those barbarous nations whose language you vnderstand not shall take from you your goods and riches because you haue been disobedient and rebellious It followes Vers 20. Declare this in the house of Iacob and publish it word for word cause it to be heard in Iudah saying 21. Heare this I pray you ye foolish people that haue no heart they haue eyes but see nothing they haue eares but heare not word for word and shall not heare THe Prophet heere confirmes his former doctrine lest the Iewes should imagine he threatned and astonished them with words onely and in the meane while should be fearlesse in regard of the effect Hee saith then Declare Doubtlesse the Prophet alludes to the custome of those times for they were wont to make wars knowne by sound of trumpet and by heralds of armes The enemie put not himselfe forthwith in battell aray to sacke all but they first manifested the warre that the cause might be knowne to be iust God then affirmes heere that hee hath spoken aloud vnto them by his Prophet Ieremiah as if open war had been solemnly proclaimed and as if the enemie had been at the gates ready armed for the fight Declare this then And what is this declaration Giue eare O foolish nation In the first place the Prophet heere reprocheth the Iewes and Israelites for their carelesnesse in that they were void of common sense For by the word heart the Hebrewes signifie spirit or vnderstanding as we haue seene elsewhere He saith then this people is void of all vnderstanding First he calles them fooles or sots But in regard many are dull and blockish who yet are not wholly destitute of reason therefore he adds they were without hart I grant he seemes to adde this by way of correction that they had eares and eyes but yet by way of derision he aggrauates that which I haue said namely that they were no lesse senselesse than if they had been so many trunkes of wood or stone And why You haue eyes and eares but you neither see nor heare No question but he alludes to the Idols Vers 21. whereunto they were addicted For in Psalm 115.8 it is said That all they who make and trust in them are like vnto them This the Prophet alleageth after hee had said before They haue eares to heare and heare not eyes to see and see not Ieremiah then taxeth the Iewes closely heere for becomming so besotted in their superstitions that they had made themselues like to dead idols For there is some similitude of a man in an idoll and the parts of a man are there distinguished yet without any sense So in like manner saith he The Iewes haue some resemblance of men as touching their eyes and eares and the externall shapes which they haue of men but in the meane while they are no lesse senselesse than if they were stockes or stones Vers 22. Will ye not feare me saith the Lord and will ye not tremble before my face who have laid the sand for the bounds of the sea a statute of an age that is by a perpetuall decree and it shall not passe it some referre this to the bounds some to the statute or decree and his waues shall moue but shall haue no power and shall make a tumult or shall roare and they shall not passe ouer See vers 20. HEre God shewes the reason why he called this people foolish and without heart For it was a strange senselesnesse in them that they feared not Gods presence seeing the very dumbe and insensible elements subiect themselues vnder his command And aboue all hee proposeth the example of the sea for no creature is so hidious and terrible as the sea when it is tossed with tempests and waues Why so The whole world seemes to be turned topsie turuey when her waues arise with so great violence who is it that heares or sees the same that trembles not euery ioynt of him Though the sea be neuer so terrible yet it obeyes God quietly and yet the sea it selfe which terrifies the most resolute man on earth obeyes God quietly For let her flouds be neuer so furious yet doe they grow calme and still and keepe within compasse But if you would know the manner how truly it is a miracle and therefore who can giue a reason of it For the sea wee know as other elements are is round as the earth is round so is the element of water and so is the fier and aire in like manner Sith the forme of this element then is round let vs see whether it be lower than the earth or aboue it but her lightnesse shewes that she is aboue the earth Whence is it then The cause why the sea ouerwhelmes not the whole world See Iob 38.11 that the sea doth not forthwith ouerwhelme the whole earth For she is liquid and cannot stay in a place vnlesse she be restrained by some secret power mouing of God It followes then that the sea is shut vp within her place because it hath so pleased God as Moses also shewes in Genes 1.9 Let the dry earth appeare saith God For he there shewes that the earth was couered with waters so as not a fingers bredth thereof appeared till God had gathered them into their place Now this voice of God albeit we heare it not with our eares and that it sounds not in the aire yet doth the sea vnderstand it well enough because she is contained within her bounds Put the case the sea should alwayes be calme yet should this worke of God at all times be admirable in regard men haue some part of the earth dry wherein they may inhabite But when the tempest riseth as I haue said and that it seemes heauen and earth would goe together which of vs trembles not at the viewing of such a spectacle Then Gods power and out-stretched arme appeares more manifestly which thus composeth and quiets the boysterous sea Wee now see the scope of the Prophets words He shewes that the Iewes are become monsters and vnworthy to bee reckoned among men no not among the brute beasts For there is more vnderstanding in the sea tossed with furious tempests than in men who seemed to be endowed with sense and reason This is the drift and scope of this comparison But because this complaint was very bitter the Prophet hath vsed an interrogation Will ye not feare me As if God should say What meanes this Is it possible that I should not be feared nor reuerenced of you The sea obeyes me and by my secret command her fury is staid because I haue once ordained shee should keepe within her limits and albeit she be violently tossed vp and downe with her waues and tempests yet doth she not passe beyond the bounds which I haue set her And O yee sonnes of men that are reasonable creatures will not yee feare me will not yee tremble or feare before my face He adds that hee hath placed the
