서론
無題
英語原文
We may conjecture that the prophecy of this chapter was delivered after the first captivity, in the time of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, when many were carried away to Babylon; for it has a double reference:—I. To those that were carried away into the land of the Chaldeans, a country notorious above any other for idolatry and superstition; and they are here cautioned against the infection of the place, not to learn the way of the heathen (Jer 10:1,2), for their astrology and idolatry are both foolish things (Jer 10:3-5), and the worshippers of idols brutish, Jer 10:8,9. So it will appear in the day of their visitation, Jer 10:14,15. They are likewise exhorted to adhere firmly to the God of Israel, for there is none like him, Jer 10:6,7. He is the true God, lives for ever, and has the government of the world (Jer 10:10-13), and his people are happy in him, Jer 10:16. II. To those that yet remained in their own land. They are cautioned against security, and told to expect distress (Jer 10:17,18) and that by a foreign enemy, which God would bring upon them for their sin, Jer 10:20-22. This calamity the prophet laments (Jer 10:19) and prays for the mitigation of it, Jer 10:23-25.
1-16
Solemn Charge to Israel; The Folly of Idolatry (606 BC)
イスラエルへの荘厳な命令、偶像礼拝の愚かさ（紀元前606年）
¹ イスラエルの家よ。あなたがたに語る主のことばを聞け。 ² 主はこう仰せられる。異邦人の道ならわしを学ぶな。天のしるしによっておじ惑れるな。異邦人はそれに恐れおののくからである。 ³ もろもろの民のならわしはむなしい。木を森から切り、斧で職人の手のわざとするからである。 ⁴ 彼らは銀と金でそれを飾り、くぎと槌でそれを固定して、動かないようにする。 ⁵ 彼らはなつめやしのようにまっすぐに立つが、語れない。運ばれなければならない。歩けないからである。彼らを恐れるな。彼らはわざわいを行うことができず、良いことをする力も彼らにはない。 ⁶ 主よ。あなたに並ぶものはない。あなたは大いなる方、あなたの名は大いなる力ある方。 ⁷ もろもろの国々の王よ。だれがあなたを恐れないでしょう。あなたこそ恐れられる方です。もろもろの国々の知恵ある者たちの中、彼らのすべての王国の中に、あなたに並ぶ者はないからです。 ⁸ 彼らはみな共に獣のようで愚かである。木はむなしい教えである。 ⁹ 銀を板に打ち伸ばしたものはタルシシュから、金はウパズから持って来る。職人のわざ、金細工人の手になる。青紫色や紫が彼らの衣。これらはみな巧みな者のわざである。 ¹⁰ しかし主はまことの神、生ける神、永遠の王である。その怒りによって地は震い、国々はその憤りに耐えられない。 ¹¹ あなたがたは彼らにこう言え。天と地を造らなかった神々は、地から、これらの天の下から滅びうせる。 ¹² 神はその力によって地を造り、その知恵によって世界を確立し、その悟りによって天を伸ばされた。 ¹³ 神がその声を発せられると、天には水のざわめきがある。神は地の果てから雲を上らせ、雨のためにいなずまを造り、その倉から風を出される。 ¹⁴ 人はみなその知識において獣のようである。すべて金細工人は刻んだ像によって恥じる。その鋳た像は偽りであり、その中に息がないからである。 ¹⁵ 彼らはむなしく、誤りのわざである。さばきの時に彼らは滅びる。 ¹⁶ ヤコブの受ける分は彼らのようでない。神はすべてのものの造り主であり、イスラエルは神の嗣業のつえである。その名は万軍の主。
預言者イザヤは、バビロンの捕囚を予告したとき、偶像礼拝に対する警告を加え、偶像礼拝者の愚かさを広く暴露した。バビロンでの誘惑がそこにいるユダ人を偶像礼拝に引きずり込む危険があったからだけでなく、バビロンでの苦難が彼らの偶像礼拝をいやすように定められていたからでもある。このように預言者エレミヤはここで、異邦人の偶像礼拝の慣習と習わしに対して民を武装させる。バビロンに行った者たちのためだけでなく、後ろに残った者たちのためでもある。神のことばによって確信し、回復されることによって、むちが防がれるために。そしてそれは「私たちの学ぶために書かれた」のである。ここで観察せよ。
一、神の民に与えられた、異邦人の道と習わしに同調しないようにという荘厳な命令。イスラエルの家に、イスラエルの神からこのことばを聞き受けさせよ。「異邦人の道を学ぶな」。それを認めてはならない。いや、それについて無関心に考えてもならない。ましてそれを模倣したり、それに慣れたりしてはならない。彼らの習わしのどれも（知らぬ間にそうしやすいが）あなたがたの間に紛れ込ませず、あなたがたの宗教に混ぜてはならない。注意せよ。神に教えられる者が「異邦人の道を学び」、偽りの神々の礼拝に彼らが用いたような儀式と式典でまことの神を礼拝することを考えるのはふさわしくない。申命記 12:29-31を見よ。異邦人の道は天の万象、太陽、月、星々を礼拝することであった。彼らはそれらに神の誉れを与え、それらから神の恵みを期待した。それゆえ「天のしるし」がどうであるか、吉兆か凶兆かによって、彼らは自分たちの神々によって是認されているか否認されていると考えた。これが彼らにそれらのしるしを、太陽と月の食、惑星の合と衝、天球のすべての異常な現象を、多大な不安と震えをもって観察させた。凶兆と考えられる事が起これば仕事は止まった。もし左手で雷が鳴れば、彼らは雷に打たれたかのようであった。さて神はご自身の民が「天のしるしにおじ惑れる」ことを望まれない。星々を神々として敬うことなく、それらに基づくいかなる予言をもって自分たちを恐れさせることなく。天の神を恐れ、その摂理への畏れを保つなら、彼らは「天のしるし」におじ惑れる必要はない。神と和む者には「星々はその軌道で」戦わないからである。異邦人はこれらのしるしに恐れる。彼らはよりよく知らないからである。しかし神に教えられる「イスラエルの家」はそうであってはならない。
二、この命令を強制するためのいくつかの良い理由。
