sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, with all the doubts which they tended to create in the hearts of the believers, and because they are hid from Mine eyes, so that they have disappeared entirely. This thought fitly introduces the next paragraph, where the new order of things is described in language which is both beautiful and majestic. THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH. V. 17. For, behold, I create new heavens, the plural being applied to the abode of the blessed in many passages of the Bible, and a new earth, cp. Rev. 21; and the former, that which was here infested with sin and its curse, shall not be remembered nor come into mind, the very remembrance of the sorrows of this present world being erased by the overwhelming mercies of God. V. 18. But be ye, the partakers of the glories in this new earth, glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy, so that the believers of all times are engaged in praises of Him always, in honor of His works of mercy. V. 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people, in the Church which He Himself founded, this joy of the Lord being apparent throughout the entire Bible; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying, the tears over the misery of this earthly life being dried up in the merciful light of God's countenance. V. 20. There shall be no more thence, in the kingdom of the Messiah, an infant of days, a babe taken away after just a few days of earthly life, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, reaching the full measure of years in accordance with God's creative plan; for the child shall die an hundred years old, one passing away at this age being considered still a young man; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed, he who would otherwise be torn away by the avenging justice of God at about half the usual age now being spared till he reaches the age of at least a hundred years, the patience of the Lord being so much greater than before. The fact that the Lord, in the time of the New Testament, shows such wonderful long-suffering in dealing with trans

gressors, individuals as well as nations, is one of the chief marks distinguishing this age from the time before the Messiah's coming. V. 21. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, enjoying the blessings of the Lord in a quiet and peaceable life; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, this expression being used throughout the Old Testament of undisturbed happiness. V. 22. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat, so that they will be deprived of the fruit of their labor; for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, all of them being blessed with a ripe age, as of a cedar or oak, and Mine elect, those whom His mercy has chosen to be His children, shall long enjoy the work of their hands. All of these expressions are figurative and portray the rich beauties of the blessings enjoyed in the Lord's kingdom. V. 23. They shall not labor in vain, without result or lasting reward, nor bring forth for trouble, their children inheriting nothing but misery; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, begotten of the Lord and blessed by Him, and their offspring with them, partakers of the same benefits, which the children enjoy with their parents. V. 24. And it shall come to pass that before they call, the cry having hardly left their lips, I will answer, being so desirous of extending assistance and deliverance to them, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear, such being the extent of His good pleasure in His children. V. 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, pasturing in the same meadow, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, forgetting his ferocious nature; and dust shall be the serpent's meat, or, “and even the serpent whose food is the dust". They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord. The description, as of conditions before the Fall, while the peace of Paradise was still in force, sets before the eyes of all believers the glorious peace of the Messianic kingdom, in which men, without the ferociousness of their sinful nature, will be at peace with one another and serve and worship the Lord with entire unanimity of mind.

The Passing of the Old and the Rise of the New Church.

THE ABOMINATIONS OF A DEAD WORSHIP AND THE BIRTH OF THE NEW CHURCH. — V. 1. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool, a majestic declaration of His almighty power and rule; where is the house that ye build unto Me, and where is the place of My rest? The Lord desires neither the Temple

nor the worship of such as have forsaken Him; they are an abomination in His sight. V.2. For all those things hath Mine hand made, everything that men might offer to Him was His even by virtue of His creation, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, heaven and earth with all their creatures having been brought into being by the word of His power, wherefore the hypocrites and believers in name only have nothing upon which they