sand for a bound to the sea Now this expresseth much more than if he had said I haue ordained limits for the sea For hee speakes of the sand which is moueable and with a little blast is caried this way and that way The sand also is easie to be pierced into Were there hard rockes placed vpon all the sea bankes the miracle would not be halfe so admirable If God then should beate backe the swellings of the sea with such things as were of a solide substance this worke might peraduenture be ascribed to nature But what solidnesse is in the sand Let me powre but a little water vpon it incontinently it pierceth into it Whence comes it then that the boysterous sea with her roaring waues plowes not vp the sand which of its owne nature is so flexible Wee see then that this word sand is not superfluous There is almost the like place to this in the booke of Iob chap. 38.11 where God speaking of his inuinsible power among other things saith And let the sea come hitherto let her proud waues passe no further For it is most certaine that the least tempest ariseth not but by Gods will Why so Because he can alwayes hold the sea at one rate But hee doth it not nay rather as if he laid the raines in her neck he saith Goe but yet stay heere Now when it seemes these great waues mounted aloft as high as the mountaines threaten both men beasts as if the whole earth should therewithall bee ouerwhelmed then doe these violent waues suddenly cease and are calme Obiect He adds by a perpetuall ordinance I grant the sea sometimes ouerflowes For wee see many Cities sunke by deluges and inundations Answ but this notwithstanding is true that it is a perpetuall ordinance or decree namely that God keepes the sea within her limits For as oft as the sea inuades any part of the habitable world then may we assuredly collect thence that she wanted her bridle whereof Ieremiah here and Iob in chap. 38. speakes We gather then that no let or impediment hinders the sea from ouerflowing the whole earth but onely her obedience to Gods decree yea and this perpetuity also The sea would ouerflow all were it not kept in by Gods perpetuall command wherof the Prophet speakes remaines stedfast in regard of the generall For albeit tempests arise euery yeere this fury notwithstanding ceaseth end yet no otherwise than by Gods speciall command This is true then that bounds are set for the sea ouer which her waues cannot glide And therefore he saith her waues shall mooue and shall not preuaile and then they shall sound or make a noyse and shall not passe ouer We haue now the summe of this verse namely God complaines that the Iewes were growne so furious and so sottish that their obedience came farre short euen of the Seas obedience albeit she be tossed with waues and tempests He therefore brings forth the Iewes heere vpon the stage as monsters in nature in regard nothing is more contrary thereunto than to see more vnderstanding in the senselesse sea and that when it is most vnquiet than in man who is created according to Gods image who also is endowed with some sense and reason He afterwards adds Vers 23. And this people hath a peruerse and rebellious heart they are departed and gone HEre the sentence is compleat in regard it yet depends vpon the former interrogation But now God shewes more cleerly why hee mentioned this matter touching the sea And this people saith he or but this people hath a peruerse heart for the word signifies peruerse Others translate declining which doth not fully expresse the sense We may also see in many places that the word which the Prophet vseth imports somewhat more than declining Yea and this translation agrees better to wit that this people hath a peruerse heart and then rebellious or which could not be tamed No doubt but he compares or opposeth the fiercenesse and rebellion of the people to the obedience of the sea and thus in plaine tearmes he teacheth that there is greater furie and stupidity in this nation of the Iewes than in the tempestuous sea By the effect also he prooues that the peoples heart is peruerse Why so Because they were declined and gone Had he said in a word they had declined it had not been a full proofe but by the word gone he vnderstands their obstinacy As if he had said As desperate diseases cannot be cured by any remedies no more can you because you persist in your rebellion They are departed then and gone that is I could not reclaime them For God had often tryed by the labours of his seruants to see if hee could bring them backe into the right way but so much the more they discouered their incorrigible obstinacy and thereby also shewed that there was no place left for repentance It followes Vers 24. And said not in their heart Let vs now feare the Lord our God who giues raine and the water of the morning See Deut. 28.12 and of the euening of these words we haue spoken in another place in the time thereof or in his season he reserueth vs the perpetuall weekes of the haruest that is to say for the haruest HEre the Prophet in other words shewes that the Iewes are conuinced of obstinate rebellion Hee saith it came