- 異邦人の道は非常にばかげており不合理であり、正しい理性の命令によっても非難される（エレミヤ 10:3）。異邦人の定めと法令は虚無そのものである。理性的な探究の試練に耐えられない。これはここで、イザヤがそうしたように、繰り返し主張される。カルデヤ人は自分たちの知恵を誇り、すべての隣人に勝っていると考えた。しかし預言者はここで、彼らと、偶像を礼拝し、そこから助けと救いを期待したすべての他の者たちが、獣のようで愚かであり、常識を持たないことを示す。 (1) 礼拝される偶像が何であるかを考えよ。それは元来「森から切り出された木」であった。「職人の手」によって整えられ、四角に切り、のこぎりで引き、形に仕上げられた。イザヤ 44:12 以下を見よ。しかし結局のところ、それは一本の木の幹にすぎず、何よりもまず門柱にするのにふさわしいものであった。しかし木を隠すために、「彼らは銀と金でそれを飾る」。彼らはそれに金メッキや漆を塗るか、金銀の飾りひもや、織物で飾る。「彼らはくぎと槌でそれを固定する」。彼ら自身がそれに割り当てた場所に。落ちたり、倒されたり、盗まれたりしないように（エレミヤ 10:4）。像は十分にまっすぐに作られ、職人がその役を果たしたことを否定できない。なぜなら「なつめやしのようにまっすぐに立つ」から（エレミヤ 10:5）。荘厳に見え、まるであなたに話しかけようとしているかのように立つが、「語れない」。哀れな口のきけない被造物である。一歩でもあなたの救いに向かうことができない。もし場所を変える必要があれば、運ばれなければならない。「歩けない」からである。「彼らを恐れるな」という訓戒がここにぴったり入ってくる。「天のしるし」以上に。彼らの不興を恐れるな。「彼らはわざわいを行えない」。彼らの恵みを失うことを恐れるな。「良いことをする力も彼らにはない」。偶像の材料を改めることで事を改めようと思うなら、あなたがたは自分自身を欺いている。金や銀の偶像は木の神々と同じく礼拝にふさわしくない。「木はむなしい教えである」（エレミヤ 10:8）。それは偽りを教える。神について偽りを教える。それは「虚無の教え、木である」。金や銀の偶像は土台に木を持っていたようである。それから「銀を板に打ち伸ばしたものはタルシシュから」、海の向こうから、「金はウパズから」あるいは「パズ」から持って来られる。これは時として「純金」と訳される（詩篇 21:3）。それについて多くの芸術と苦労が用いられる。木の神々について雇われるような普通の職人ではない（エレミヤ 10:3）。これらは巧みな者たちである。「職人のわざ」である。「金細工人の手」を通ったのち、彫刻家がその役を果たさなければならない。あれは所々銀や金で飾られたが、これらは全面的に銀や金である。そしてこれらの神々が王として敬われるように、「青紫色や紫が彼らの衣」、王の衣の色（エレミヤ 10:9）。それは無知な礼拝者を惑わすが、事を良くはしない。なぜなら、偶像が作られ、彼らが最善を尽くしたとき、それは何であるか。彼は告げる（エレミヤ 10:14）。「彼らは偽りである」。彼らはそう見せかけるものではない。世界に対する大きな欺きである。彼らは息といのちと感覚を与える神々として礼拝されるが、彼ら自身はいのちのない感覚のないものであり、「その中に息がない」。「その中に霊がない」（その言葉はそうである）。彼らは「神の霊」や「神性」によって生かされたり、住まわれたりすると想定されているようには生かされたり、住まわれたりしていない。彼らは神であるどころか、下に向かって行く獣の霊さえ持たない。「彼らはむなしく、誤りのわざである」（エレミヤ 10:15）。それらの用を問うて、あなたは彼らが虚無であることを見出す。彼らは何の役にも立たない。彼らから助けは期待できず、いかなる信頼も置けない。彼らは「欺きのわざ、幻影のわざ」、あるいは「純然たるあざけり」である。ある人は次の節をそう読む。彼らは彼らに信頼を置く者を「惑わす」。彼らを愚かにする。いや、むしろ彼らは自分自身を愚かにする。彼らの用を問うて、あなたは彼らが「誤りのわざ」であることを見出す。理性を自称した人々がこれまで犯した中で最も粗野な誤りに基づいている。彼らは惑わされた空想の被造物である。そして彼らを生み出した誤りを彼らは礼拝者の間に広める。 (2) これらの偶像を礼拝する偶像礼拝者たちがどのような者であるかを推論せよ（エレミヤ 10:8）。「彼らはみな共に獣のようで愚かである」。それらを造る者はそれらに似る。感覚がなく愚かで、その中に霊がない。理性の用がない。さもなければ彼らに屈することは決してなかったであろう（エレミヤ 10:14）。「偶像を造り、礼拝するすべての人はその知識において獣のようになる」。すなわち、知識の欠如のゆえに獣のようになる。あるいは、彼らが十分に知っているべきはずのまさにその事において獣のようになる。ユダ 1:10 と比較せよ。「彼らが本能的に知っている事、それを獣のように彼らは汚す」。彼らは創造のわざにおいて創造主の永遠の力と神性を見ずにはいられないのに、「彼らの思いは虚しくなり」、「神を知識のうちに保つことを喜ばなかった」（ローマ 1:21,28）。いや、彼らはこうして神々を増やすことを知恵の一部と考えたが、それは実際には彼らが犯しうる最大の愚かさであった。「この世界は知恵によって神を知らなかった」（コリント第一 1:21、ローマ 1:22）。「すべての金細工人」はみずから「刻んだ像によって恥じる」。誤りによってそれを作ったのち、それによってますます誤りを確信する。彼は当惑し、魔法にかかり、わなから抜け出せない。あるいはそれは彼がいつか恥じるものである。
- イスラエルの神は唯一のまことの生ける神であり、神を自分たちの神とする者はほかのどんな神にも頼る必要がない。いや、ほかの神を神に対抗させて立てることは神に加えうる最大の侮辱と損害である。イスラエルの家にイスラエルの神に堅く留まらせ、彼のみに仕え礼拝させよ。
英語原文
Solemn Charge to Israel; The Folly of Idolatry (606 BC)
¹ Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
² Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
³ For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
⁴ They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
⁵ They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
⁶ Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
⁷ Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
⁸ But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
⁹ Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
¹¹ Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
¹² He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
¹³ When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
¹⁴ Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
¹⁶ The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
The prophet Isaiah, when he prophesied of the captivity in Babylon, added warnings against idolatry and largely exposed the sottishness of idolaters, not only because the temptations in Babylon would be in danger of drawing the Jews there to idolatry, but because the afflictions in Babylon were designed to cure them of their idolatry. Thus the prophet Jeremiah here arms people against the idolatrous usages and customs of the heathen, not only for the use of those that had gone to Babylon, but of those also that staid behind, that being convinced and reclaimed, by the word of God, the rod might be prevented; and it is written for our learning. Observe here,
