strongest manner, when he tells Jeremiah, that though Moses and Samuel, who had formerly turned away the wrath of God from the people of Israel by their intercession, should pray to him for the Jews, he would not regard them. II. The next instruction is, that the punishment of sinners, be it never so severe, is so just, that they do not deserve to be lamented; as God shows in these words, Who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou dost? because thou hast forsaken me. III. The ministers of Jesus Christ see, by the example of Jeremiah, that they are often called to tell men harsh and disagreeable things, which may expose them to the hatred of the wicked, but that nevertheless they are bound to obey the commands which God gives them, and to keep themselves pure and undefiled in the midst of the general corruption; by which means they may be assured, that God will take them under his protection; and that they shall never fail of his assistance.

CHAPTER XVI.

I. GOD, to convince the Jews, and Jeremiah too, that the utmost calamities were coming upon Judea, forbids him to marry, or to go into any house of mourning to comfort the afflicted, or be present at any feast. II. He tells him next, that the crimes of the Jews, and their prodigious hardness of heart, would be the cause of all their miseries; but he promises nevertheless to bring them again from the north country, that is, from Babylon, after they had suffered the punishment of their sins.

Reflections.

I. GOD forbad Jeremiah to marry, to enter into the houses of mourning, or to go to any feast, that by this behaviour of the prophet he might affect the Jews the more, and make them understand, that the time of their desolation drew near; that the children which should be born should be exposed to all kinds of calamities, and come to a fatal end; that the dead should

be unburied and unlamented; and that this people should soon have no room to rejoice. Here we should take notice, that in a time of calamity God would have us humble ourselves, and even abstain from things which we might lawfully do at another time. II. God positively declares in this chapter, that all these evils will befal the Jews, because they had forsaken him, and had done even worse than their fathers; that he took notice of all their ways; and that he would recompense their sins double. This plainly shows that God is just; that he sees and knows all the actions of men; and that when they heighten their sins, they force him, as it were, to take vengeance. III. We see, however, in this chapter, that God still preserved sentiments of love towards the Jews, since he was pleased to put an end to the captivity, and bring them again from Babylon, after he had chastised them for their iniquity, and brought them into the right way. Thus God deals with men; if he sends afflictions to punish them, he does not wholly reject them, and always pardons those who make a right use of his corrections.

CHAPTER XVII.

I. Jeremiah declares to the Jews, that their sins, and particularly their idolatry, would speedily occasion their ruin; that the trust which they put in men could not secure them; and that, in order to be happy, they must rely upon God alone, who searches and knows the heart, who is the Judge of all men, and hateth iniquity. II. The prophet complains of the injuries they did him, protests that he had not desired the destruction of the Jews, and had only told them what God had commanded him to declare. III. He exhorts the king and the people to repentance, and in particular to prevent the profaning of the Sabbath-day, promising them, that God would bless them if they did; and threatening them with utter destruction if they continued in their sins.

Reflections.

THE reflections to be made on this chapter are, I. That as the Jews were given up to their enemies, because they had provoked the Lord, so God will, sooner or later, punish those who offend him. II. That it is in vain to think of being secure in man's assistance, when we have God for our friend; and in general, that those who confide in men, and in the arm of flesh, are accursed of God; but that he blesses all those that trust in him; and that there is no condition more happy and secure than the condition of that man who trusts in God and fears him. III. We should carefully attend to these words of the prophet: The heart is deceitful above all things, and deperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord search their heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways. This should teach us to distrust ourselves, to study to know our own hearts, and to fear God, whose knowledge is infinite, and who is the Judge of all men. IV. This chapter teaches us, that those who acquire riches unjustly, do not long enjoy them. Lastly, Persons of a public character have here several very important lessons. The ministers of the Lord should learn, by the example of Jeremiah, not to think it strange if the wicked reject their ministry; to be faithful in the discharge of it, and always to abound with love and charity for those to whom they are sent, though they meet with an unkind reception. And the earnest exhortations addressed by the prophet to kings and rulers, concerning the observation of the Sabbath, show, that it is the duty of princes and magistrates, to perform what God commands, to reverence the divine service, and to prevent its being profaned. This is the way to obtain the Divine favour, as on the contrary, irreligion and impiety deprive kingdoms and states of his protection.

CHAPTER XVIII.

I. Jeremiah represents to the Jews, by the compa

rison of a potter and the clay, that God might destroy them, because of their sins; and establish them again, if they were converted. II. He exhorts them to repentance, and threatens them, that if they continued to forget God, they should be desolate. Lastly, He again complains of the conspiracies which the Jews had formed to take away his life; and he denounces the vengeance of the Lord against them.

Reflections.

THE Comparison of a potter, which is proposed in this chapter, does not signify that God has created men to destroy them, or render them unhappy, by the mere effect of his will; but the design of it was, to teach the Jews that they were in the hands of God, and that he was able to punish them, and afterwards to restore them; in the same manner as a potter, who, thinking to make a good vessel, and not succeeding, might break it, and make another with the same clay. Thus God himself explains it, when he says, that if a nation which he had purposed to destroy, turned from its iniquity, he would not destroy it; and, on the contrary, if a nation which he had determined to bless, did not hearken to his voice, he would withdraw his favour from that nation. He declares, moreover, that though he had threatened to destroy the Jews, he was still ready to pardon them, and that he would not put his threatening in execution unless they obstinately persisted in their impatience and hardness of heart. From this doctrine, which is of great importance, it appears, that God never wants either power or goodness to do good to men; that he is perfectly just; and that no evil befals them but what they bring upon themselves. We see in the impious proceeding of the Jews, who contrived to kill Jeremiah, that the servants of God, by discharging their duty, sometimes incur the hatred of the wicked. As for the last verses of this chapter, where Jeremiah seems to make imprecations against the Jews, they must not be understood as if he had desired their ruin: it appears from this whole Book,

and even from this place, that he had prayed for them; and he calls God to witness, in the foregoing chapter, that he did not wish for their calamity; but these are threatenings which he denounces from God, in quality of prophet, to show, that their destruction was inevitable, and that evils of every kind were to fall upon them and their children.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE design of this chapter is, to make the Jews understand, that God for the punishment of their idolatry, and especially for having sacrificed their children to the idol Moloch, otherwise called Baal, in the valley of Tophet, would cause them to perish in so lamentable a manner, that they should eat their children during the siege of Jerusalem; and that their carcases should be eaten by the beasts in the same valley. This the prophet represents by breaking an earthen vessel in that place; signifying thereby, that God would destroy them with the same ease, and as suddenly as a man breaks an earthen pot; and that as the pieces of a broken pot cannot be joined together, and are of no use, so likewise their ruin should be total, and most of them should perish without recovery.

Reflections.

I. IT must here be observed in the first place, that the Jews had been guilty of the blackest crimes, and of the most execrable idolatry that ever was heard of, since they were come to that pass, as even to burn their own children in honour of their idols. This is a very remarkable proof, that not only those that know not God, but even those who have known him, and profess to worship him, may fall into the greatest wickedness, and renounce all sentiments of religion and nature too, when they have once lost the fear of God, and have given themselves up to blindness and hardness of heart. II. We must consider, that God declared the Jews should be killed, and exposed dead

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