not in their minds once to say in themselues let vs now feare God We see then that all these things tend to one and the same end namely that the Iewes were no lesse senselesse than the insensible elements Nay that there was more insensiblenesse rebellion in their harts than in all the creatures of the whole world besides To say in the heart See chap. 2.6 is as much with the Hebrews as to think or consider in ones selfe The Latines say it came not in their mind that is to say they were so far void of common reason and vnderstanding that at least this would not fall into their mind nor once conceiue this thought Let vs now feare God Heere then he takes from them all pretext of ignorance lest they should alleage It is true wee haue not serued God but it was our errour or vnaduisednesse that brought vs to it Nay saith he you had your eyes and your eares too and the rest of your senses God gaue you showers not so much as one yeere passed ouer your heads in which the earth brought not forth her encrease and as oft as you put one bit of bread into your mouthes doth not Gods liberality therein manifest it selfe vnto you yet haue you not once thought in your selues this God surely ought to be worshipped and serued We see then how he heere takes from them all excuses in respect of their ingratitude when he saith they obserued not Gods benefits though they gazed vpon them daily with their eyes though they touched them with their hands and had a sensible feeling thereof
yeeres by Gods immediate hand and not after an ordinary manner For they had no bread to nourish them neither had they water God caused water to flow out of the rocke and afterwards hee filled them with bread which fell from heauen neither did their garments waxe old by length of time Wee see then that their fault is heere augmented by the circumstance of time now follow the things which I spake of For the Prophet calles the desart a dry or vast land a terrible land an hidious or horrible land a land of deadly darknes As if he should say you were preserued in the middest of many deathes for none euer passed through this land neither did any saith the Lord euer inhabite there Whence appeared your safety then or from what fountaine Truly euen from death it selfe saith he For as for the desart what was it but an hideous spectacle in which you might from all parts bee viewed to bee not onely compassed about with one but with an hundred deaths Seeing God then beyond the order of nature brought you by a stretched out arme from out of Egypt and sustained you forty yeres long in the desart what shew or colour of reason haue you to excuse such a folly or rather madnesse that are now so farre estranged from me Doct. Now hence we are taught that the more mercies God hath bestowed vpon vs the more fiercely shall the guiltinesse of our consciences wound vs especially if after all this we forsake him also our malice and vnthankfulfulnesse shall be so much the lesse inexcusable but most of all if hee haue held on the course of these his benefits for a long space and after diuers manners towards vs. He goes on in the next words And I haue caused you to enter Ieremiah brings in God himselfe speaking here namely how he stretched forth his hand as it were to this poore of-spring of Abraham that hee might put them in possession of the land of promise for as it is said in the 44. Psal 44.3 Psalme It was neither by their arme nor sword that they obtained this possession for albeit they had to fight indeed against many enemies yet in all their battails notwithstanding the victory came of the Lord. And thus he might truly and rightly affirme that they entred no otherwise into this land than by his conduct and leading to wit in opening a way and passage vnto them and in ouercomming and destroying their enemies that they might enter into and enioy the land which hee had promised them I haue brought you then saith hee into the land of Hacarmel Some take this to bee the proper name of the place and certainly mount Carmel is so called in respect of the great fruitfulnesse thereof For as much then as this mountaine tooke its name in respect of the richnesse of the soyle what maruell is it if Ieremiah compares the land of Israel to mount Carmel Others expound it as if the particle which imports a similitude should be heere vnderstood I haue caused you to enter into a land which is like to Carmel but what neede wee offer violence to the Prophets words I thinke then that the noune is a noune appellatiue signifying fruitfulnesse namely that the Israelites were conducted by the hand of God into a plentifull and fruitfull land of the fruitfulnesse whereof mention is often made as well in the Law as in the Prophets To eate his fruit and his abundance that is to say The end why I brought you in thither was to enioy the great abundance and large reuenue thereof God by these words then meant to make it knowne to the Israelites that it was their duties to haue been prouoked by such benefits to serue him in vprightnesse in regard he had sought by such ientlenesse to draw them to himselfe and had vsed them after so gracious a manner But so much the more as God had shewed himselfe liberall towards them so much the lesse insupportable was their vnworthy reuolt in forsaking God and in contemning such abundance and variety of all good things For which cause he addes afterwards And you polluted my land and haue made mine heritage an abomination as if hee should haue said This is the recompence and the reward that I reaped from my bounty I vsed towards you Indeed I gaue you this land but vpon condition that you should serue mee in holinesse and righteousnesse therin but you saith he haue polluted it Now he calles it his land or heritage God so giues vs leaue so to vse his benefits that still