us into it was to sanctify us, by putting his law into our hearts, and writing it in our inner parts, that we may serve him and obey him all the days of our life.

CHAPTER XXXII.

I. Jeremiah being put in prison at Jerusalem, when the Chaldeans were besieging that city, God commands him to buy a field, and to put the evidence of the purchase in a place where it might be preserved; whereupon Jeremiah asking of the Lord, why he ordered him to buy lands, when the city was to be delivered up to the Chaldeans, and the people carried into captivity, God acquainted him, that it was done to be an assurance to the Jews, that after they had for the punishment of their sins been sent into captivity to Babylon, they should return to their own country, and possess it again.

Reflections.

The command that God gave Jeremiah, to buy a field, when the Babylonianswere besieging Jerusalem, and he himself was in prison, is very remarkable. This tended to comfort the prophet, and to confirm what he said to the Jews concerning their approaching destruction, and their ruin. With this view God ordered the deed of the purchase to be preserved, as a proof and a monument of the truth of Jeremiah's predictions. From hence we learn, that nothing is impossible to God; that he infallibly executes his promises, how improbable soever they may appear, humanly speaking. We again find in this chapter, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, though God had greatly blessed them, and bore long with them, corrupted themselves still more and more; that they ceased not to provoke him, which was the reason he gave them up to the power and cruelty of the Babylonians; but after he had made the Jews suffer the punishment they deserved, he had pity on them. God severely punishes any contempt offered to his goodness, or

ungrateful returns for favours received; but he does not wholly withdraw his love from those that have offended him; and when his corrections have produced their effect, he restores them to his favour, and makes the expressions of his love succeed those of his wrath.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THIS prophecy is a sequel of the foregoing: its contents are, that Jerusalem should be taken, its houses destroyed by the Babylonians, and its inhabitants put to death; but that afterwards the Jews should return from Babylon, rebuild the city with glory, and should have divine service performed in the temple as before. God confirms this promise, saying, his covenant with his people should be as firm and immutable as the order of nature.

Reflections.

FROM the promises made by God to the Jews, to bring them again to Jerusalem, to dwell there, and to heap his blessings upon them, we are led to consider, that God is always merciful, and inclined to do good to men, and that it is in love he afflicts them; we are also hereby led to take notice of the faithfulness of God, and the firmness of his covenant. It must nevertheless be observed, that the promises here made to the two families of Israel, that is, to the Jews of the kingdom of Judah, and those of the ten tribes, were not entirely fulfilled after the captivity of Babylon, since the greatest part of the Israelites of the ten tribes remained in the countries where they had been dispersed. The same thing is to be remarked on what God so expressly declares, concerning his worship being for ever established at Jerusalem, and his covenant with the house of David and with the Jews, subsisting as long as the world lasted. This can but imperfectly agree with the restoration of the Jews after the captivity, since they did not continue long in Judea, and were afterwards destroyed by the Romans, and the service performed

at Jerusalem was quite abolished by the destruction of the temple. These promises, therefore, relate to the times of the Messiah, and describe the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the Gospel worship among all nations, and the complete conversion of the Jews, which will one day be accomplished. We ought, therefore, to bless God that these promises have been fulfilled with respect to us, and that we are included in the new covenant, which God had promised to make with all men in the latter days.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

WHEN Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, Jeremiah informs Zedekiah, that the city should be taken and burnt; that he should not, however, be put to death, but be carried to Babylon, and die there. Zedekiah and the Jews, terrified at the threatenings of Jeremiah, showed some tokens of repentance, and set the Jewish slaves at liberty, as the law of God directed them to do every seven years. But soon after, when the Chaldeans had retired, and the rulers thought the danger was over, they reduced again to a state of slavery those that had been released; whereupon Jeremiah declared to them, that because of their hypocrisy, and the violation of their vow, God would cause the Chaldeans to return, who should burn Jerusalem, and put its inhabitants to death, and lay the whole country waste.

Reflections.

The most important reflection to be made on this chapter relates to the behaviour of Zedekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who finding themselves besieged, set at liberty the Jewish servants, and pretended they would observe the law of God; but as soon as the Chaldeans retired, because the king of Egypt came out against them, the Jews imagining they had nothing more to fear, changed their mind, and made slaves again of their brethren. Thus sinners

pretend to humble themselves, and seem disposed for conversion whilst they are threatened, and the danger is near; but as soon as their fears are over, they return to their sins and break their promises. Jeremiah's reproaches and threatenings of the Jews for their impious and unjust proceedings, show, that a repentance and a reformation, which is but of short duration, instead of pacifying God, provoked him the more; and that those who violate his covenant, and their own promises, after having vowed to observe them, shall not escape the punishments which their hypocrisy and infidelity deserve. Thus it happened to Zedekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: That city was taken soon after these things; and Zedekiah fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, who put him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, where he died. This is an instance of the just judgment of God upon sinners, and especially on wicked princes.

CHAPTER XXXV.

FOR the understanding of this chapter, we must know, that the Rechabites were Jews descended from Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who lived in the time of Jehu, king of Israel, 2 Kings x. 15. and upon account of a vow which their father had obliged them to make, drank no wine, and dwelt in tents. These Rechabites having fled to Jerusalem, when the Chaldeans entered Judea, under the reign of Jehoiakim, as we are told in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Second Book of Kings; Jeremiah offered them wine, and bade them drink it: which they refused to do, alleging their vow, and the prohibition of their father. Whereupon Jeremiah took occasion to reproach the Jews, for not showing the same respect to the commandments of God, as the Rechabites showed to those of their father, and for still persisting in their idolatry. For which reason he denounces destruction to the Jews, and promises the Rechabites that God would bless them.

Reflections.

THIS history is worthy of our attention. Jeremiah presented wine to the Rechabites, not with a design to persuade them to break their vows, but with an intent to make use of their example to condemn the Jews. When the Rechabites had told him, it was not lawful for them to drink wine, on account of the vow their father had laid upon them, Jeremiah took occasion from thence to expostulate with the Jews, and expose their great guilt in breaking the Divine commands, and the vow they had made to observe them; though these laws related not to things of an indifferent nature, as the use of wine, but to the most necessary and indispensable duties. He reproaches them for the continual exhortations to repentance, which God had given them by his prophets, and which they had refused to hearken to, whilst the Rechabites religiously observed the vow laid upon them a long time before. The instruction this furnishes us with, is, that those who do not fulfil the vows they have made to God, nor keep his covenant, must expect the punishments which are denounced against those who shall transgress it; and, on the contrary, that those who observe the duties required, shall be blessed of God, as the Rechabites were because of their piety.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

II.

I. Jeremiah causes his threatenings against the Jews to be writ in a book;, and as he could not go himself into the temple, he orders Baruch to read them before the people upon a day of fasting. Baruch having read them in, the presence of the people, and of the officers of king Jehoiakim, that prince caused the writings to be brought to him; and after he had heard part of it read, he cut it in pieces and threw it in the fire, and ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be seized: but God commanded Jeremiah to write another book, containing the same