I. A solemn charge given to the people of God not to conform themselves to the ways and customs of the heathen. Let the house of Israel hear and receive this word from the God of Israel: "Learn not the way of the heathen, do not approve of it, no, nor think indifferently concerning it, much less imitate it or accustom yourselves to it. Let not any of their customs steal in among you (as they are apt to do insensibly) nor mingle themselves with your religion." Note, It ill becomes those that are taught of God to learn the way of the heathen, and to think of worshipping the true God with such rites and ceremonies as they used in the worship of their false gods. See De 12:29-31. It was the way of the heathen to worship the host of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars; to them they gave divine honours, and from them they expected divine favours, and therefore, according as the signs of heaven were, whether they were auspicious or ominous, they thought themselves countenanced or discountenanced by their deities, which made them observe those signs, the eclipses of the sun and moon, the conjunctions and oppositions of the planets, and all the unusual phenomena of the celestial globe, with a great deal of anxiety and trembling. Business was stopped if any thing occurred that was thought to bode ill; if it did but thunder on their left hand, they were almost as if they had been thunderstruck. Now God would not have his people to be dismayed at the signs of heaven, to reverence the stars as deities, nor to frighten themselves with any prognostications grounded upon them. Let them fear the God of heaven, and keep up a reverence of his providence, and then they need not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the stars in their courses fight not against any that are at peace with God. The heathen are dismayed at these signs, for they know no better; but let not the house of Israel, that are taught of God, be so.
II. Divers good reasons given to enforce this charge.
1. The way of the heathen is very ridiculous and absurd, and is condemned even by the dictates of right reason, Jer 10:3. The statutes and ordinances of the heathen are vanity itself; they cannot stand the test of a rational disquisition. This is again and again insisted upon here, as it was by Isaiah. The Chaldeans valued themselves upon their wisdom, in which they thought that they excelled all their neighbours; but the prophet here shows that they, and all others that worshipped idols and expected help and relief from them, were brutish and sottish, and had not common sense. (1.) Consider what the idol is that is worshipped. It was a tree cut out of the forest originally. It was fitted up by the hands of the workman, squared, and sawed, and worked into shape; see Isa 44:12, etc. But, after all, it was but the stock of a tree, fitter to make a gate-post of than any thing else. But, to hide the wood, they deck it with silver and gold, they gild or lacquer it, or they deck it with gold and silver lace, or cloth of tissue. They fasten it to its place, which they themselves have assigned it, with nails and hammers, that it fall not, nor be thrown down, nor stolen away, Jer 