he reserues the right and title of them to himselfe as if hee should say I so gaue you this land that in the meane while I neuer meant to shut my selfe out of that right and interest which I haue in it howsoeuer I was content you should reape the whole commodity of it He shewes then that they had wickedly abused his bounty in polluting this land notwithstanding it was dedicated to his name and honour He calles it his heritage in the same sence as if hee should say You haue in such wise possessed this land by right of inheritance that yet the heritage came to you from me your heauenly father They were to consider then that they therefore entred into this land because it was giuen for an heritage to Abraham and his children But by whose gift Was not God the author of it Their ingratitude therefore was so much the more detestable in that they had made such an heritage to become an abomination It followes Vers 8. The Priests said not Where is the Lord and those which kept or had kept the Law knew me not and the Pastors behaued themselues disloyally towards me and the Prophets prophesied in Ball that is to say by Baal and haue walked after things which did nothing profit them NOw God ioynes issue especially with those that had the charge of teaching in the Church and with those that had authority to rule and gouerne the people For it may very often fall out that the common people will bee irregular whilest the heads and leaders notwithstanding shal be carefull to walke sincerely and in vprightnesse But God heere shewes that this nation was become so degenerate The faults of the Superiours excuseth not the sinne of the Jnferiours that Priests Prophets Rulers yea the heads of the people and all had abandoned the true seruice of God and all righteousnesse towards men Now in that Ieremiah thus sets vpon the Priests and Teachers and the rest he therein excuseth not the multitude neither goes he about thereby to extenuate or lessen those foule crimes and enormities which were rife in euery place as we shall perceiue hereafter in the processe of the text although we know diuers there are who thinke they may fence themselues against Gods accusations by alleaging Wee are not so well instructed to discerne betweene truth and falshood is it not enough to doe as our leaders
O ye heauens be astonied at this and tremble for feare and be vtterly confounded or dried vp saith Iehouah AFter the Prophet saw hee had to deale with men that were growne vtterly sencelesse and past feeling he now directs his speech to the heauens Which kind of speech is very vsuall with the Prophets namely to call heauen and earth to be witnesses of their words albeit they be vtterly void of vnderstanding and to turne their speech from men whom they see to be destitute of reason and iudgement And this they were wont to doe when they perceiued that things grew desperate to wit when men refused to be taught This is the reason then why the Prophet now commands the heauens to tremble and to be astonied and to be brought as it were to nothing as if hee should say This is so prodigious a thing that in a manner it ouerturnes the whole order of nature euen as if heauen and earth were mingled together Now wee haue the Prophets meaning for by this manner of speech hee meant to shew how odious the impiety of the people was when the heauens which haue no vnderstanding ought iustly to blush at such an horrible disorder As touching the words some translate O ye heauens be desolate and afterwards reiterate the same signification But because the Hebrew word signifies to bee astonied the reading which I haue followed agrees best to this place to wit O ye heauens be astonied and then tremble at this and be dried vp For the Hebrew word signifies to become dry and it also signifies to be brought to a wildernesse or desolation Vers 13. Certainly or for my people haue committed two euils they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters and haue digged pits or cesternes yea leaking or broken cesternes that can hold no water IF any thinke the Prophet renders a reason heere why he would haue the heauens astonished and tremble it must be turned for my people haue committed two euils but for mine owne part I thinke the verse which immediately before I expounded See Vers 10.11 depends vpon the former sentences The Prophet had said Goe to forraine countreys and see if any nation haue changed their Gods which yet are no Gods but meere fictions and lies And therefore to conclude this matter withall the Prophet as I take it addes this exclamation saying O ye heauens be astonied See Vers 12. Vers 13. Now it followes Certainly my people haue committed two euils first in that they haue forsaken me and secondly in that they haue forged false Gods If any man should cast off an ancient friend Simile to fall in league with a new this were both vnreasonable and vnhonest but to doe this where no benefits were to bee obtained then it would sauour not onely of lightnesse but of folly ioyned with a kind of frensie Thus then if I reiect that which I know will yeeld me profit to chuse that which will bee hurtfull vnto me shall not such a choyce manifest to all that I am out of my wits You see what the Prophet meanes then in this place when he saith This people not onely failed in forsaking the true God but that without any reward at all they ranne after idols which could doe them no good He saith they committed two euils first in forsaking God secondly in following false gods such as mens braine had forged But the better to amplifie the hainousnesse of the crime he vseth a similitude when hee calleth God the fountaine of liuing waters and compares the idols to leaking and broken cesternes which can hold no water If any man should leaue a liuing fountaine to get vnto himselfe