43.10,13. Ps.102.27.—C.
Notes
Ver. 5. The inhabitants of the forest, Ps. 29. 9, had come out to the fields in search of grass, and the hind, the emblem of tenderest love, Pr. 5. 19, had forgot its instinct and forsaken its young through the misery induced by the sins of Jerusalem, ver. 7.—Note, While philanthropists are laudably employed in the prevention or punishment of 'cruelty to animals,' let them never forget that no remedy short of national 'repentance towards God, and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ,' can ever reach to the root of the evil. C.
Ver. 17. The prophet is commanded to open, as it were, a fountain of tears over their sins, when every fountain of waters was dry, if by any means the contrast and the sympathy might move them to attention, examination, and repentance. C.
Ver. 20. We—that is, the penitent remnant whom, in the worst of times, and in the most apostate churches, God has either preserved as his 'hidden ones,' or endowed and commissioned as martyrs or reformers. C.
Reflections.—With the greatest ease, even by withholding drops of rain, God can render his enemies miserable, and make the inhabitants of the wealthiest cities pale, faint, and dying. At his nod fields deny their crops, and fountains their water, and cause even the richest to die by hunger and thirst; and not only sinners, but the irrational creatures, for our sakes, share in the punishment. Those who take no shame for their sins, provoke God to confound them with disappointments; and many mourn over their miseries who never mourn over the sinful causes of them. Yea, both sins and judgments often lie heaviest on their hearts who had the least hand in procuring them. Alarmingly dreadful, but just, is God's departure from a church or nation whose Hope and Saviour he has long been. And great is his condescension to indulge his people in the most familiar expostulations, and in the improving of his own excellencies, as arguments to enforce their requests. But no prayers can prevail when he is determined to leave men obstinate in wickedness; no sacrifice can be accepted, no excuse admitted. What plagues to themselves, and all around, are flattering, unfaithful, and erroneous ministers! But they who are faithful cannot forbear intercessions for their people's welfare and salvation. With unutterable groans and expostulations they deprecate their ruin; and encourage themselves therein by the views of God's honour, mercy, power, and blessed relation.