Holy Bible

They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward. Jeremiah 50:4, 5 Travelling Zionward M. C. Cameron, B. D. To return to one's land of nativity after a long absence is one of the most pleasant experiences of human life. We are all pilgrims and strangers in this land. We have wandered from our Father's home. Let us follow the example of these two tribes, who were now united and returning to their own land. I. Consider the first act of this liberated people. THEY ASKED THE WAY TO ZION. This was wise of them, for many try to go there without knowing the way. They did not inquire through mere curiosity, but with a determination to put their knowledge to practical use. There is not a ransomed soul around the throne to-day but who has asked this question. II. The second act of Israel and Judah after they received their answer was to TURN THEIR FACES THITHERWARD. Their faces are Zionward now. They had been travelling in a wrong direction, and so long as this was the case it would be impossible for them to reach their destination. Satan is always trying to persuade Christians to take a slidetrack, or a side-view, and turn their backs on Zion, but so long as they keep their faces toward the city of God they are invulnerable. III. After turning their faces toward Zion they moved on. How? "WEEPING AND REJOICING." Weeping now and rejoicing then. Here again the life of the Christian is typified. The Christian often weeps as he marches on, but will rejoice when he obtains the crown of life at the close of the day. IV. THEY DECIDED TO BIND THEMSELVES IN AN EVERLASTING COVENANT UNTO THE LORD, having one purpose, one object, one desire in life — a perpetual covenant unto the Lord. There is no coercion in this covenant, because they said to each other, "Come, and let us join ourselves unto the Lord." The word "come" is one of the gems that shine in the Word of God. Not do or die, but "come" and live. It is like the flower that blooms in the desert, or the evening that comes after the hot and weary day. V. SOME REASONS WHY WE SHOULD JOIN OURSELVES UNTO THE LORD IN A PERPETUAL COVENANT. 1. Because the sinner separated from the Lord misses the end of his creation. 2. Because of the everlasting relationship into which you enter. 3. Time develops strength, and the longer you put off the harder it becomes to break the chains that bind you. 4. The pleasures and benefits of a life with Christ infinitely outweigh the brief pleasures of sin. ( M. C. Cameron, B. D. ) Mourners, inquirers, covenanters The previous part of this chapter declares the overthrow of Israel's cruel oppressor. "Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces." The Assyrian and Babylonian power had been the great tyrant of the ages, and the Lord had employed it for the chastening of His people, until at last Israel and Judah had been carried away captive to the banks of the Euphrates, and the land of their fathers knew them no more. When, therefore, the Lord deals with Babylon in a way of vengeance it is that He may deliver His own people. See how the two things are joined together in the eighteenth and nineteenth verses. When Pharaoh is drowned, Israel is saved; when Sihon and Og are slain, the Lord's mercy to His people is seen to endure for ever. To-day the power of the adversary is broken, and we may flee out of the Babylon of sin. A greater than Cyrus has opened the two-leaved gates, and broken the bars of iron in sunder, and proclaimed liberty to the captives. We may now return to our God and freely enjoy the holy and happy associations which belong to the city of our God. Every one who is really seeking the Lord desires to be sure that he is seeking aright; he is not willing to take anything for granted, since his soul is of too much value to be left at hazard. He inquires, "Are my feelings like those of the truly penitent? Am I believing as those do who are justified by faith? Am I seeking the Lord in a manner which will be pleasing to Him?" They have so long been as lost sheep, going from mountain to hill, that they have forgotten their resting-places, therefore in their confusion they are afraid of going wrong again, and so they inquire with eager anxiety. Perhaps we may show them from this Scripture how others sought and how others found, and this may be a guide and a comfort to them; for albeit there are differences of operation, and all do not come to Christ with equal terrors, or with equal joys, yet there is a likeness in all the pilgrims to the holy city. I. To begin at the beginning, the Lord's restored ones during the processes of grace were first of all MOURNERS. 1. Oh, after all your sins I will not believe that you are truly coming to God if there is not about you a great sorrow for sin and a lamenting after the Lord. Some seekers are made to drink of this bitter cup very deeply; their sense of sin is terrible, even to anguish and agony. I know that there are others who do not taste this bitterness to the same degree; but it is in their cup, for all that. The clear shining in their case so soon follows the rain that they scarcely know that there has been a shower of grief. Surely, in their case the bitterness is passed; yet is it truly there, only the other ingredient of intense delight in God's mercy swallows up all its sharpness. Oh, you cannot imagine the Jews returning from captivity without bewailing the sins which drove them into the place of their exile. How could they be restored to God if they did not lament their former wicked estrangement? While the heart feels no compunction concerning its wanderings, no mourning over its guilt, no grief at having grieved the Lord, there can be no acceptance with God. There must be a shower in the day of mercy: not always a long driving rain causing a flood, but the soft drops must fall in every case. There must be tenderness toward God if we expect reconciliation with God. 2. Observe that this mourning in the case of Israel and Judah was so strong that it mastered other feelings. Between Judah and Israel there was an old feud. Yet now that they return unto the Lord, we read, "The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together." Oh, happy union in a common search for God! One of the first results of holy sorrow for sin is to cast out of our heart all forms of enmity and strife with our fellow-men. When we are reconciled to God we are reconciled to men. A penitent sense of our own provocations of God will prevent our being provoked with men. As Aaron's rod swallowed up all other rods, so a sincere sorrow for sin will remove all readiness to take offence against our fellow-sinners. 3. Keeping close to the text, we notice again that the exiles on their return were mourning while marching. Observe the words, "going and weeping." A true heart that is coming to God takes the road by Weeping-Cross: it feels its sin, its guilt, its undesert, and it therefore mourns. The closet is sought out and prayer is offered; but in the supplication there is a dove's note, a moaning as of one sorrowing for love. 4. Turning the text round, we read not only of "going and weeping." but also of weeping and going. The holy grief here intended does not lead to sitting still, for it is added "they shall go." That word "weeping" is sandwiched in between two goings — going and weeping; they shall go and seek the Lord. To sit down and say, "I will sorrow for my sin, but never seek a Saviour," is an impenitent pretence of repentance, a barren sorrow which brings forth no cleansing of the life, and no diligent search after the Lord. The way to repent is with your eye upon the sacrifice, viewing the flowing of the sin-atoning blood, marking every precious drop, gazing into the Redeemer's wounds, and believing in the love which in death opened up its depths unsearchable. All the while we must be saying, "My God, my God, I groan within myself that such a sacrifice should have been required by my atrocious transgressions against Thee." 5. We must not pass over that last word, "They shall go and seek the Lord their God." This shall be a guide to you as to whether your present state of feeling is leading you aright. What is it you are seeking? "I am seeking," says one, "I am seeking peace." May you soon obtain it, and may it be real peace; but I am not sure of you. "I am seeking," says another, "the pardon of sin." Again, I pray that you may find it; but I am not sure of you. If another shall reply, "I am seeking the Lord; for I desire above all things to have Him for a friend, though to Him I have been an enemy; then I have good hope of him. Here is a little child, picked up from the gutter, diseased and filthy, unclad, unfed; and if you ask me to make out a catalogue of what the child wants you must give me a sheet of foolscap paper to write it all down, and then I fear I shall leave out many things. I will tell you in one word what that poor infant requires — it wants its mother. If it gets its mother it has all it needs. So to tell what a poor sinner wants might be a long task; but when you say that he wants his Heavenly Father you have said it all. Oh, souls, you are seeking aright if you are seeking your God. Nothing short of this will suffice. II. Secondly, these mourners became INQUIRERS. "They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward." They knew within a little the quarter in which Zion lay, and they looked that way; but they did not know all about the road: how should they? 1. The saving point about them was that they were not ashamed to confess their ignorance. Minds that the Lord has touched are never boastful of their wisdom. There are many persons in the world who would be converted if they could but consent to be taught by God's Word and Spirit; hut they are such wise people, they know too much to enter the school of grace. 