a cesterne were it not a great folly For cesterns are alwayes subiect to leake and to bee drawne dry vnlesse they be supplied with water by some other meanes but a fountaine hath the spring in it selfe Moreouer look where there is a vaine of liuing waters that alwayes runs and neuer failes there the water is best and wholsomest Raine waters which fal from the clouds into a cesterne are neuer so wholesome as those which flow naturally from a liuing vaine But what say you then when the vessell shal not be fitting to retaine the water but shall still bee leaking and running out because of the diuers creuises which are thetein You see then how God by this similitude taxeth the folly of the people for forsaking him albeit he was a fountaine yea a fountaine of liuing waters And secondly that the people also desired to chuse things of no worth when they gaue themselues to dote vpon idols For what good is to be found in them truly a shape and resemblance onely For the superstitious sort thinke they loose not their labour whilest they honour those gods which themselues haue deuised but looke for some recompence at their hands There are some formes then you see in false religions and therefore the Prophet compares these false gods to pits in regard of their depth and hollownesse but in the meane while not a drop of water to be found in them Why so Because they are crackt and broken cesternes Now we haue the Prophets meaning to wit we can no way excuse our selues from being found worthy of condemnation when we forsake the true and onely God Why so Because in him wee haue the fountaine and well-spring of all benefits whereout we may draw our fill Shall we then despise Gods liberality which is able perfectly and fully to make vs happy Oh how great is such an vnthankfulnesse and peruersity and yet shal God notwithstanding be alwaies vnchangeable like himselfe Wherefore if hee bee iustly stiled the fountaine of liuing waters such an one will he be vnto vs at this day if we hinder him not by our owne malice In the meane while the Prophet addes another crime to the former for wee no sooner turne our backes vpon God but our hopes will forthwith faile vs. And howsoeuer for a time we may imagine we haue pits or rather fountains yet come we once to stand in need of them wee shall not find so much as one drop of water in all our fond imaginations but cesterns meerely dry and void of liquor It followes Vers 14. Is Israell a seruant or is he borne in the house why is he made a prey 15 The Lions shall roare or yell vpon him some translate Lions whelps and the word here vsed oft times signifies young Lions but then especially when it is ioyned with other words of the same kind otherwise being vsed by it selfe I alwayes interpret it generally for Lions they made their voice to be heard they brought his land to desolation his cities are burned or destroyed without an inhabitant 16 The sonnes of Neph also that is to say of Memphis for the Hebrews call the chiefe City of Egypt Memphis and Thaphnes or according to the Greekes Thapis shall breake thine head 17 * or hath not this been done vnto
notwithstanding they were Israels confederates should become their enemies yea that they were their enemies already By the top or crowne some vnderstand the Princes and heads of Israel but we may expound it according to our vsuall manner of speaking They shall breake or they shall rub or chafe thine head and this sense in my iudgement sutes best Now the reason followes why this came to passe Hath not this been done vnto thee saith he Others translate Hast not thou done this in the second person Howsoeuer the sense is all one And yet it seemes the opinion of others is better Hath not this been done vnto thee because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God In a word Ieremiah shewes that the falling away of the people was the cause of all their chastisements As if hee should haue said Such broth as you haue made euen such sup you off and know that thou canst not any way charge the Lord as being blame-worthy for he is ready to performe that which he hath promised did not thine owne impiety hinder him Neither hath God indeed chosen thee in vaine neither hath hee without cause preferred thee before all other nations onely thou hast reiected and put backe his benefits and liberality from thee Thus then thy condition had neuer been as now it is if thy selfe hadst not procured these euils to thy selfe And how is that Because saith he thou hast forsaken thy God And hee doth againe aggrauate the fault in saying In the time when hee led thee by the way To leade by the way is as much as to gouerne rightly and happily Thus the Prophet shewes that their disloyalty and backsliding was vtterly inexcusable in that they had reiected the worship and seruice of God for then things went prosperously forwards Had they been pressed with many tentations they might thus haue made their excuse wee thought our expectations should haue failed vs whilest we waited for deliuerance from the true God Why so Because hee with-held the signes of his presence from vs therefore necessity constrained vs at the least that which we haue done inconsiderately ought to be pardoned For what could we thinke else but that God had forsaken vs This obiection our Prophet heere preuents as in the fifth verse of this chapter What iniquity haue your fathers found in me And in another place O my people what haue I done vnto thee testifie against me Mich. 6.3 For God in that place is ready to iustifie his cause and to cleere himselfe of whatsoeuer accusations the people could charge him with So heere I haue lead thee by the way that is to say thou wert in good case being vnder my leading and gouernment and yet could neither my goodnesse nor louing kindnesse keepe thee in