CHAPTER XII _This chapter is connected with the foregoing. The prophet_ _expostulates with God concerning the ways of Providence in_ _permitting the wicked to prosper_, 1-4. _It is intimated to him that he must endure still greater_ _trials_, 5, _from his false and deceitful brethren_, 6; _bu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:2. _THOU_ ART _NEAR IN THEIR MOUTH_] They have no sincerity: they have something of the _form_ of religion, but nothing of its _power_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:3. _BUT THOU, O LORD, KNOWEST ME_] I know that the very secrets of my heart are known to thee; and I am glad of it, for _thou knowest that my heart is towards thee _- is upright and sincere.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:4. _HOW LONG SHALL THE LAND MOURN_] These hypocrites and open sinners are a curse to the country; _pull them out, Lord_, that the land may be delivered of that which is the cause of its desolation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:5. _IF THOU HAST RUN WITH THE FOOTMEN_] If the smallest evils to which thou art exposed cause thee to make so many bitter complaints, how wilt thou feel when, in the course of thy prophetic ministry, thou shalt be exposed to much greater, from enemies much more powerful? _Footmen_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:6. _FOR EVEN THY BRETHREN, AND THE HOUSE OF THY FATHER_] Thou hast none to depend on but God: even thy brethren will betray thee when they have it in their power. _BELIEVE THEM NOT_] Do not trust to them; do not commit thyself to them; they are in heart thy enemies, and will betra... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:7. _I HAVE FORSAKEN MINE HOUSE_] I have abandoned my temple. _I HAVE GIVEN THE DEARLY BELOVED OF MY SOUL_] The people once in covenant with me, and inexpressibly dear to me while faithful. _INTO THE HAND OF HER ENEMIES._] This was a condition in the covenant I made with them; If... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:8. _MINE HERITAGE IS UNTO ME AS A LION_] The people are _enraged_ against me; they _roar like a furious lion_ against their God. They have proceeded to the most open acts of the most flagrant iniquity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:9. Is _UNTO ME_ AS _A SPECKLED BIRD_] A bird of _divers_ _colours_. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see Jeremiah 12:10,) whose gods and forms of worship they have adopted, shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:10. _MANY PASTORS HAVE DESTROYED MY VINEYARD_] My people have had many kinds of enemies which have fed upon their richest pastures; the Philistines, the Moabites, Ammonites, Assyrians, Egyptians. and now the _Chaldeans_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:11. _NO MAN LAYETH_ IT _TO HEART._] Notwithstanding all these desolations, from which the land every where mourns, and which are so plainly the consequences of the people's crimes, no man layeth it to heart, or considereth that these are God's judgments; and that the only way to ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:12. _THE SWORD OF THE LORD SHALL DEVOUR_] It is the sword of the Lord that has devoured, and will devour: this is what no man layeth to heart. They think these things come in the course of events.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:13. _THEY HAVE SOWN WHEAT, BUT SHALL REAP THORNS_] All their projects shall fail: none of their enterprises shall succeed. They are enemies to God, and therefore cannot have his blessing.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:14. _AGAINST ALL MINE EVIL NEIGHBOURS_] All the neighbouring nations who have united in desolating Judea shall be desolated in their turn: they also are _wicked_, and they shall be punished. If I make them executors of my justice, it is to them no proof of my approbation. God often... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:15. _I WILL RETURN, AND HAVE COMPASSION ON THEM_] This is a promise of restoration from the captivity, and an intimation also that some of their enemies would turn to the true God with them; _learn the ways of his people_; that is, would abjure idols, and take Jehovah for their God... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 12:17. _I WILL - DESTROY THAT NATION_] Several of them did not obey, and are destroyed. Of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Chaldeans, not one vestige remains. The _sixteenth_ verse is supposed to be a promise of the conversion of the Gentiles. See Ephesians 2:13. From the _thirteenth_ v... [ Continue Reading ]