2. It is clear from their asking their way that these inquirers were teachable. "They shall ask the way to Zion": they shall therefore be conscious of ignorance, and they shall be willing to be taught; these are good characteristics, such as God accepts. 3. More than this, they will be anxious although they are right. "They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward." They are travelling in the right direction, and yet they ask the way. He that has never raised a question about his condition before God had better raise it at once. The fullest assurance of faith we can ever attain will never excuse us from the duty of self-examination. 4. At the same time, note concerning those that are coming to the Lord and His people, that they are questioning, but they are still resolved. They ask how they can be right with God, not as a matter of curiosity, but because they mean to be at peace with Him: by God's grace nothing shall turn them aside from their God and His temple, and hence their anxiety to be surely right. True penitents will have Christ or die. 5. Though they ask the way, we may remark further that they know whither they are going. They ask their way, not to somewhere or other, but to Zion; not to some imaginary blissful shore that may be or may not be, but they seek God's own dwelling-place, God's own palace, God's own sacrifice. They ask boldly too, for they are not ashamed to be found inquiring; and when they are informed, their faces are already that way, and therefore they have nothing to do but to Go straight on. May God grant us myriads of such inquirers! III. These inquirers become COVENANTERS, for they. said one to another, "Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." Oh, that word "covenant"! I can never pronounce it without joy in my heart. It is to me a mine of comfort, a mint of delight, a mass of joy. The doctrine of the "covenant" is a kind of Shibboleth by which we may know the man of God from the false prophet. Let the people of God take no delight in the man who does not delight in the covenant of grace. 1. These inquirers become covenanters, for we read that they seek to be joined unto the Lord. "Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord. Is not this the one thing you long for, that you may be so at peace with God through Jesus Christ that you may be joined with Him? You are a right-hearted seeker, in fact, you have found the Lord already, or else you would not find it in your heart to use such an expression as seeking to be joined unto the Lord. 2. Next, notice for how long a time this covenant is to be made. "Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant." In our English army of late they have enlisted "short time" men. A good brother came to join the Church last week who is in the Reserve, and I said to him, "You are not coming to unite with us for two sixes, the first six with the colours, and the other six as a reserve man, — you have come, I hope, to fight under the colours as long as life lasts." "Ay, sir," he said, "I give myself up to the Lord for ever." No salvation is possible except that which saves the soul for ever. A real man of God has his religion interwoven into the warp and woof of his being; he could not be other than he is whatever his circumstances might be. The covenant of life requires a life-long covenant. We do not take grace upon a terminable lease; it is an entailed inheritance, an immortal, eternal possession. 3. Note, further, that this joining to God these covenanters intended to carry out in a most solemn way. "Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual" — agreement? or promise? No. "Covenant" is the word. It is a profitable thing for the soul to covenant with God. In the ordinance of baptism we have the best visible setting forth of that covenant. Circumcision set forth the taking away of the filth of the flesh; but baptism sets forth the death and burial of the flesh itself; we see in it the emblem of our death and burial with our Lord. The believer thereby says, "Now I am come to an end of my old life, for I am dead and buried," and he becomes henceforth as one who has risen with Christ, to walk in newness of life. 4. Those who came mourning and inquiring, when they became covenanters, felt that they had a nature very apt to forgetfulness of good things, and so a part of what they desired in their covenanting with God was "a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." God will never forget, yet may you pray, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." The fear is lest you should forget. What is your view of that possibility? Would it not be terrible? ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Marks of genuine repentance J. W. Cunningham, M. A. I. It is said, "THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL COME, THEY AND THE CHILDREN ON JUDAH TOGETHER." In other words, these two people, who, though members of the same family, had so long lived in a state of the most deadly hatred and hostility, when touched by a feeling of genuine contrition, shall "come" "together"; shall amalgamate; shall forget their former subjects of contention, and approach in one body. the throne of love and compassion And such is the constant effect of genuine religion. Vice, by increasing our selfishness, by sharpening the natural irritability of the temper, by filling us with a feverish anxiety about the objects of time and sense, "separateth even chief friends." In like manner, a merely speculative and ceremonial religion rarely fails to disunite its followers. But on the contrary, serious, heartfelt, spiritual scriptural religion binds and consolidates. Never, till the temper of real contrition, with all its train of accompanying graces, enthrone itself in the mind; never, till real Christianity take the place of that which is nominal; never, till we love God better than we love ourselves; never, till we choose rather to sacrifice our interest and indulgences, than to disturb the peace of the Church, and rend the seamless garment of our Redeemer. II. It is here said of the people of Israel and Judah, that "THEY SHALL COME WEEPING." As the tenderest parent sees with joy the tear of penitence steal over the cheek of his guilty child; as no pang is deeper than that inflicted by the discovery that a state of separation from himself costs the child of his bosom neither fear nor anguish; thus our Father, which is in heaven, expects in us, the prodigal children of His family, sorrow and anguish of soul, till our reconciliation with Himself is accomplished. But how is it possible to reconcile with language such as this, the conception, so prevalent in the world, that the proper object of life is amusement, and our reasonable and legitimate temper of mind thoughtlessness and a spirit of almost ceaseless dissipation? It is indeed true, that the temper of mind becoming the man who is reconciled to God is peace, and cheerfulness, and joy: — "Rejoice in the Lord; and again I say, rejoice." But peace of mind before reconciliation — peace, when the Lord has a "controversy" with us — peace, this is not the peace sanctioned by Scripture, but a state of repose leading to almost inevitable destruction. The true penitent is there described as "going and weeping." It is not, indeed, my intention to affirm that tears are the necessary, or the only sufficient, expression of grief for sin. Many a sad heart would delight to weep, but cannot. III. These returning penitents are described as "SEEKING THE LORD THEIR GOD." Here is one of the grand distinctions between true and false repentance. That