awe though I dealt graciously with thee no though thou knewest thou couldest no way better thine estate then to be vnder my custody yet thou louedst rather to follow after idols What excuse therefore hast thou now or what shew of excuse canst thou alleage for thy selfe We see then how the fault of the people is so much the more aggrauated because they then forsooke their God when they were no way forced thereunto by any tentation but being growne meerly disloyall they voluntarily gaue themselues to the seruice of idols Now this is confirmed in the verse following Vers 18. And what hast thou now to doe in the way of Egypt to drinke the water of Nilus or what makest thou in the way of Ashur to drinke the water of the riuer THe Prophet as I touched before confirmes that which I haue said namely that the people could not chalenge the Lord as being the author of their euils seeing the whole cause thereof rested in themselues And yet the fault is redoubled in regard they sought here and there after such remedies which profited them nothing at all by meanes whereof also they alwayes heaped new iudgements vpon their owne heads For we must vnderstand that their onely remedy in afflictions was to seeke reconciliation with God Simile For example if a sicke man knowes whence the cause of his sicknesse comes and afterward in stead of seeking fit remedies he betakes himselfe to some medecine which shall doe him no good but will rather be a meanes to encrease the malady will wee not iudge such an one worthy to perish seeing hee wittingly willingly reiected those remedies which would haue done him good to runne after vaine and deceiueable medecines thinking to find comfort by them This is the very thing which Ieremiah heere reprooues in the Israelites If thou carefully enquirest saith he whence so many afflictions proceed thou shalt find me guiltlesse and thine owne iniquities to bee the cause But what is now to bee done what course art thou now to take euen this bethinke thy selfe well how thou maist bee reconciled with me and how thou maist obtaine pardon endeauour to bee reuenged on thy selfe for thy wickednesse Thus shall thy plagues be soone remoued and by experience thou shalt find me the best physicion God the best physicion if thou thus addresse thy selfe vnto me But what doost thou now Thou trottest vp and downe hunting after vaine and deceiueable comforts Now thou fleest to Egypt and by and by to Assyria but by none of these meanes canst thou procure vnto thy selfe any benefit Now wee haue the Prophets meaning for hauing conuinced the Iewes of their impiety and hauing so caused them to vnderstand that they could neither ascribe the euils which they endured to God nor to Fortune no nor yet to any other causes he now shewes that the onely remedy and the best way to attain saluation is to returne into fauour with God But to runne hither and thither now into Egypt now into Assyria they therein discouered an euident signe of desperate folly Now this reprehension depends vpon the holy history For this people had one while the Assyrians their enemies an other while the Egyptians in regard there still happened great mutations and changes and God also laid diuers troubles and afflictions vpon them the better to awaken them out of their drowsinesse and security Sometimes he hissed for the Egyptians as wee shall see afterwards then hee caused his trumpet to sound into Assyria and all to certifie the Israelites that no peace was euer to be looked for till they quietly submitted themselues vnder Gods gouernment And yet the people reiecting this counsell were so blinded that when the Assyrians assailed them then they fled to Egypt that is to say they sought for succour of the Egyptians and made a league with them But if any change happened then they sought and desired to bee confederates with the Assyrians yea and often to purchase their friendship at a very deare rate This is that frensie then wherewith the Prophet heere taxeth them when he saith What hast thou to doe in the way of Egypt that is to say I pray thee what good gettest thou by it what
madnesse is it in thee when thou manifestly feelest that God is against thee that thou then thinkest not of the right meanes whereby thou mightest procure thine owne welfare namely by seeking reconciliation with thy God All thy health consists in fleeing to God in seeking to get his fauour and in suing for mercy at his hands But what course takest thou Thou runnest to Egypt thou runnest to Ashur Bringest thou not thy selfe thus into a wofull plight What childishnesse is it in thee thus to vexe thy selfe to no purpose From this place let vs learne Doct. that as oft as God corrects vs for our sinnes it is our parts to seeke for the true remedy and neuer busie our heads in seeking after those vaine comforts which Satan will present before vs as so many snares to intangle vs for such allurements shal only cast vs into a dead sleepe so as the euils which otherwise in themselues might be curable shall become at the last incurable and deadly What is to bee done then As soone as we feele the smart of Gods rods Vse let vs presently seeke attonement with him and how we may attaine his fauour thus shall wee not loose our labour But if wee stand gazing about vs we shall be so farre off from attaining reliefe that wee shall double and treble our sorrowes To drinke the waters of Nilus and the waters of Euphrates is nothing else but suing for helpe heere and there I grant hee alludes to the Ambassadours which were sent because in their trauell some dranke of the waters of Nilus and others of the waters of Euphrates and yet notwithstanding he speakes by way of allegory as if he should say God was ready to succour thee hadst thou but resorted to his mercy as to a city of refuge but thou