10:4. The image is made straight enough, and it cannot be denied but that the workman did his part, for it is upright as the palm-tree (Jer 10:5); it looks stately, and stands up as if it were going to speak to you, but it cannot speak; it is a poor dumb creature; nor can it take one step towards your relief. If there be any occasion for it to shift its place, it must be carried in procession, for it cannot go. Very fitly does the admonition come in here, "Be not afraid of them, any more than of the signs of heaven; be not afraid of incurring their displeasure, for they can do no evil; be not afraid of forfeiting their favour, for neither is it in them to do good. If you think to mend the matter by mending the materials of which the idol is made, you deceive yourselves. Idols of gold and silver are an unworthy to be worshipped as wooden gods. The stock is a doctrine of vanities, Jer 10:8. It teaches lies, teaches lies concerning God. It is an instruction of vanities; it is wood." It is probable that the idols of gold and silver had wood underneath for the substratum, and then silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, imported from beyond sea, and gold from Uphaz, or Phaz, which is sometimes rendered the fine or pure gold, Ps 21:3. A great deal of art is used, and pains taken, about it. They are not such ordinary mechanics that are employed about these as about the wooden gods, Jer 10:3. These are cunning men; it is the work of the workman; the graver must do his part when it has passed through the hands of the founder. Those were but decked here and there with silver and gold; these are silver and gold all over. And, that these gods might be reverenced as kings, blue and purple are their clothing, the colour of royal robes (Jer 10:9), which amuses ignorant worshippers, but makes the matter no better. For what is the idol when it is made and when they have made the best they can of it? He tells us (Jer 10:14): They are falsehood; they are not what they pretend to be, but a great cheat put upon the world. They are worshipped as the gods that give us breath and life and sense, whereas they are lifeless senseless things themselves, and there is no breath in them; there is no spirit in them (so the word is); they are not animated, or inhabited, as they are supposed to be, by any divine spirit or numen—divinity. They are so far from being gods that they have not so much as the spirit of a beast that goes downward. They are vanity, and the work of errors, Jer 10:15. Enquire into the use of them and you will find they are vanity; they are good for nothing; no help is to be expected from them nor any confidence put in them. They are a deceitful work, works of illusions, or mere mockeries; so some read the following clause. They delude those that put their trust in them, make fools of them, or, rather, they make fools of themselves. Enquire into the use of them and you will find they are the work of errors, grounded upon the grossest mistakes that ever men who pretended to reason were guilty of. They are the creatures of a deluded fancy; and the errors by which they were produced they propagate among their worshippers. (2.) Infer hence what the idolaters are that worship these idols. (Jer 10:8): They are altogether brutish and foolish. Those that make them are like unto them, senseless and stupid, and there is no spirit in them—no use of reason, else they would never stoop to them, Jer 10:14. Every man that makes or worships idols has become brutish in his