sorrow of the world which "worketh death," ordinarily evaporates in a few unmeaning words or tears. The real penitent, on the contrary, is not merely startled by his danger; he detests his offence. His soul longs for emancipation from its corruptions, and for a full and free entrance into the presence of the Lord. IV. It is said of the returning penitents in the text, "THEY SHALL ASK THE WAY TO ZION." It is something in religion to have discovered that we are out of the way. The next mark of genuine repentance is a lively, persevering anxiety to be put into the way. But this anxiety will not discover itself in blind and random efforts to search out the path by our unassisted powers; but in humbly and earnestly availing ourselves of every appointed channel by which safe and sure intelligence on this all-important subject may be conveyed to the soul. The penitents in the text "ask their way." Distrusting a heart which has often misled them, they go for instruction to the servants of the Lord, and especially to Him who loves to "go before" his sheep, and lead them to the pastures of their proper happiness. And, observe, the place which they are said to seek is Zion, — he "city of their solemnities"; the holy city; the city in which dwelleth the Great King; where His temple arises; where, having laid aside the thunders of His just indignation, He sits between the cherubim, to dispense mercy and love to His guilty creatures. The real penitent never stops till he reaches the city of God. And however bright the sunshine, and clear the fountains, and extensive the prospects, which cheer him on the journey; and however wise and strong and compassionate the Guide who goes with him, and delights to succour, to defend, and to bless him, he neither puts off his armour nor rests from his labour till he sits down in eternal tranquillity in the paradise of God. V. It is said of these penitents in the text, they ask their way to Zion "WITH THEIR FACES THITHERWARD." In other words, they are really bent on discovering the city which they profess to seek. Their eye is upon its towers; and their hearts are honestly impelling them in the right line of direction. Their inquiry has no alliance with the empty curiosity of the man who has no intention of adopting the advice which he solicits, and follows one path when his guide directs him to another. But, hearing a voice behind them, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it," they implicitly follow the leadings of providence and the suggestions of the Spirit. VI. The individuals in the text are described as saying, "COME, AND LET US JOIN OURSELVES TO THE LORD IN A PERPETUAL COVENANT THAT SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN." Such is uniformly the desire of the true penitent. Are we not the sworn enemies of sin, the world, and the devil? And how have we fulfilled our engagements to God? Will any single man venture to lay his hand on his heart and say, I have fulfilled them as I ought? And, if not, what is our duty to-day? Is it not to say, as in the text, "Come, and let us join ourselves," &c.? ( J. W. Cunningham, M. A. ) Young Christians congratulated Essex Remembrancer. I. JEHOVAH, AS A RECONCILED GOD IN CHRIST JESUS, IS THE OBJECT OF THEIR INQUIRY. God and the light of His reconciled countenance, in opposition to the delights of sense, the gains of merchandise, the discoveries of science, and the felicities of friendship. It is the Divine favour they seek supremely, though not exclusively; for no one enjoys, with a keener relish, the productions of nature and the bounties of providence, than a true believer. II. IT IS USUAL WITH INQUIRERS TO ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE WHO ARE LIKE-MINDED WITH THEMSELVES. III. THIS INQUIRY AFTER GOD AND HAPPINESS IS FREQUENTLY ACCOMPANIED WITH TEARS. "They shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping." They weep over the times of their former ignorance. "To how little purpose have we hitherto lived," will they say; "our lives have been little better than a complete blank. And now that we have at length awaked to some sense of our danger, and desire for spiritual blessings, how little do we know of God and of ourselves, of sin and the method of salvation!" They weep over their numerous and aggravated transgressions. And they will weep frequently at such a time because of strong temptations, from the great enemy of souls. What a mercy is it when we are disposed to weep for sin! Many weep for pain of body, or because of the disappointments they have met with in business, but never grieve on account of their offences before God. They lament the difficulties of the times, but heave not a sigh over the hardness of their hearts IV. MOUNT ZION IS THE PLACE TO WHICH THEY WILL REPAIR FOR INSTRUCTION AND COMFORT. V. DEVOUT AND SINCERE INQUIRERS WILL GLADLY AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE DIRECTION AND COUNSEL OF CHRISTIAN MINISTERS, AND OF OTHER PILGRIMS, WHO HAVE MADE SOME ADVANCES IN THE WAY TO THE CELESTIAL CITY. VI. YOUNG CONVERTS, HAVING FOUND GOD, TO THEIR UNSPEAKABLE SATISFACTION, WILL DO WELL TO JOIN THEMSELVES TO THE LORD, IN A PERPETUAL COVENANT THAT SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN They must do this, by pleading and laying hold for themselves on the blessings of the covenant of grace; — by publicly professing faith in the Redeemer's name; for having first given themselves to the Lord, they should give themselves up to the Church, according to the will of God. ( Essex Remembrancer. ) God proper object of human pursuit W. J. Stuart. I. God should be our SUPREME object of pursuit. God's will is in everything; we should find it out, and act accordingly. II. The supreme pursuit of God requires EARNEST ENDEAVOUR. What of that? We should see to it that in everything we do and attend to, thought should apprehend, feeling embrace, will regard, and aim terminate in, God. III. This seeking of God should be CONTINUOUS. For what reason? The mind is susceptible of indefinite enlargement in acquaintance with God. Religion admits of eternal progress. IV. The constant, earnest, seeking of God is, in this world, ever more DIFFICULT, and sometimes GRIEVOUS. Why? Because of past neglect and failure; and because of existing contrary influences, agencies, attractions, and allurements. V. The SINCERE, INTELLIGENT pursuit of God will issue in a SATISFYING conviction of the RIGHTNESS AND BLESSEDNESS of subordinating everything to entire, unswerving, ever advancing allegiance to God in creation, providence, and redemption. VI. True seekers of God, HELP AND URGE one another to ABIDE with God in truth, and love, and deed. ( W. J. Stuart. ) The Israelites returning from Babylon C. Bradley, M. A. I. THE STATE OF THE JEWS IN BABYLON. 1. The captive Israelites were obviously in a degraded state. And what is the state of man, but a state of degradation? He boasts of the dignity of his nature, but an angel might weep over its baseness. He has brought himself almost to a level with the brutes that perish. 2. The condition of the Jews in their captivity was as wretched as it was degrading. We too arc a suffering people. Once indeed the world was a paradise, but sin has entered it, withered its beauty, and robbed it of its happiness. 3. Our state, like that of the captive Jews, is also a guilty state. It was sin which caused them to be delivered into the hands of their enemies; and it is sin which has made us base and wretched. Our first father transgressed and died; but the vengeance which followed his transgression, deterred not his children from treading in his steps. To say nothing of the follies of our childhood and the sins of our youth, how many iniquities have we willingly and daringly committed since we attained the age of manhood! 4. The enslaved Jews were in a helpless state, or in one that appeared helpless. And what power have we to rescue ourselves from that state of guilt and wretchedness into which we are fallen? The law we have violated, denounces misery on our heads, a misery as great and lasting as our guilt; and who can resist its authority or repeal its curse? II. THE DELIVERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES. 1. It was effected for them by the power of another. Cyrus was a type of Christ, the great spiritual Deliverer; and if we are ever brought out of our spiritual bondage, we must be content to owe our liberty to Him alone. He beheld them in thraldom to sin and Satan, and trembling under the power and fear of death; He came and overthrew their enemies, and burst their bonds. He made an end of sin; He destroyed death; He bruised Satan underneath their feet. Their degradation too was not overlooked by Him. They were in exile, and they were wretched there; but He raised them up from their low estate, and recovered for them the blessedness they had lost. He is now employed in restoring them to their forfeited inheritance. 