thoughtest it better to neglect him that thou mightest haue helpe from the Egyptians and Assyrians Thou seekest then to drinke the waters of farre countries whilest God supplies thy necessities with sufficiency of waters at home It may be also he alludes to that similitude hee vsed in ver 13. he there called God the fountaine of liuing waters as if he should haue said God would bee to thee an euer-springing fountaine that can neuer bee drawne dry neither shouldest thou euer perish for thirst if thou wouldest content thy selfe with him alone but thou thirstest after the waters of Nilus and Euphrates Thus we haue now attained the Prophets meaning Neither is it to be doubted but he speakes of the waters of Nilus and Euphrates because both these nations in outward appearance abounded in al sorts of riches and in multitudes of men Seeing Israel then relied vpon such defences the Prophet heere blames their ingratitude in that they satisfied not themselues with those succours which God affoorded them albeit the same appeared not vnto them in so manifest and visible a sort as the others did An excellent and fruitfull instruction For in God we haue all sufficiency and if himselfe alone could content vs certanly hee would giue vs more than wee could wish and would euer supply all our needes For himselfe being neuer weary of well doing hee would bestow vpon vs whatsoeuer our hearts could desire But because we cannot perceiue this bounty and liberality towards vs with our outward senses that makes vs runne so greedily after the worlds enticements Doct. Learne wee hence then neither to lust after the waters of Nilus nor Euphrates that is to say after the deceiueable allurements of this present euill world which carry in them a faire glosse in outward shew but let vs rather thirst after this secret and hidden fountaine Note which is therefore kept close from our bodily eyes that wee might seeke it by faith Now it followes Vers 19. Thine owne wickednesse shall correct thee and thy turnings backe or treasons shall aske vengeance of thee and thou shalt know and vnderstand that it is an euill and a bitter thing that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my feare is not in thee saith the Lord God of hosts THe Prophet here againe confirmes that which I haue said before namely that the people will they nill they shall in the end feele what it is to reuolt from God as if he should say If hitherto by so many chastisements The summe thou hast not learned that thy treasons and trecheries are the cause of all these miseries God will yet adde iudgement vpon iudgement till at the last thou bee inforced whether thou wilt or no to confesse that thou receiuest the iust reward of thine iniquities this is the summe of the verse But he saith in the first place Thy wickednesse shall correct thee as if he should say Albeit God neither ascends into his iudgement seat nor stretcheth forth his hand to correct thee yet shall thine iniquities testifie thy iust condemnation euen in the sight of the Sunne And this manner of speaking is more forcible and hath greater vehemency in it then if the Prophet had onely said that God would afflict his people iustly Thy wickednesse then saith he shall chastise thee The like speech there is also in a manner in Isaiah Isa 3.9 and 59.12 The triall of their countenance testifies against them as if the Lord should say Though I should sit still and not take vpon me the office of a Iudge though no man should giue in euidence against thee though none should commence any action at all against thee yet would the guilt of thine owne conscience rise vp against thee and would put thee to shame and rebuke So in this place Thine owne wickednesse shall correct thee Now wee are to see the reason why the Prophet saith this for it is most certaine that hitherto many of thē still repined with open mouth against God as if he had dealt too sharpely and seuerely with them In regard therefore of these murmurings which euery one was ready euer and anon to vtter forth against God the Prophet repels such slanders in telling of them that their owne wickednesses were sufficient to correct them Thy owne wickednesse saith he shall execute against thee the office of a Iudge in condemning thee Vers 13. 17. He saith the same of their turnings backe but he heere better expresseth that which he had said before in generall of their reuolt from Gods seruice and obedience therfore here he specifies one kind of wickednes as if he had said We need not now call for thine accuser or for witnesses or for a Iudge to pronounce sentence thy onely turnings backe will suffice in stead of all these as sufficient to condemne thee He addes in the next words Thou shalt know and prooue how euill and bitter a thing it is to haue forsaken the Lord thy God These phrases of speech are somewhat sharpe but we told you before what they signifie namely thy reuolting or forsaking that is to say thy trecherous disloyalties to wit in that thou hast forsaken
