Jeremiah 9:13-15 | |
13. And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; | 13. Et dixit Jehova, Quia dereliquerunt legem meam, quam posui coram ipsis (ad faciem ipsorum, ad verbum,) et non audierunt vocem meam, et non ambulaverunt in ea (hoc est, secundum ipsam;) |
14. But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: | 14. Et ambulaverunt post cogitationes (vel, post contumaciam; nam utroque modo vertunt hoc nomen, post cogitationes ergo) cordis sui, et post Baalim, quos docuerunt patres ipsorum: |
15. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. | 15. Propterea sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus Israel, Ecce ego cibans (cibabo) populum hunc ameritudine, et potabo aquis veneni (vel, venenatis; alii vertunt, aquis fellis; nam |
Jeremiah now confirms what I have stated, and more fully explains it, -- that though no teacher or a disciple was found in the land, yet there was sufficient power in God's word alone, and that his judgment depended not on the will or the perceptions of men. After having then complained that all were foolish, and that there were no prophets to reprove their security and indifference, he adds,
He then adds,
"Behold, I have set before thee,"
(Deuteronomy 11:32, and elsewhere:)
and this he said, that the people might not seek for themselves vain excuses for ignorance, as they were wont to do.
But while we are not to overlook this circumstance, we may yet hence learn this general truth, -- that the law of God is not so obscure but that we may learn from it what is right. When, therefore, Moses is quoted, and the prophets are added as interpreters, there is no ground for us to evade, or to make the excuse, that the truth is too hidden or profound; for the law is set before our face, that, the will of God may be made known to us. Whosoever then can read and hear what God has revealed once to the world by Moses and the prophets is inexcusable; for we are taught here, and in other places, that it is a mere perverseness in all who hear the law, when they do not obey:
And he adds,
He then adds,
He then more clearly explains how they had sinned,
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only testified what is right by the Law and the Prophets, in order that we may form our life in obedience to thy will, but hast also made more fully known to us by thy Gospel what is perfect righteousness, -- O grant, that being ruled by thy Spirit, we may surrender ourselves altogether to thee, and so acquiesce in thy Word alone, that we may not deviate either to the right hand or to the left, but allow thee alone to be wise, and that acknowledging our folly and vanity, we may suffer ourselves to be taught by thy Word, so that we may really prove that we are truly obedient to thee, until having at length completed the course of this life, we shall reach that heavenly rest which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only-begotten Son. -- Amen.
Lecture Thirty-Seventh
We explained yesterday what the Prophet said respecting the Jews, that though no one considered the reason why God so severely afflicted them, yet they could not escape in this way, and that they in vain set up the shield of iglnorance, for God had often declared that he abominated their superstitions. Though then they were all blind, and no. prophet shewed to them the cause of their evils, yet Jeremiah said, that this alone was sufficient -- that God had spoken, and would again speak to them. He said that they were not submissive to God's authority, but walked after the hardness of their own heart, and after Baalim. He added, that they had been
We may learn from this passage how foolishly the Papists now glory in imitating the fathers: for they think that examples stand for laws; nay, they hesitate not to oppose. God's authority by what has been done by men. But we see that such an excuse is not only frivolous, but that thereby the crime is doubled; for more excusable is. the ignorance of one year, or of a short time, than when there is a long obstinate persistency in it, and when children, after having embraced abominations, received from their fathers, hand them down to their posterity.
He at length concludes that God would take vengeance, but speaks in a figurativle language,
"Turned let their table be into an offense."
David also complained, when describing the barbarous cruelty of his enemies, that they gave him gall to drink: and we shall hereafter see what Jeremiah says; for in speaking. of his enemies, he says that they had conspired to put him to death, and said,
"Let us set wood for his bread." (Jeremiah 11:19)
By these words then Jeremiah intended to express the dreadful vengeance of God; for he would not onty deprive the Jews of his benefits, but also turn their bread into poison, and their water into bitterness.
We now then perceive the Prophet's meaning; and at the same time we must observe the expression,
1 "Voice" is for God's word; and so the Targum renders it: they did not walk in, or according to, his word. -- Ed.
2 See Note on Jeremiah 3:17, 18.
3 It is supposed that the Israelites made a difference between this word and God: they allowed but one God, but introduced Baalim, or inferior gods, and worshipped them. They tried to evade the charge of idolatry, by alleging that Baalim were mediators. But no excuse of this kind was admitted, as God everywhere imputed idolatry to them. Notwithstanding this example, and the distinct declaration of Scripture, that there is but one God and one Mediator, (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6; 1 Timothy 2:5,) the error, the awful error of praying to saints, etc., as mediators, has prevailed in the Christian Church! -- Ed.
4 It makes no difference as to the meaning, but the true construction of this clause is as follows, --
Which their fathers have taught them.
The verb "to teach," in Hebrew as well as in some other languages, admits of two objective cases. -- Ed.
5 But the reason why this herb is mentioned is its bitterness, -- and not its wholesome effects. It was hence chosen to designate what is afflictive and distressing. This appears from. Proverbs 5:4, "bitter as wormwood." -- Ed.