knowledge, that is, brutish for want of knowledge, or brutish in that very thing which one would think they should be fully acquainted with; compare Jude 1:10, What they know naturally, what they cannot but know by the light of nature, in those things as brute beasts they corrupt themselves. Though in the works of creation they cannot but see the eternal power and godhead of the Creator, yet they have become vain in their imaginations, not liking to retain God in their knowledge. See Ro 1:21,28. Nay, whereas they thought it a piece of wisdom thus to multiply gods, it really was the greatest folly they could be guilty of. The world by wisdom knew not God, 1Co 1:21, Ro 1:22. Every founder is himself confounded by the graven image; when he has made it by a mistake he is more and more confirmed in his mistake by it; he is bewildered, bewitched, and cannot disentangle himself from the snare; or it is what he will one time or other be ashamed of.
2. The God of Israel is the one only living and true God, and those that have him for their God need not make their application to any other; nay, to set up any other in competition with him is the greatest affront and injury that can be done him. Let the house of Israel cleave to the God of Israel and serve and worship him only, for,
(1.) He is a non-such. Whatever men may set in competition with him, there is none to be compared with him. The prophet turns from speaking with the utmost disdain of the idols of the heathen (as well he might) to speak with the most profound and awful reverence of the God of Israel (Jer 10:6,7): "Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord! none of all the heroes which the heathen have deified and make such ado about," the dead men of whom they made dead images, and whom they worshipped. "Some were deified and adored for their wisdom; but, among all the wise men of the nations, the greatest philosophers or statesmen, as Apollo or Hermes, there is none like thee. Others were deified and adored for their dominion; but, in all their royalty" (so it may be read), "among all their kings, as Saturn and Jupiter, there is none like unto thee." What is the glory of a man that invented a useful art or founded a flourishing kingdom (and these were grounds sufficient among the heathen to entitle a man to an apotheosis) compared with the glory of him that is the Creator of the world and that forms the spirit of man within him? What is the glory of the greatest prince or potentate, compared with the glory of him whose kingdom rules over all? He acknowledges (Jer 10:6), O Lord! thou art great, infinite and immense, and thy name is great in might; thou hast all power, and art known to have it. Men's name is often beyond their might; they are thought to be greater than they are; but God's name is great, and no greater than he really is. And therefore who would not fear thee, O King of nations? Who would not choose to worship such a God as this, that can do every thing, rather than such dead idols as the heathen worship, that can do nothing? Who would not be afraid of offending or forsaking a God whose name is so great in might? Which of all the nations, if they understood their interests aright, would not fear him who is the King of nations? Note, There is an admirable decency and congruity in the worshipping of God only. It is fit that he who is God alone should alone be served, that he who is Lord of all should be served by all, that he who is great should be greatly feared and greatly praised.