what it is the Lord saith And where he saith euen you or you your selues it is to adde the greater emphasis and vehemency vnto his speech you euen you saith hee For the Iewes iustly deserued to haue been condemned by the whole world if God had called them before his iudgment seat But how blind soeuer they were the Prophet shewes that themselues notwithstanding might discerne euen with their owne eyes what the Lord said This belongs not to doctrine but to the act or thing it selfe as if he should say The Lord by me complaines of you so as though there be no witnesses nor any iudge or arbitrator yet ye your selues can iudge and perceiue how things goe well enough Wee see then that the Prophet hath spoken aptly when he bids themselues to regard or see the word of the Lord for by and by hee adds Haue I been a desert to Israel He appoints the Iewes themselues then to iudge and determine this matter to wit whether they had not tasted of Gods bounty and liberality by their owne experience and whether they had not reiected and forsaken him Se vers 13. as formerly he complained albeit he was that fountaine of liuing waters and whether they digged not vnto themselues broken cesternes that could hold no water Now God saith Whence came this that you haue thus bidden me farwell Is it in vaine that I haue promised to shew my selfe gracious bountifull vnto you Haue I therein abused or disappoynted you of your expectation whilest you serued me Seeing then I haue not been vnto you a barren land or a land full of obscurity and darknesse namely wherein the Sunne shines not seeing I say you haue alwayes found abundance and plenty of all good things in me how comes it to passe now that you are departed and gone away from me In the next place he adds yet another fault Wherefore saith my people we rule or are Lords The Hebrew verbe heere vsed is diuersly expounded because some deriue it from one root and others from another Notwithstanding among them that deriue it from one and the same root they varie in their iudgements for some referre it to those calamities and afflictions which the Iewes sustained others to their reuolt As touching the first thus they vnderstand it We are come downe that is to say we are ouerwhelmed with miseries what shall it auaile vs to call vpon God For all our affaires are become vtterly desperate Others chuse a contrary sense We are gone backe that is what need the Prophets trouble our eares any more with their clamors for we are resolued neuer to returne to God we haue at once renounced him let him goe then with all his goodly exhortations for we will neither heare him nor doe ought for him and both are of opinion that this is a speech of such as are growne desperate But we see well enough wherein they differ for the first sort vnderstand this word To descend of the peoples calamities the latter sort take it for their reuolt to wit because they had once taken their leaues of God and would haue no more to doe with him There is a third sort who come nearer to the Grammaticall sense For the verbe heere vsed in the originall signifies to rule and thus I rather willingly encline to this exposition wee rule I also thinke that it is an arrogant and swelling kind of speech namely that the Iewes thought themselues Kings as Saint Paul in 1. Cor. 4.8 taunts the Corinthians yee are rich and yee raigne as kings saith he without vs would to God ye did raigne that wee also might raigne with you For the Corinthians were swollen with pride Corinth was famous in regard of her riches in regard of the wealth of their City and so despised the Gospels simplicity they sought after subtelties and gaue themselues wholly to new deuices Saint Paul therefore seeing they made no great reckoning of the fauour which God had vouchsafed them tauntingly he saith Ye are full ye are rich and without him yâ—â—â—â—w raigne as Kings of whom notwithstanding ye◠〈◊〉 whatsoeuer good thing ye haue Ieremiah heere reproâ—cheth his people with the very same sinne Wee rule neither will wee come any more vnto thee As if he should say All your happinesse and the good things yee enioy I am sure came from me for all ye enioy and whatsoeuer hath been bestowed vpon you ought to be attributed to me and to my liberality and yet forsooth ye raigne as Kings without me For it is God himselfe who speakes heere ye are now become Kings without mee But which way I pray you what haue you that is your owne Why then saith my people we will come no more at thee Wee haue now the Prophets naturall meaning As touching the thing it selfe as wee told you before first he stands as one amazed at the peoples malice euen as at some prodigious thing and therefore he cries out O generation as if he had said That which I now see is incredible Then he adds looke your selues to the word of the Lord and this was of greater importance than if hee had summoned them before the tribunall seat of God for thus he shewes their malice is too too grosse in that without any cause or pretext at all they had shamelesly forsaken renounced God albeit he had dealt so bountifully with them In the meane while hee priuily nippes them because there was now no place any longer for instruction Therefore leauing that he bids them looke with their eyes either because they were deafe or stopped their eares and repulsed all sound admonitions For as we haue said leauing the word he brings them backe to the very fact which the expositors haue not obserued Now the reproach followes that God was not as a wildernesse vnto them See vers 13. but as the Prophet shewed heretofore that out of him flowed abundance of all good things wherewith they might haue satisfied themselues Seeing God then had enriched them with his blessings so much the more hainous was their fault in that they had forsaken him How in the last part of the verse God complaines of their ingratitude in regard they thought themselues lordâ— I grant they were a royall priesthood but this came from Gods grace In that they raigned they obtained it not by their owne industry or power it was not from any right of theirs neither yet by their power or good fortune as they say Whence then Onely by way of entreaty Albeit they were kings then yet it was vpon condition that they yeelded obedience to the King of kings and not otherwise yet forsooth they would raigne alone that is as they listed and thus they trampled the grace of God vnder foot It is this peruersity of theirs then which the Prophet heere reprooues To the same purpose also in the end of the verse he saith wee will come no more vnto thee as if they needed not Gods helpe and