might pride themselves; but to this man will I look, such a one the Lord will regard with favor, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, whose heart is filled with genuine repentance, and trembleth at My Word, who stands in awe of God's holy Word and will and shuns a dead orthodoxy as well as a religion of works. Upon such a person the Lord looks with merciful compassion, him He accepts with a full and free expression of His grace. The loathing which the Lord feels with regard to a mere external observance of the forms of religion is now set forth. V. 3. He that killeth an ox, in an act of sacrifice which is nothing but a dead custom, is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off a dog's neck, as if he insulted the Lord by the sacrifice of a dog; he that offereth an oblation, a drink-offering, as if he offered swine's blood, the sacrifice of which was forbidden in the Law of God; he that burneth incense, with a heart not turned to the Lord in true faith, as if he blessed an idol. The Lord feels nothing but the deepest loathing and horror of the sacrifices and the worship of the apostate Jews. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, different from those prescribed by God's holy will, and their soul delighteth in their abominations, that being their condition of mind. V. 4. I also will choose their delusions, picking out and appointing to them misfortune, and will bring their fears, all the misery that men dread, upon them; because when I called, bidding them come to repentance, holding out to them the riches of His grace, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear, but they did evil before Mine eyes and chose that in which I delighted not. Cp. chap. 65, 6. 7. 12-15. Thus the Lord sets forth and rebukes the abomination of a dead worship. He now turns to the believers, His children, and announces to them the full glory of the Gospel comfort. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His Word, in a wholesome awe, in the reverence engendered by a childlike faith: Your brethren that hated you, the hypocrites and godless people whom the Lord has just exposed, that cast you out for My name's sake, for in opposing the Lord they also became open enemies of His confessors, said, in giving expression to the bitter mockery of their hearts, Let the Lord be glorified, let Him reveal Himself in a miracle of punishment upon them! These scorners would find that the Lord would indeed glorify Himself upon them. But He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed, so Jehovah comforts His people. The sentence may also be constructed to read, in the jeering call of the unbelievers, Let the Lord by all means glorify Himself, that we may see your joy! the Lord's retort being: They shall be brought to shame.

V. 5.

The

revelation of Jehovah's glory in founding and establishing His Church in the Messianic era is now described. V. 6. A voice of noise from the city, of a great uproar, a voice from the Temple, the seat of Jehovah, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to His enemies, on the great day of vengeance, the time of deliverance of His children, which is so often referred to in Isaiah's prophecies. V. 7. Before she, Zion, the bride, the Church of the Lord, travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. V. 8. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? The event to which the Lord has reference is unheard of. Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Is a whole land or nation thus brought into being? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, with the first show of labor, she brought forth her children. V. 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth P so that the birth is not completed, saith the Lord. Shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God. This description fits all the great crises in the history of the Church, the birth of the Christian Church, the reformation of the Church in the sixteenth century. When traditions and customs obscure the true life of the Church and bring about a condition of dead orthodoxy or of false teaching, the Lord comes with His mighty, merciful intervention and brings about a rebirth, which renews His Church to an extent that makes it almost a new creation. What the Lord has once undertaken He carries out to His own glory and that of His Church.

THE HAPPINESS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.-V. 10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, so the prophet calls out to all believers, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her, all those who formerly shared her misery and tribulation, v. 11. that ye, as the spiritual children of Zion, may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations, enjoying her spiritual blessings and treasures to the full; that ye may milk out, drain the riches of the Gospel mercies, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. V. 12. For thus saith the Lord, Himself the covenant God, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, in great quantities, and the glory of the Gentiles, all the power and the gifts which they possess, like a flowing stream, which threatens to overflow its banks; then shall ye suck, drinking in full measure; ye shall be borne upon (her) sides, and be dandled upon (her) knees, the Lord Himself taking His children into His arms and extending to them the fulness of His mercy. V. 13. As one whom his mother comforteth, like a mother consoling her grown-up boy with true maternal sympathy, so will I comfort

you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem, whose glory is now the means of the divine consolation. V. 14. And when ye see this, realizing, to some extent, the riches of God's mercy, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish, be filled with new life and strength, like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward His servants, in love and kindness, and His indignation toward His enemies, who would feel His wrath in an everlasting punishment. V. 15. For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, with a devastating punishment, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire, for fire is mentioned throughout the Bible as an instrument of God's avenging anger. V. 16. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, carrying out the sentence of His justice upon all men; and the slain of the Lord shall be many, because all unbelievers make themselves the objects of His wrath and heap damnation upon themselves. V. 17. They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, that is, the idol-worshipers who anxiously observe all the ceremonies of cleansing under the direction of some priest or master, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, some other forbidden meat, and the mouse, also Levitically unclean, Lev. 11, 29, shall be consumed together, by the judgment of His wrath, saith the Lord. V. 18. For I know their works and their thoughts, or, "so far as their works and their ideas are concerned." It shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory, which would be revealed in the Lord's judgment upon the reprobate Jews, this warning being intended to prepare the way for the spread of the Gospel among the heathen. V. 19. And I will set a sign among them, performing a miracle in their midst, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, these messengers being the few who escaped His great punishment upon the apostates, brands snatched from the burning, to Tarshish, Tartessus in Spain, in the extreme West, Pul, in Northeastern Africa, between Egypt and Ethiopia, and Lud, the Libyans of Africa, that draw the bow, renowned warriors, to Tubal, in Asia Minor,

