Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Jeremiah
Book: Jeremiah
Chapter: 2
Overview:
God expostulates with his people.
(1-8) Their revolt
Beyond
Example.
(9-13) Guilt the cause of sufferings.
(14-19) The sins
of
Judah.
(20-28) Their false confidence.
(29-37)
1-8 Those who begin
Well, but do not persevere, will justly be
upbraided with their hopeful and promising beginnings. Those who
Desert religion, commonly oppose it more than those who never
knew it. For this they could have
No excuse.
God's spiritual
Israel must own their obligations to him for safe conduct
through the
Wilderness of this world,
So dangerous to the soul.
Alas, that many, who once appeared devoted to the
Lord,
So live
that their professions aggravate their crimes! Let us be careful
that we do not lose in zeal and fervency, as we gain knowledge.
9-13 Before
God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring
them to
Repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with
ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and
Curse which will
be the portion of those who throw themselves out of
God's
Grace
and favour.
Grace in
Christ is compared to water from a
Fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making
fruitful: to living water, because it quickens dead sinners,
revives drooping saints, supports and maintains spiritual
Life,
and issues in eternal
Life, and is ever-flowing. To forsake this
Fountain is the first evil; this is done when the people of
God
neglect his
Word and ordinances. They hewed them out broken
cisterns, that could
Hold No water. Such are the world, and the
things in it; such are the inventions of men when followed and
depended
On. Let us, with purpose of
Heart, cleave to the
Lord
only; whither else shall we go? How prone are we to forego the
consolations of the Holy
Spirit, for the worthless joys of the
enthusiast and
Hypocrite!
14-19 Is
Israel a servant?
No, they are the seed of
Abraham. We
may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of
Man a
Slave?
No, it
is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to
divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like
Lions,
prevailed against
Israel. People from
Egypt destroyed their
Glory and strength. They brought these calamities
On themselves
By departing from the
Lord. The use and application of this is,
Repent of thy
Sin, that thy correction may not be thy ruin. What
has a
Christian to do in the ways of forbidden pleasure or vain
sinful mirth, or with the pursuits of
Covetousness and ambition?
20-28 Notwithstanding all their advantages,
Israel had become
like the wild
Vine that bears poisonous
Fruit. Men are often as
much under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful
lusts, as the brute beasts. But the
Lord here warns them not to
weary themselves in pursuits which could only bring distress and
misery. As we must not despair of the
Mercy of
God, but believe
that to be sufficient for the
Pardon of our sins,
So neither
must we despair of the
Grace of
God, but believe that it is able
to subdue our corruptions, though ever
So strong.
29-37 The nation had not been wrought upon
By the judgements of
God, but sought to justify themselves. The world is, to those
who make it their home and their portion, a
Wilderness and a
land of
Darkness; but those who
Dwell in
God, have the
Lines
fallen to them in pleasant places. Here is the language of
presumptuous sinners. The Jews had long thrown off serious
thoughts of
God. How many days of our lives pass without
suitable remembrance of him! The
Lord was displeased with their
confidences, and would not prosper them therein. Men employ all
their ingenuity, but cannot find happiness in the way of
Sin, or
excuse for it. They may shift from one
Sin to another, but none
ever hardened himself against
God, or turned from him, and
prospered.