CHAPTER XXIII.

JEREMIAH'S SORE TRIALS.

Ar this period the Jews had so long given themselves up to idolatry, that it had become the prevailing habit of the nation. It was worn into their affections and memory, as words are engraven on a tablet of metal with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond. Not only had the fathers revolted from Jehovah, but the children were growing up a generation of idolaters, who would in later years "remember their altars and their groves near the green trees, and upon the highest hills." This must have made the prophet despair of success in any attempt to recover the people from apostasy. How could he expect those would listen to his teachings whose sensibilities had been deadened in childhood by the sottish rites of Baal; or be awed by his threatenings, whose consciences were early hardened by the cruel worship of Moloch? If the fathers, trained in the days of good king Josiah, when idolatry was publicly suppressed, had proved so stubborn and perverse, what opposition and contempt must the prophet anticipate in his future ministry among those who were bound to the service of idols by parental example, and the enduring attachments of dawning life? Before that

generation passes away the prediction against Judah shall be fulfilled: "I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from the heritage that I gave thee; for have kindled a fire in my anger

ye

which shall burn for ever."

In the early part of his reign, Jehoiakim revolted from Nebuchadnezzar, relying on the aid of the Egyptians. The prophet disapproved of such an alliance. Probably in reference to it, he exclaims, "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh.” Such would be the result of confidence in Egypt, while the king was estranged from the God of Israel. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." A beautiful picture of the experience of the kings of Judah while reposing on the guardian care of Jehovah, and of the safety and blessedness of every one who trusteth in the Lord.

Many of the people, in the spirit of scoffers in "the last days," derided the predictions of the

66

prophet because their execution was delayed. Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now." Jeremiah exhibited, on this occasion, a striking example of genuine patriotism. At the hazard of being regarded as threatening dangers which existed only in his own distempered brain, he called God to witness that he did not desire the coming of the "woful day." This would indeed prove the truth of his message; but he had rather bear odium, derision, persecution itself, than have his prophetic character and honesty established on the ruins of his country.

The prophet was now sent to the king and people with a gentler message. Another attempt

seems to have been made to win the nation to the service of Jehovah, by a promise of peace and prosperity. Jeremiah was directed to stand in the most public places of Jerusalem, and proclaim, "Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath-day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath-day; neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers." If the princes and people would give heed to this message, the prophet was authorized to declare that the kingdom should flourish, the

city "remain for ever," and the nation, once more united in the worship of Jehovah, should retain its independence, and be governed by "kings and princes sitting on the throne of David." But if they refused to hallow the Sabbath, the gates of Jerusalem and its palaces should be devoured by unquenchable fire.

It would be difficult to imagine how God could put higher honor on the Sabbath, than by this message of the prophet. The past sins of the nation should be forgotten, should be cast into the depths of the sea, and the kingdom, now on the brink of ruin, should regain its prosperity and power, if the king and people would rest on the day consecrated by God for his own service.

And we may see a reason for the promise. Not only is the observance of the fourth commandment essential to the keeping of all the others, but the very fact of hallowing the Sabbath in obedience to a divine command, is a most striking acknowledgment of the existence and government of God. Men may, to a good degree, respect and observe the Sabbath from other motives than its divine origin. They may think that rest, one day in seven, is expedient for promoting bodily health and vigor, for sustaining good order, for diffusing intelligence and refinement among the people. This is all very well; and if only for its physical, intellectual, and moral influences, every lover of

his race ought to "remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." But without a higher sanction, that is, unless conscience is armed with the authority of a divine command, one day in seven will never be uniformly and devoutly consecrated to the appropriate duties of holy time. If men would enjoy all the blessings the Sabbath confers, they must learn to keep it not only because of its temporal benefits, but because it was established by God, and thus observed, is an acknowledgment of the supremacy of his government.

Had Jehoiakim and his subjects obeyed the voice of the prophet, idol-gods and idol-altars would not long have profaned the streets of the holy city. Oppression, falsehood, licentiousness, would no more have called down the vengeance of heaven-the land would cease to mourn "because of swearing," and to be polluted with innocent blood.

But promises and threatenings were alike unavailing. The prophet cast his seed upon a rock, and the field was barren still.

No nation that sacredly observes the Sabbath will be forgotten of God. Its people will be prosperous, its liberty secure, its government just and beneficent. And no nation that refuses to keep the Sabbath, and thus practically rejects his authority, will long escape the chastisements of his rod.

On one occasion Jeremiah was ordered to go down to the shop of a potter, who was forming a