south of the Caucasus, and Javan, the Ionians of Greece and Asia Minor, to the isles afar off that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; in short, His Gospelmessage was to be carried into all the world; and they, the Lord's ambassadors, shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. V. 20. And they shall bring all your brethren, the so-called dispersion among the heathen, for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations, these being brought to Him as a precious gift, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, low and comfortable wagons, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, dromedaries, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. V. 21. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord, there being no difference in the Church of Christ between Jews and Gentiles, all of them being of equal rank as spiritual priests before the Lord. V. 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, the new creation of which He spoke chap. 65, 17, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain, namely, that of the believers, the spiritual children of Israel, gathered from Jews and Gentiles alike. V. 23. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, with clocklike regularity, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, all the members of the new, wonderful kingdom of the Messiah, saith the Lord. V. 24. And they shall go forth, namely, the members of the Church of the Lord, represented as coming out of the Temple of Jehovah, engaged in His worship, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me, as the people of Jerusalem had a view of the carcasses in the Valley of Hinnom; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Thus the punishment which comes upon the enemies of the Lord will be both a source of satisfaction to the believers and an example of warning. Cp. Matt. 13, 42. To this day and hour the words of the Lord hold true: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16, 16.

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The prophet Jeremiah, a native of Anathoth, a town situated a little over three miles northeast of Jerusalem, within the boundaries of Benjamin, was born shortly before Josiah became king. He was a member of a priestly family, and God called him to be a prophet when he was still a very young man. He witnessed the great reformation in the eighteenth year of Josiah, whose death he lamented. During the early years of Jehoiakim's reign he was in danger of losing his life on account of his faithful preaching. He was threatened even by his townsmen and opposed by his own family. He was obliged to endure many other indignities and adversities, not only under the reign of Jehoiakim, but also under that of Zedekiah, the climax of his sufferings being reached when the armies of the Chaldeans approached the city. After the capture of Jerusalem, Jeremiah was taken in chains as far as Ramah, but released by Nebuchadnezzar's general. He lived with Gedaliah, the governor of the country, for a while, but after the assassination of Gedaliah was carried to Egypt by force. He continued to preach and prophesy in Egypt, predicting the conquest of the country by Nebuchadnezzar and warning the Jews to abstain from idolatry. He seems to have died in Egypt, according to tradition having been stoned to death by his own countrymen.

As the brief outline of Jeremiah's life shows, the period of Jewish history in which he lived was the critical time preceding the nation's doom. Only one of the five kings under whom Jeremiah prophesied was a pious ruler. The people became guilty of gross idolatry and, as they relapsed into paganism, of immoral practises. Covetousness, dishonesty, murder, adultery, stealing, false .swearing, and other sins were prevalent throughout the nation. Year after year Jeremiah came with messages from God, whose mercy and compassion sought to turn His people to repentance, but the moral corruption was too great, and the people refused to obey. They preferred to listen to various false prophets, who predicted peace and prosperity. But though the work of Jeremiah, to all outer appearances, was vain, it resulted, in fact, in a clearing of the situation,

since, as a consequence, the true Israelites were preserved in faith. In spite of all the trying experiences, therefore, which Jeremiah, naturally of a mild, sensitive, and retiring disposition, had to undergo, he remained faithful to his task as a prophet of the one true God. He ever found comfort and strength in the promise which the Lord had given him at the beginning of his labors: "Be not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee. They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee."

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The arrangement of the Book of Jeremiah is topical rather than chronological. It may be divided into two large groups. The first division contains the introduction and the prophecies concerning Judah, together with some historical matter, chaps. 1-45; the second division contains ten prophetical discourses concerning nine foreign nations, together with a final historical account concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the release of Jehoiachin. A more detailed division of the book yields the following outline: prophecies belonging for the most part to the reign of Josiah, chaps. 1-6; prophecies belonging probably chiefly to the reign of Jehoiakim, chaps. 7-21; prophecies probably belonging to the reign of Jehoiachin, chaps. 22 and 23; prophecies and events in the reign of Zedekiah, chaps. 24-39; history and prophecies under Gedaliah's administration and in Egypt, chaps. 40-44; group of prophecies against heathen nations, chaps. 46-51; historical conclusion, chap. 52. As stated above, however, this division is only general.