2. The deliverance of the Israelites was also openly proclaimed and freely offered. To this proclamation St. Paul alludes in Romans 10 ., and speaks of it as a representation of the preaching of the Gospel to the enslaved nations of the earth. III. THE FEELINGS WITH WHICH THIS JOURNEY WAS COMMENCED. 1. As we behold the Israelites leaving in a body the land of the Chaldaeans, the first circumstance which arrests our attention is their penitence. But why do they weep? The mercy they have received has softened their hearts. It has shown them the tenderness of their heavenly .Father. This godly sorrow is, in every instance, one of the first fruits of genuine religion. By nature our hearts are hard, so hard that the most awful judgments can make no abiding impression on them; but when we are roused out of our spiritual unconcern by the Spirit of God, and begin to look with the eye of faith on the great Saviour of sinners, a train of new and deep emotions is excited within us. 2. Notice also. in these liberated Jews, their, anxiety lest they should mistake the way. that is to lead them to Jerusalem. "They shall ask the way to Zion." And is not this anxiety, this spirit of inquiry, found in all who have fixed their heart on heaven? There was a time when they were destitute of all care on this subject. They thought themselves sufficiently acquainted with the way to God. They deemed it broad and plain, and looked on him as an enthusiast who bid them ask what they must do to be saved. But now all this self-confidence and imaginary security are come to an end. They know too that mistakes in this matter are not trifling errors; that there is but one way in which they can obtain the salvation they need, and that to seek it in any other way is to be for ever undone. 3. We may notice also the decision of these returning captives, the earnestness and resolution with which they seek the Lord. And no man ever arrived at the heavenly Zion without possessing such a mind as this. ( C. Bradley, M. A. ) God's deliverance of us from spiritual bondage Thomas Gordon. I. GOD, BEFORE HE SEES FIT TO LOOSE THE SPIRITUAL BONDS OF THOSE WHOM HE INTENDS TO DELIVER, IS FIRST PLEASED TO BRING THEM TO FEEL THEIR CHAINS, AND TO MOURN OVER THEIR DISTANCE FROM ZION. II. UNDER THIS PAINFUL CONCERN OF MIND, THEY SHALL ANXIOUSLY INQUIRE AFTER THE MEANS OF RECOVERY. "They shall go and seek the Lord their God." The poor captives are here represented — weeping. Though depressed with their perfect thraldom, though weeping, they go; they sit not down in despondency. They set their faces towards Zion; and let them but find the Lord their God, let them but perceive His gracious intentions towards them, and they can wait His time and way of a full and final deliverance, and commit everything else to Him. III. ANIMATED BY THIS HOPE, THEY SHALL VIGOROUSLY PRESS TOWARDS ZION; "they shall ask the way with their faces thitherward." In the ordinary affairs of life, when men have a particular object in view in which they are deeply interested, and that hope or object is merely probable, they exert every nerve; they toil by day and wake by night; they encounter dangers with resolution, and suffer hardships without complaint. And is it possible to believe that temporal considerations, which can fall under no certain calculation as to She certainty of acquiring them, should engage our affections, and employ all our active powers; and that considerations of infinitely greater moment confessedly, and certain as to their attainment and duration, should have less influence, or no influence at all, upon us? It is impossible; the idea is absurd. What mighty effects, then, it may be asked, will the Christian's hope produce? They are, no doubt, various in degrees, and correspond to that hope as it is more or less vigorous; but they are the same in kind; and they may in general fall under one view, — a change of the objects of his affections and pursuits. The bonds in which he was held formerly by his passions and sensual appetites, restrain him no longer; he is no longer under their tyranny and blind impulse. He feels himself overawed by a superior authority; and he perceives objects presented to him which he had formerly viewed with indifference, or had been wholly unnoticed by him, which by a new energy seize his soul, — captivate his affections, and fix his choice. Again, animated by this hope of salvation, the soul rises superior to the world; and feels a Divine elevation that cannot stoop to it, when courted by its most flattering forms, as its ultimate object. This hope of salvation inspires the soul with a Divine zeal, a holy impatience after further attainments. The higher this hope rises, the more it enlarges the heart. IV. IN ORDER TO CONFIRM AND STRENGTHEN THEIR RESOLUTIONS, THEY WILL BIND THEMSELVES BY A SOLEMN DEED AND COVENANT. "Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be forgotten." A personal covenant with God is inseparable from genuine closet-devotion Every prayer, every pious purpose, every devout meditation, is virtually a covenant with the Lord. And there may be certain occasions wherein devout souls may see cause to be more explicit to express at large their sense of Divine things, their present feelings, their past experiences, and to commit to writing their solemn purposes and engagements, and, to impress the whole the stronger upon their minds, — to append their names. But this I only mention, the words leading me to speak, not of a personal or closet transaction, but of a public bond of union, the common act of a religions society. Single resolutions slip easily out of the mind, and lose their hold of us; but in a public transaction, where the great God is supposed to stand on the one part, and His poor dependent creatures on the other, there is something so awful and solemn, as must leave upon a mind, not wholly hardened and insensible, some suitable impressions; especially where the transaction is accompanied and confirmed by sensible and expressive symbols. ( Thomas Gordon. ) A test for true seekers By nature all are captives under the power of Satan, sin, and death. Now, just as Israel found comfort and hope, and had an expectation of getting back to the promised land, when the might of Babylon was broken, so there is comfort for every sinner who desires to escape from the power of sin and Satan, in this great fact, that Christ has broken the power of the ol

Benson Commentary Jeremiah 50:1 The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah 50:1-3 . The word that the Lord spake against Babylon — This prophecy was delivered and sent to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign, as appears from Jeremiah 51:59 . Declare ye among the nations — The downfall of Babylon was an event in which many nations were concerned, that empire having been a common oppressor. Set up a standard — To call people together, and impart unto them these good tidings. The destruction of Babylon was likewise a sort of signal to the Jews to assemble together, in order to their return to their own land, the time of their captivity being then to expire. Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken to pieces — When God punishes an idolatrous nation he is said to confound its idols, because they do not bring assistance to their worshippers, nor deliver them out of his hands. Bel is the same with Baal, a name common to the idols of the eastern countries, and at first probably given to some of the heavenly bodies: see note on Isaiah 39:1 . For out of the north there cometh a nation against her — The Medes, who lay north of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. Jeremiah 50:3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. Jeremiah 50:4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. Jeremiah 50:4-5 . In those days — Wherein God shall begin to execute judgment on Babylon; the children of Israel shall come, &c. — This passage is primarily meant of the return of the Jews from their captivity, upon the destruction of the Babylonish monarchy. Many of the ten tribes, here termed the children of Israel, which had been carried captive into Assyria, hearing that their brethren of the two tribes were permitted and encouraged by Cyrus and his successors to return to their own land, undoubtedly associated themselves with them, and returned also from the several places where they had been settled: see Calmet’s Dissertation on the Return of the Ten Tribes. Going and weeping — Weeping, partly