(2.) His verity is as evident as the idol's vanity, Jer 10:10. They are the work of men's hands, and therefore nothing is more plain than that it is a jest to worship them, if that may be called a jest which is so great an indignity to him that made us: But the Lord is the true God, the God of truth; he is God in truth. God Jehovah is truth; he is not a counterfeit and pretender, as they are, but is really what he has revealed himself to be; he is one we may depend upon, in whom and by whom we cannot be deceived. [1.] Look upon him as he is in himself, and he is the living God. He is life itself, has life in himself, and is the fountain of life to all the creatures. The gods of the heathen are dead things, worthless and useless, but ours is a living God, and hath immortality. [2.] Look upon him with relation to his creatures, he is a King, and absolute monarch, over them all, is their owner and ruler, has an incontestable right both to command them and dispose of them. As a king, he protects the creatures, provides for their welfare, and preserves peace among them. He is an everlasting king. The counsels of his kingdom were from everlasting and the continuance of it will be to everlasting. He is a King of eternity. The idols whom they call their kings are but of yesterday, and will soon be abolished; and the kings of the earth, that set them up to be worshipped, will themselves be in the dust shortly; but the Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, O Zion! unto all generations.
(3.) None knows the power of his anger. Let us stand in awe, and not dare to provoke him by giving that glory to another which is due to him alone; for at his wrath the earth shall tremble, even the strongest and stoutest of the kings of the earth; nay, the earth, firmly as it is fixed, when he pleases is made to quake and the rocks to tremble, Ps 104:32, Hab 3:6,10. Though the nations should join together to contend with him, and unite their force, yet they would be found utterly unable not only to resist, but even to abide his indignation. Not only can they not make head against it, for it would overcome them, but they cannot bear up under it, for it would overload them, Ps 76:7,8, Na 1:6.
(4.) He is the God of nature, the fountain of all being; and all the powers of nature are at his command and disposal, Jer 10:12,13. The God we worship is he that made the heavens and the earth, and has a sovereign dominion over both; so that his invisible things are manifested and proved in the things that are seen. [1.] If we look back, we find that the whole world owed its origin to him as its first cause. It was a common saying even among the Greeks—He that sets up to be another god ought first to make another world. While the heathen worship gods that they made, we worship the God that made us and all things. First, The earth is a body of vast bulk, has valuable treasures in its bowels and more valuable fruit on its surface. It and them he has made by his power; and it is by no less than an infinite power that it hangs upon nothing, as it does (Job 26:7)— ponderibus librata suis—poised by its own weight. Secondly, The world, the habitable part of the earth, is admirably fitted for the use and service of man, and he hath established it so by his wisdom, so that it continues serviceable in constant changes and yet a continual stability from one generation to another. Therefore both the earth and the world are his, Ps 24:1. Thirdly, The heavens are wonderfully stretched out to an incredible extent, and it is by his discretion that they are so, and that the motions of the heavenly bodies are directed for the benefit of this lower world. These declare his glory (Ps 19:1), and oblige us to declare it, and not give that glory to the heavens which is due to him that made them. [2.] If we look up, we see his providence to be a continued creation (Jer 10:13): When he uttereth his voice (gives the word of command) there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, which are poured out on the earth, whether for judgment or mercy, as he intends them. When he utters his voice in the thunder, immediately there follow thunder-showers, in which there are a multitude of waters; and those come with a noise, as the margin reads it; and we read of the noise of abundance of rain, 1Ki 18:41. Nay, there are wonders done daily in the kingdom of nature without noise: He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, from all parts of the earth, even the most remote, and chiefly those that lie next the sea. All the earth pays the tribute of vapours, because all the earth receives the blessing of rain. And thus the moisture in the universe, like the money in a kingdom and the blood in the body, is continually circulating for the good of the whole. Those vapours produce wonders, for of them are formed lightnings for the rain, and the winds which God from time to time brings forth out of his treasures, as there is occasion for them, directing them all in such measure and for such use as he thinks fit, as payments are made out of the treasury. All the meteors are so ready to serve God's purposes that he seems to have treasures of them, that cannot be exhausted and may at any time be drawn from, Ps 135:7. God glories in the treasures he has of these, Job 38:22,23. This God can do; but which of the idols of the heathen can do the like? Note, There is no sort of weather but what furnishes us with a proof and instance of the wisdom and power of the great Creator.