There are several notable prophecies in the Book of Jeremiah, some of them being veritable gems of epigrammatic utterance. But the most beautiful passages are the Messianic prophecies concerning the Lord, our Righteousness. Cp. chap.23,5.6; 30,9; 33. The prophecy of the New Covenant refers to the days of the New Testament, which began with the coming of Christ. Chap. 31, 31-34.1)

1) Cp. the introduction in Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 67-70; Concordia Bible Class, May, 1919, 68-71; Sampey, Syllabus for Old Testament Study, 222–240.

THE SUPERSCRIPTION. — V. 1. The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, this being one of the four cities within the territory of Benjamin allotted to the Kohathites, Josh. 21, 18; v. 2. to whom

the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. V.3. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son

of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem, that is, of its inhabitants, captive in the fifth month. Note that Jeremiah expressly claims divine authority and inspiration for his prophecies, insisting that it is the Word of the Lord which he recorded. He omits the names of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin from his list, since they reigned only three months each, and his title intends to specify in a general way only. "Since Jeremiah labored from the thirteenth year of Josiah, consequently eighteen years under Josiah, and eleven years each under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, he ministered altogether, including the six months under the kings omitted, forty years in the midst of the theocracy." Jeremiah was a member of a lowly family, and yet the Lord called him to a very important position as chief adviser of kings. God often chooses the weak, base, and despised things to confound the mighty. 1 Cor. 1, 27-29.

THE CALL AND COMMISSION OF THE PROPHET. V. 4. Then, namely, at the time designated in the introduction, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, v. 5. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, before ever his conception had taken place, the Lord had destined him to be His prophet; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, separating and consecrating him, setting him apart for the sacred office, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations, not only to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, but to other nations as well. Jeremiah's choice of his calling was not the result of meditation and reflection, of a false enthusiasm and ecstasy, but of a supernatural revelation, of a selection on the part of God, which was in no way influenced by any ability or disposition on the prophet's part. V. 6. Then said I, with some realization of the difficulty and danger of the divine commission, Ah! Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child, a young man below the age at which the Israelites took an active part in public work. The sensitive nature of Jeremiah shrank back from a position which would expose him to public criticism. The work of the ministry is a good work, 1 Tim. 3, 1, but it is attended by difficulties which the average person appreciates only in rare instances. Well may a timid person shrink back from its ordeal. V. 7. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child, in an effort to make his youth and inexperience an excuse for refusing to follow the Lord's call; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. It was not a matter to be argued, but the Lord, by a categorical declaration of His will, commissioned Jeremiah. No matter to which nations and princes the Lord would bid him go, he was cheerfully to declare God's counsel and will, regardless of any show of hostility. V. 8. Be not afraid of their faces, in an excess of awe which would interfere with

the effectiveness of his message; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. He thus imparted the necessary courage to His servant to enable him to stand before the mighty of the world. Cp. Matt. 10, 16-22. V. 9. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, this, of course, being a symbolical act experienced by Jeremiah in a vision, its meaning being that God Himself would give His servant the right utterance, would inspire him to proclaim His message in its full truth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. The Lord made the individuality of Jeremiah the instrument of His eternal wisdom in mak

ing His will known to men. V. 10. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, the naturally timid and fearful prophet being appointed to their oversight, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, to extirpate, exterminate, and eliminate, and to throw down, to pronounce the divine judgment upon His enemies, to build and to plant, by announcing God's mercy and grace to all who heeded His call. The conditions in Judah were such at that time as to provoke threatenings and rebukes on the part of the Lord rather than promises of grace and mercy. V. 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? Jehovah wanted to give His prophet some signs confirming his call. And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree, a shoot or branch of the tree which was the first to awaken to life after the winter's sleep and was therefore a symbol of wakefulness. V. 12. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen; for I will hasten My word to perform it, literally, "wakeful (or intent) shall I, on My part, be with regard to My words to do them," the allusion to the wakeful tree thus being justified. V. 13. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? a second vision being vouchsafed the prophet. And I said, I see a seething pot, one of the large kettles used to prepare vegetables for many guests; and the face thereof is toward the north, so that its contents threaten to be emptied from that side. V. 14. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth, out of a great and wide opening, upon all the inhabitants of the land. A boiling kettle is an Oriental symbol of a raging war, and since Babylon was regarded by the people of Judah as situated toward the north, it was clear that the Lord prophesied the Babylonian invasion. V. 15. For, lo, I will call all the families, the tribes or clans, of the kingdoms of the North, saith the Lord, all the great chieftains of the Chaldeans uniting in an effort to overthrow Judah; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, the conquering princes establishing their tribunals