with sorrow for the sins which had brought the calamities of the captivity upon them, and partly for joy, that God should show them such mercy as to bring them again to their own country. They shall go and seek the Lord their God — They shall inquire after Jehovah, their own God, and seek his favour, protection, and aid, and shall now have no more to do with idols. Observe, reader, those that seek the Lord must seek him sorrowing; and those that sorrow and are in trouble must seek him, and then their sorrow will soon be turned into joy, for he will be found of those that seek him. We learn from Ezra 3:13 , that the people both wept and rejoiced aloud at the laying of the foundation of the temple after their return from captivity, and that the noise of the weeping of some was equal to the shouts of joy raised by others. They shall ask the way to Zion — The city of their ancient solemnities; with their faces thitherward — Determined to return to it, now that the ruin of Babylon and the decree of Cyrus had opened the way for their release. The journey, indeed, is long and difficult, and they know not the road, but they will make inquiry concerning it, and trust in God to enable them to surmount all the difficulties and dangers of the way. Reader, wouldst thou arrive at the heavenly Canaan, and dost ask the way thither? Then see that thy face be thitherward, and not toward the world. In these words the prophet seems to allude to the Jews going in companies to Jerusalem at the solemn festivals. Saying, Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant — They had broken the covenant which their fathers had made with God, and which had been often solemnly renewed, especially a little time before the captivity, in the days of Josiah; but here they exhort one another to join themselves to him again, by engaging afresh to be his, and that not for a time merely, but for ever; even in a perpetual, or everlasting covenant. as the Hebrew, ???? ???? , signifies, and is translated, Jeremiah 32:40 ; a covenant that must not be broken, and therefore must not be forgotten: for a due remembrance of it will be the means of a due observance of it. Jeremiah 50:5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying , Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. Jeremiah 50:6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. Jeremiah 50:6-7 . My people hath been lost sheep — All men are compared to sheep that go astray, Isaiah 53:6 . Here this character is applied to the Jews, whom God calls his people, because of the ancient covenant made with their fathers. They are said to have been lost, either on account of their captivity, being cast out of the land which God gave them, as sheep are lost out of their pasture, or in respect of their idolatries and other sins. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray — Their civil and ecclesiastical governors have been the principal causes of their sins and miseries: the former, by their wicked commands and example, the latter also by example as well as doctrine. They have turned them away on the mountains — They have turned them aside from the right worship of God, performed at the temple, to sacrifice to idols upon the mountains and high places. He alludes to sheep straying hither and thither, through the windings and turnings of the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill — From one species of idolatry to another. They have forgotten their resting place — Or, their fold, namely, they have forgotten me, in whose love and service, in whose favour, protection; and care they could only find rest, safety, and comfort. All that found them have devoured them — They have been a prey to their enemies on all sides. And their adversaries said, We offend not — “In making them captives. Jeremiah introduces the Chaldeans speaking thus by the truest prosopopœia; for it could not be but the Chaldeans must have known those things which the prophets had foretold concerning the future captivity of the Jews; Nebuchadnezzar is a witness, who gave his captains orders to preserve Jeremiah:” see Houbigant. Because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice — A refuge and protection for those that are just and good, and consequently one that would not have cast off the Jews if they had not first forsaken him. This interpretation supposes God to be here called, The habitation of justice, which he undoubtedly is, but whether the Chaldeans would term him so may be a question. Others, therefore, think the preposition in is understood, making this the aggravation of the Jews’ sins, that they were committed in a land which ought to have been a habitation of justice. Thus it is said, ( Isaiah 26:10 ,) that the wicked man will deal unjustly in a land of uprightness. Jeremiah 50:7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. Jeremiah 50:8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. Jeremiah 50:8 . Remove out of the midst of Babylon — All exhortation often used by the prophets on this subject: see the margin. Some learned men suppose that this exhortation relates to the siege of Babylon carried on by Darius Hystaspes in the fifth and sixth years of his reign. Before which time God had warned the Jews, by the Prophet Zechariah, ( Zechariah 2:6-7 ,) to flee out of Babylon, and to deliver themselves from the miseries that should befall that city during the siege: see Dr. Prideaux. And be as the he-goats before the flocks — “Let every one strive to lead the way to others, and give them an example of speedily obeying God’s call, without showing any fondness to the place, or the idolatries there practised.” Jeremiah 50:9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. Jeremiah 50:9-11 . For, lo, I will raise against Babylon, &c. — See Jeremiah 50:41 , and Jeremiah 51:27 . From thence, or, as ???? , may be rendered, immediately, she shall be taken. Their arrows, &c. — The Medes and Persians were famous for the use of the bow. And Chaldea shall be a spoil — To all her destroyers, who shall enrich themselves by plundering her. All that spoil her shall be satisfied — Namely, with spoil and plunder, for Chaldea, with Babylon its metropolis, was, at that time, the richest country in the world. Because ye were glad, &c. — They rejoiced at the ruin of the Jews, a sin laid also to the charge of the Edomites, Obadiah 1:12 . Though the Chaldeans were the executioners of God’s judgments upon the Jews, yet he punished them, because they were influenced in what they did purely by their own ambition and covetousness and acted with inhumanity and cruelty toward the conquered, though Providence directed their cruelties and oppressions, to the fulfilling its own ends and purposes. In like manner, God threatens to punish the king of Assyria after he had been the executioner of his judgments upon Jerusalem. Because ye are grown fat, &c. — The insolence and rudeness of oppressors are often compared to the wantonness of full-fed cattle. Jeremiah 50:10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 50:11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; Jeremiah 50:12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Jeremiah 50:12-16 . Your mother shall be sore confounded — Namely, Babylon the metropolis, or mother-city of the empire. Or, your country shall be ashamed of you, her children, who are not able to defend her. Behold, the hindermost of the nations, &c. — The translation of this clause in the Vulgate seems much preferable to ours, Ecce novissima erit in gentibus, et deserta, invia, et arens, behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, desolate and dry. Because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited — See this illustrated in the notes on Isaiah 13:19-22 . Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished — See note on chap. Jeremiah 18:16 . For she hath sinned against the Lord — She hath been in a remarkable manner an enemy to God’s truth and people. This may be especially applied to mystical Babylon: see Jeremiah 50:29-31 . Shout against her round about — As conquerors do when a city is taken. She hath given her hand — That is, she hath surrendered herself: she hath submitted and promised obedience to the conqueror. The phrase occurs in the same sense Lamentations 5:6 and also 1 Chronicles 29:24 , where see the margin. Thus, dare manus, to give the hands, in Latin, signifies to yield; and most probably alludes to the act of the vanquished, who, throwing down his arms, and stretching forth his defenceless hands, acknowledges himself to be in the victor’s power; her foundations are fallen — Namely, the foundations of her walls, laid in a marshy soil, and surrounded with a deep ditch full of water, to the undermining power of which they were continually exposed: see Herodot. lib. 1. cap. 178. Cut off the sower from Babylon — “Babylon resembled a country walled in rather than a city; the walls, according to Herodotus, being sixty miles in compass. Within this large circuit a great deal of ground was cultivated with corn. So that enough grew within the walls to support the inhabitants during a long siege.” — See Prideaux’s Connections, page 187. Or, by Babylon here, may be understood, not the city only, but the whole province. They shall turn every one to his people — This is spoken of the allies of the Babylonians. Jeremiah 50:13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Jeremiah 50:14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD. Jeremiah 50:15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. Jeremiah 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land. Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Jeremiah 50:17 . Israel is a scattered sheep — See note on Jeremiah 50:6 . The lions have driven him away — As a lion coming among a flock of sheep scatters them one from another; so have these foreign invaders, enemies cruel as lions, served my people. First, the king of Assyria hath devoured him — Namely, Shalmaneser, who carried away the ten tribes into captivity, whence they never in general returned. And last this Nebuchadrezzar hath broken his bones — Hath entirely ruined Judah and Jerusalem, hath destroyed or carried captive the whole nation. Jeremiah 50:18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. Jeremiah 50:18 . Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon, and his land — God may justly punish those who do the things that he hath commanded them to do, if they do them not in that manner in which he directs, or, if what they do be not done in obedience to his command, but for the satisfaction of their own lusts: which was the case, as with the king of Assyria, Isaiah 10:5-7 , so also with the king of Babylon; as I have punished the king of Assyria — Some refer this to the punishment of the Assyrians, in the destruction of Sennacherib and his army, in the time of Hezekiah; but the prophet seems rather to speak of a destruction of Assyria which followed the carrying of the ten tribes into captivity, and therefore may most probably be understood of the destruction of Nineveh, the chief seat of the Assyrian empire, by Nebuchadnezzar, and Assuerus or Astyages, as it is related in Tobit, chap. Jeremiah 14:15 . At the taking of this great city, foretold by Jonah, Nahum, and Zephaniah, Chynadanus, the last king of the Assyrian race, was killed; and the seat and title of the empire removed to Babylon, which was no longer called the Assyrian, but the Babylonian monarchy. See Dr. Prideaux, pages 47, 48. Jeremiah 50:19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. Jeremiah 50:19-20 . I will bring Israel again to his habitation — I will take care of Israel as a shepherd does of his flock, and bring them back to their ancient habitations, and to their former peace and plenty. By Israel here is meant the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the Levites and some Israelites who joined with them, after the carrying away of the ten tribes. “As several parts of this prophecy,” says Lowth, “relate to that mystical Babylon whose destruction is foretold Revelation 18., so these promises of grace and favour to the Jewish nation are chiefly to be understood of the general restoration of that people, which we may expect after the downfall of the anti-christian empire.” In those days the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none — That is, I will be perfectly reconciled to them, as if they had never offended. The Hebrew language often expresses the utter ceasing of any thing by seeking and not finding it. This promise seems principally to respect the times of the gospel, and the remnant of the Jews that shall be saved according to the election of grace: compare Jeremiah 31:34 ; Jeremiah 33:8 ; Romans 11:5 ; Romans 11:26-27 . Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. Jeremiah 50:21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. Jeremiah 50:21 . Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against Pekod — Although these two words ????? , Merathaim, and ???? , Pekod, are considered by our translators as proper names; and the latter is so understood by the Chaldee paraphrast: yet all the other ancient versions agree in representing the former word as an appellative, and the latter as a verb. The former, which is the dual number of ??? , marah, may signify either bitterness, or rebellion; and Blaney thinks that “Babylon is called the land of bitterness, or of redoubled bitterness here, because it had proved such to the Jewish nation, whose country had been ruined, and the people held in slavery there.” Accordingly he translates the verse as follows: “Against the land of bitterness go up; upon it, and upon its inhabitants visit, O sword, and utterly destroy their posterity, saith Jehovah, and perform according to all that I have charged thee.” The command seems to be directed to Cyrus and his confederates. Jeremiah 50:22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. Jeremiah 50:22-24 . A sound of battle is in the land — That is, in the land of Chaldea. How is the hammer of the whole earth broken! — That oppressive empire that smote the nations with a continual stroke, as is said Isaiah 14:6 , and brought them under subjection to it. I have laid a snare for thee; and thou art also taken, O Babylon — Cyrus took the city by surprise and in an unexpected manner, entering it, by draining the river Euphrates, at a time when the walls were entire, the city full of provisions, and the people in high spirits, and in a state of the utmost security, dreading no such event. According to Herodotus, part of the city was taken before those who dwelt in the midst of it knew any thing about it; so that with propriety they might be said to be caught as in a snare. Because thou hast striven against the Lord — The reason of this unexpected ruin coming on this great people was their sinning against the Lord: see Jeremiah 50:14 ; here called a striving against him, as indeed all sin is. Jeremiah 50:23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! Jeremiah 50:24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. Jeremiah 50:25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. Jeremiah 50:25-32 . The Lord hath opened his armory, &c. — God hath raised up enemies to subdue the Chaldeans, namely, Cyrus and his confederates, and hath furnished them with all the means necessary for such an undertaking. Come against her from the utmost border — From distant parts, namely, from the Caspian and Euxine seas. Cast her up as heaps — The marginal rendering seems preferable; Tread her, trample over her, as heaps of ruins; or tread her as the corn is trodden down when it is thrashed. Slay her bullocks — That is, Her strong men, as the Vulgate and the Chaldee interpret the expression. Wo unto them, for their day is come — The time in which they are to be punished. The voice of them that escape, to declare in Zion, &c. — This may either foretel that some of the Babylonians would flee as far as Judea for refuge, and there publish what had befallen Babylon, or, which seems more likely, that some of those Jews or proselytes to the Jewish religion in Chaldea, who were more than ordinarily zealous for the welfare of God’s church and people, would be ready, upon the first news of the taking of Babylon, to bring the glad tidings to Judea, that God had avenged his people, and executed his judgments on those who destroyed his temple, and profaned the holy vessels of it: see Jeremiah 51:51 ; Daniel 5:1-3 ; Daniel 5:5 ; Daniel 5:30 . Call together the archers — See Jeremiah 50:9 ; Jeremiah 50:14 . Recompense her according to her work — This is applied to mystical Babylon, Revelation 18:6 , which, when fulfilled, will be a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, as St. Paul speaks, 2 Thessalonians 1:5 , at which all good men ought to rejoice, and give glory to God when they see it effected. For she hath been proud against the Lord — Hath exalted herself against God, saying, I am, and there is none besides me, Isaiah 47:7-8 , where see the notes. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets — Xenophon relates, lib. 7., that when Gobryas and Gadates, two of Cyrus’s generals, with their soldiers, had got into the city, they marched directly toward the palace, killing all they met, and, having surprised the guards, cut them in pieces, and slain the king himself, they, without difficulty, made themselves masters of the palace. I will kindle a fire in his cities — This may be meant of the destruction made in the Babylonian territories, in the several expeditions Cyrus undertook against that monarchy before the taking of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Jeremiah 50:27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. Jeremiah 50:28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. Jeremiah 50:29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Jeremiah 50:30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 50:31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. Jeremiah 50:32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. Jeremiah 50:33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Jeremiah 50:33-34 . Israel and Judah were oppressed together — Not together with respect to times, for there was a distance of one hundred and fifty years between the time of Israel’s and Judah’s being carried away captive; nor by the same enemy; Israel being carried away by the Assyrians, Judah by the Chaldeans. Together here signifies no more than that they were both oppressed, or alike oppressed. And all that took them captives held them fast — Were determined not to release them. The prophet seems here to intimate, that as their enemies were not only very powerful, but fully resolved to detain them in captivity, his predictions of their deliverance might seem to some but vain words, never likely to be fulfilled. Hence he adds, in the next verse, Their Redeemer is strong — Or, their Avenger, as the word also signifies. He that has a right to them will claim his right, and make good his claim. He is stronger than their enemies who hold them fast, and can, with infinite ease, overpower all their force, and baffle all their subtlety, and put strength into his own people, though they may be very weak. The Lord of hosts is his name — And he will answer his name, and make it appear that he is what his people call him. He shall thoroughly plead their cause — Hebrew, ??? ???? ?? ???? , pleading he will plead it, plead it with jealousy, and effectually plead it and carry it; that he may give rest to the land — To his people’s land, rest from all their enemies round about; or, to the earth, as ??? more properly signifies, namely, rest from the oppressions of the Babylonish empire; and disquiet — Or, cause to tremble, as some render ????? , the inhabitants of Babylon — Because they have disquieted his people, and caused them to tremble, for whose honour and comfort he is jealous. Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men . Jeremiah 50:35-37 . A sword is upon the Chaldeans — That is, there shall come a sword upon them. Upon Babylon and her princes — Who were slain together with their king, Belshazzar, at a feast, Jeremiah 51:39 ; Daniel 5:2-30 . And upon her wise men — The Chaldeans were famous for their skill in astrology, and other arts of divination; and yet the learned in those sciences were not able to foresee or prevent the dangers coming upon themselves in the common calamity. A sword is upon the liars — Upon the diviners, or the pretenders to the knowledge of future events; and they shall dote — They shall be proved to be foolish and ignorant, by things happening directly contrary to what they had thought and said. Thus Isaiah, speaking of the same kind of men, says, He (namely, God) frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad. A sword is upon all the mingled people — Upon her auxiliaries, made up of several nations: see Ezekiel 30:5 . And they shall become as women — Fearful, and having neither courage nor any thing else manly in them. A sword is upon her treasures, &c. — “Her treasures shall be a prey to such as come with sword in hand to rifle them: as Solon said to Crœsus, who, by way of ostentation, showed him his treasures, “Sir, if any one come that has better iron than you, he will be master of all your gold.” — Lowth. Jeremiah 50:36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. Jeremiah 50:37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. Jeremiah 50:38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Jeremiah 50:38-40 . A drought is upon all her waters — Our translators, after the example of the Vulgate and others, have rendered ??? , a drought, here, whereas they have translated it a sword in the preceding verses, as supposing, it seems, that a sword has nothing to do with waters. But they might very properly have rendered it a sword here also: for this term is used metaphorically, to denote either the instrument of divine vengeance generally, or the operations and effects of war in particular; in either of which senses it may be applied to waters as well as to treasures. And the allusion here is evidently to the stratagem of Cyrus, who drained off the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through the city of Babylon, by means of which his troops, by night, marched along the bed of the river into the heart of the city, and surprised it. For it is the land of graven images, &c. — This vengeance comes upon them, because they have been the great encouragers and supporters of idolatry. It may be remarked, that the executioners of the divine judgments were the Persians, who, in opposition to the Sabians, (whose notions the Chaldeans embraced,) followed the ancient discipline of the magi, or wise men among them, and had neither altars nor images; as is attested by Strabo and Herodotus: see Prideaux’s Connections, p. 177, and Lowth. And they are mad upon their idols — See note on Isaiah 57:5 . They may well be termed mad who make a god of any creature, and especially those who worship images which their own hands have made. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert, &c. — Blaney renders this clause, Therefore shall wild cats, with jackals dwell, the daughters of the ostrich also shall dwell in her; and refers to Bochart in justification of the propriety of his translation. Compare this passage with the parallel one, Isaiah 13:19-22 , where see the notes. Jeremiah 50:39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there , and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Jeremiah 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. Jeremiah 50:41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. Jeremiah 50:41-46 . Behold, a people shall come from the north — Namely, the Medes; and a great nation — That is, who are a great nation; for this is no more than an explicative of the foregoing sentence. And many kings — Namely, the kings of the Persians, Armenians, Hyrcanians, Cadusians, and others who fought under Cyrus’s banner, as allies or friends to him. Their voice shall roar like the sea — The noise of an army is fitly compared to the roaring of the sea when it rages and is tempestuous. Every one put in array — In exact and firm order, as if the whole host were but one man. The king of Babylon hath heard, &c. — Belshazzar was of himself a weak and dissolute prince, and was soon routed in the field; and so dismayed that he shut himself up in Babylon. Behold, he shall come up like a lion — See notes on Jeremiah 49:19-21 , where we have applied unto Edom what is here spoken against Babylon. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard, &c. — These words are intended to express the greatness of the destruction of Babylon, which should be such as should make all that part of the world to shake and tremble; and the nations, whether near or far remote, should be astonished at the downfall of so great a city and potent an empire. Jeremiah 50:42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Jeremiah 50:44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? Jeremiah 50:45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. Jeremiah 50:46 At the noise of the taking of