(5.) This God is Israel's God in covenant, and the felicity of every Israelite indeed. Therefore let the house of Israel cleave to him, and not forsake him to embrace idols; for, if they do, they certainly change for the worse, for (Jer 10:16) the portion of Jacob is not like them; their rock is not as our rock (De 32:31), nor ours like their mole-hills. Note, [1.] Those that have the Lord for their God have a full and complete happiness in him. The God of Jacob is the portion of Jacob; he is his all, and in him he has enough and needs no more in this world nor the other. In him we have a worthy portion, Ps 16:5. [2.] If we have entire satisfaction and complacency in God as our portion, he will have a gracious delight in us as his people, whom he owns as the rod of his inheritance, his possession and treasure, with whom he dwells and by whom he is served and honoured. [3.] It is the unspeakable comfort of all the Lord's people that he who is their God is the former of all things, and therefore is able to do all that for them, and give all that to them, which they stand in need of. Their help stands in his name who made heaven and earth. And he is the Lord of hosts, of all the hosts in heaven and earth, has them all at his command, and will command them into the service of his people when there is occasion. This is the name by which they know him, which they first give him the glory of and then take to themselves the comfort of. [4.] Herein God's people are happy above all other people, happy indeed, bona si sua norint—did they but know their blessedness. The gods which the heathen pride, and please, and so portion themselves in, are vanity and a lie; but the portion of Jacob is not like them.
3. The prophet, having thus compared the gods of the heathen with the God of Israel (between whom there is no comparison), reads the doom, the certain doom, of all those pretenders, and directs the Jews, in God's name, to read it to the worshippers of idols, though they were their lords and masters (Jer 10:11): Thus shall you say unto them (and the God you serve will bear you out in saying it), The gods which have not made the heavens and the earth (and therefore are no gods, but usurpers of the honour due to him only who did make heaven and earth) shall perish, perish of course, because they are vanity—perish by his righteous sentence, because they are rivals with him. As gods they shall perish from off the earth (even all those things on earth beneath which they make gods of) and from under these heavens, even all those things in the firmament of heaven, under the highest heavens, which are deified, according to the distribution in the second commandment. These words in the original are not in the Hebrew, like all the rest, but in the Chaldee dialect, that the Jews in captivity might have this ready to say to the Chaldeans in their own language when they tempted them to idolatry: "Do you press us to worship your gods? We will never do that; for," (1.) "They are counterfeit deities; they are no gods, for they have not made the heavens and the earth, and therefore are not entitled to our homage, nor are we indebted to them either for the products of the earth or the influences of heaven, as we are to the God of Israel." The