Expositor's Bible Commentary Jeremiah 50:1 The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. CHAPTER XXV BABYLON Jeremiah 50:1-46 , Jeremiah 51:1-64 "Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces."- Jeremiah 50:2 THESE chapters present phenomena analogous to those of Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ; Isaiah 47:1-15 ; Isaiah 48:1-22 ; Isaiah 49:1-26 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 ; Isaiah 51:1-23 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 ; Isaiah 54:1-17 ; Isaiah 55:1-13 ; Isaiah 56:1-12 ; Isaiah 57:1-21 ; Isaiah 58:1-14 ; Isaiah 59:1-21 ; Isaiah 60:1-22 ; Isaiah 61:1-11 ; Isaiah 62:1-12 ; Isaiah 63:1-19 ; Isaiah 64:1-12 ; Isaiah 65:1-25 ; Isaiah 66:1-24 , and have been very commonly ascribed to an author writing at Babylon towards the close of the Exile, or even at some later date. The conclusion has been arrived at in both cases by the application of the same critical principles to similar data. In the present case the argument is complicated by the concluding paragraph of chapter 51, which states that "Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon," in the fourth year of Zedekiah, and gave the book to Seraiah ben Neriah to take to Babylon and tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Such a statement, however, cuts both ways. On the one hand, we seem to have what is wanting in the case of Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ; Isaiah 47:1-15 ; Isaiah 48:1-22 ; Isaiah 49:1-26 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 ; Isaiah 51:1-23 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 ; Isaiah 54:1-17 ; Isaiah 55:1-13 ; Isaiah 56:1-12 ; Isaiah 57:1-21 ; Isaiah 58:1-14 ; Isaiah 59:1-21 ; Isaiah 60:1-22 ; Isaiah 61:1-11 ; Isaiah 62:1-12 ; Isaiah 63:1-19 ; Isaiah 64:1-12 ; Isaiah 65:1-25 ; Isaiah 66:1-24 -a definite and circumstantial testimony as to authorship. But, on the other hand, this very testimony raises new difficulties. If 50 and 51 had been simply assigned to Jeremiah, without any specification of date, we might possibly have accepted the tradition according to which he spent his last years at Babylon, and have supposed that altered circumstances and novel experiences account for the differences between these chapters and the rest of the book. But Zedekiah’s fourth year is a point in the prophet’s ministry at which it is extremely difficult to account for his having composed such a prophecy. If, however, Jeremiah 51:59-64 is mistaken in its exact and circumstantial account of the origin of the preceding section, we must hesitate to recognise its authority as to that section’s authorship. A detailed discussion of the question would be out of place here, but we may notice a few passages which illustrate the arguments for an exilic date. We learn from Jeremiah 27:1-22 ; Jeremiah 28:1-17 ; Jeremiah 29:1-32 , that, in the fourth year of Zedekiah, the prophet was denouncing as false teachers those who predicted that the Jewish captives in Babylon would speedily return to their native land. He himself asserted that judgment would not be inflicted upon Babylon for seventy years, and exhorted the exiles to build houses and marry, and plant gardens, and to pray for the peace of Babylon. { Jeremiah 29:4-14 } We can hardly imagine that, in the same breath almost, he called upon these exiles to flee from the city of their captivity, and summoned the neighbouring nations to execute Jehovah’s judgment against the oppressors of His people. And yet we read:- "There shall come the Israelites, they and the Jews together: They shall weep continually, as they go to seek Jehovah their God; They shall ask their way to Zion, with their faces hitherward." { Jeremiah 50:4-5 } "Remove from the midst of Babylon, and be ye as he-goats before the flock." { Jeremiah 50:8 } These verses imply that the Jews were already in Babylon, and throughout the author assumes the circumstances of the Exile. "The vengeance of the Temple," i.e., vengeance for the destruction of the Temple at the final capture of Jerusalem, is twice threatened. { Jeremiah 50:28 ; Jeremiah 51:11 } The ruin of Babylon is described as imminent:- "Set up a standard on the earth, Blow the trumpet among the nations, Prepare the nations against her." If these words were written by Jeremiah in the fourth year of Zedekiah, he certainly was not practising his own precept to pray for the peace of Babylon. Various theories have been advanced to meet the difficulties which are raised by the ascription of this prophecy to Jeremiah. It may have been expanded from an authentic original. Or again, Jeremiah 51:59-64 may not really refer to Jeremiah 50:1 - Jeremiah 51:58 ; the two sections may once have existed separately, and may owe their connection to an editor, who met with Jeremiah 50:1-46 ; Jeremiah 51:1-58 as an anonymous document, and thought he recognised in it the "book" referred to in Jeremiah 51:59-64 . Or Jeremiah 50:1-46 ; Jeremiah 51:1-58 may be a hypothetical reconstruction of a lost prophecy of Jeremiah 51:59-64 mentioned such a prophecy and none was extant, and some student and disciple of Jeremiah’s school utilised the material and ideas of extant writings to supply the gap. In any case. it must have been edited more than once, and each time with modifications. Some support might be obtained for any one of these theories from the fact that Jeremiah 50:1-46 ; Jeremiah 51:1-58 is prima facie partly a cento of passages from the rest of the book and from the Book of Isaiah. { Jeremiah 50:8 ; Jeremiah 51:6 , with Isaiah 48:20 ; Jeremiah 50:13 with Jeremiah 49:17 ; Jeremiah 50:41-43 with Jeremiah 6:22-24 ; Jeremiah 50:44-46 with Jeremiah 49:19-21 ; Jeremiah 51:15-19 with Isaiah 10:12-16 } In view of the great uncertainty as to the origin and history of this prophecy, we do not intend to attempt any detailed exposition. Elsewhere whatever non-Jeremianic matter occurs in the book is mostly by way of expansion and interpretation, and thus lies in the direct line of the prophet’s teaching. But the section on Babylon attaches itself to the new departure in religious thought that is more fully expressed in Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ; Isaiah 47:1-15 ; Isaiah 48:1-22 ; Isaiah 49:1-26 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 ; Isaiah 51:1-23 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 ; Isaiah 54:1-17 ; Isaiah 55:1-13 ; Isaiah 56:1-12 ; Isaiah 57:1-21 ; Isaiah 58:1-14 ; Isaiah 59:1-21 ; Isaiah 60:1-22 ; Isaiah 61:1-11 ; Isaiah 62:1-12 ; Isaiah 63:1-19 ; Isaiah 64:1-12 ; Isaiah 65:1-25 ; Isaiah 66:1-24 . Chapters 50, 51, may possibly be Jeremiah’s swan song, called forth by one of those Pisgah visions of a new dispensation sometimes granted to aged seers; but such visions of a new era and a new order can scarcely be combined with earlier teaching. We will therefore only briefly indicate the character and contents of this section. It is apparently a mosaic, compiled from lost as well as extant sources; and dwells upon a few themes with a persistent iteration of ideas and phrases hardly to be paralleled elsewhere, even in the Book of Jeremiah. It has been reckoned that the imminence of the attack on Babylon is introduced afresh eleven times, and its conquest and destruction nine times. The advent of an enemy from the north is announced four times. { Jeremiah 50:3 ; Jeremiah 50:9 ; Jeremiah 51:41 ; Jeremiah 51:48 } The main theme is naturally that dwelt upon most frequently, the imminent invasion of Chaldea by victorious enemies who shall capture and destroy Babylon. Hereafter the great city and its territory will be a waste, howling wilderness:- "Your mother shall be sore ashamed, She that bare you shall be confounded; Behold, she shall be the hindmost of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of Jehovah, it shall be uninhabited; The whole land shall be a desolation. Every one that goeth by Babylon Shall hiss with astonishment because of all her plagues." { Jeremiah 50:12 ; Jeremiah 13:13 ; Jeremiah 50:39-40 ; Jeremiah 51:26 ; Jeremiah 51:29 ; Jeremiah 51:37 ; Jeremiah 51:41-43 } The gods of Babylon, Bel and Merodach, and all her idols, are involved in her ruin, and reference is made to the vanity and folly of idolatry. { Jeremiah 51:17-18 } But the wrath of Jehovah has been chiefly excited, not by false religion, but by the wrongs inflicted by the Chaldeans on His Chosen People. He is moved to avenge His Temple:- { Jeremiah 50:28 } "I will recompense unto Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea All the evil which they wrought in Zion, And ye shall see it-it is the utterance of Jehovah". { Jeremiah 51:24 } Though He thus avenge Judah, yet its former sins are not yet blotted out of the book of His remembrance:- "Their adversaries said, We incur no guilt. Because they have sinned against Jehovah, the Pasture of Justice, Against the Hope of their fathers, even Jehovah". { Jeremiah 50:7 } Yet now there is forgiveness:- "The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found For I will pardon the remnant that I preserve". { Jeremiah 50:20 } The Jews are urged to flee from Babylon, lest they should be involved in its punishment, and are encouraged to return to Jerusalem and enter afresh into an everlasting covenant with Jehovah. As in Jeremiah 31:1-40 , Israel is to be restored as well as Judah:- "I will bring Israel again to his Pasture; He shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His desires shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead." { Jeremiah 50:19 } The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.