primitive Christians would say, when they were urged to worship such a god, Let him make a world and he shall be my god. While we have him to worship who made heaven and earth, it is very absurd to worship any other. (2.) "They are condemned deities. They shall perish; the time shall come when they shall be no more respected as they are now, but shall be buried in oblivion, and they and their worshippers shall sink together. The earth shall no longer bear them; the heavens shall no longer cover them; but both shall abandon them." It is repeated (Jer 10:15), In the time of their visitation they shall perish. When God comes to reckon with idolaters he will make them weary of their idols, and glad to be rid of them. They shall cast them to the moles and to the bats, Isa 2:20. Whatever runs against God and religion will be run down at last.
17-25
Lamentation of Judah; Sovereignty of Divine Providence; Prophetic Imprecations (606 BC)
ユダの嘆き。神の摂理の主権。預言的なのろい（紀元前606年）
¹⁷ 城塞の住民よ、地からあなたの荷物を集めよ。 ¹⁸ 主はこう言われるからだ。見よ、わたしはこの一度にこの地の住民を投げつけ、彼らを苦しめる。彼らがそれを見出すように。 ¹⁹ 私の傷のために、わあ、私。私の傷は重い。しかし私は言った。まことにこれは悲しみであり、私はそれを耐え忍ばなければならない。 ²⁰ 私の天幕は荒らされ、私のすべての綱は断たれた。私の子どもたちは私から出て行き、いない。私の天幕を張り広げ、私の垂れ幕を立てる者がもはやいない。 ²¹ 牧者たちが獣のようになったからだ。彼らは主を求めなかった。それゆえ彼らは栄えず、その群れはみな散らされる。 ²² 見よ、噂の音が来た。北の国から大騒ぎが。ユダの町々を荒廃させ、竜の隠れ家とするために。 ²³ 主よ。人の道は自分自身にはないことを私は知っています。歩く人が自分の歩みを定めることではありません。 ²⁴ 主よ、私を懲らしてください。しかし公正をもって。怒りではなく、私を無に帰さないために。 ²⁵ あなたを知らない異邦人の上に、あなたの御名を呼び求めない家族の上に、あなたの激怒を注ぎ出してください。彼らはヤコブを食い尽くし、彼をむさぼり食い、彼を消し尽くし、彼の住処を荒廃させたからです。
これらの節において、
一、預言者は神の御名において、ユダとエルサレムの差し迫った滅びを脅す（エレ 10:17-18）。一部が捕囚に連れて行かれた後、自分たちの国に残ったユダヤ人たちは非常に安心していた。彼らは自分たちを城塞の住民と思っていた。彼らの国は彼らの堅固な城であり、彼ら自身の思い込みでは陥落できないものであった。しかし彼らはここでそれを去ることを考えるように告げられる。彼らはその兄弟たちのあとに従うことを備え、それの期待においてその持ち物を包まなければならない。「地からあなたの荷物を集めよ」。あなたの事柄を縮め、できるだけ小さなまとまりにせよ。「立ち上がり、去れ。これはあなたの憩いの場所ではない」（ミカ 2:10）。あなたの持っているものを散らしたままにするな。カルデヤ人が再びあなたがたの上に来て、神があなたがたに対して下された判決の執行者となるからである（エレ 10:18）。「見よ、わたしはこの一度にこの地の住民を投げつけよう」。彼らはこれまで少しずつ、少数ずつ落ちていた。しかしもう一度の捕囚が徹底的な一掃をもたらすであろう。そして彼らは投石器から石が投げつけられるように投げ出される。そのように容易く、そのように徹底的に彼らは追い出されるであろう。彼らの何も残らない。彼らは暴力的に投げ出され、遠く離れた場所に、短い時間のうちに追いやられる。この比喩が完全な滅亡を示すために用いられているのを見よ（サム上 25:29）。もう一度神は彼らの地を揺すり、悪者をそこから揺すり落とされる（ヘブ 12:26）。神は付け加えられる。「わたしは彼らを苦しめる。彼らがそれを見出すように」。神は彼らをここから投げ出すだけでなく（それは神ができ、彼らは他所で安らかであるかもしれないが）、彼らがどこへ行っても、悩みが彼らに従うであろう。彼らは絶えず当惑し、窮し、自分たちの中で途方に暮れるであろう。そして神が苦しめられる者たちを、誰もしくは何が安らかにできるだろうか。神が彼らにそれを見出させる、すなわち彼らが信じようとしなかったものを感じさせるために彼らを苦しめられる者たちを。彼らは神の怒りの重さとそれに立ち向かい、その下で持ちこたえる彼らの完全な無力についてしばしば告げられた。彼らの罪が彼らの滅びとなることを告げられた。しかしそれに注意を払わず、信じなかった。しかしここで彼らはそれを見出す。そしてそれゆえ神はご自身のさばきをもって彼らを追い、彼らがそれを見出すように、そしてそれを認めることを強いられる。なお、遅かれ早かれ罪人たちは事がまさに神のことばが彼らに示した通りであり、それ以上でも以下でもなく、脅しがお化けではなかったことを見出すであろう。
二、彼は民が悲しげにその災難を嘆いているのを引き出す（エレ 10:19）。「私の傷のために、わあ、私」。ある人々はこれを預言者自身の嘆きとみなす。彼自身のためではなく、彼の国の災難と荒廃のために。彼は自分自身のために嘆くように説得されなかった者たちのために嘔いた。そして嘆きに加わるほどの感覚を持った者が誰もいなかったので、彼は隠れて泣き、「わあ、私」と叫ぶ。嘆きの時には嘆く霊を持つことがふさわしい。しかしこれは民の—一つの体として考えられ、それゆえにひとりの人物として語る—ことばとして取ることができる。預言者は彼らが言うべきことばを彼らの口に置く。彼らがそれを言うかどうかにかかわらず、彼らはそれを言う理由を持つはずであった。彼らの中の何人かはこのように自分自身を嘆き悲しみ、彼らすべてがついにはそうすることを強いられるであろう。1. 彼らは苦しみが非常に大きく、それに耐えることが非常に困難であることを嘆く。彼らが悩みに慣れておらず、今それを予期していなかったので、いっそう困難であった。「私の傷のために、わあ、私」—私が恐れるもののためではなく、私が感じるもののために。というのも彼らはある人々のように、傷つけられるよりもひどく怖がる者たちではないからである。またそれはわずかな傷ではなく、傷—重い、非常に痛く、非常に脅かす傷である。2. 忍耐以外に救いがないこと。彼らは自分自身を助けることができず、じっと座り、それに耐えなければならない。「しかし私は言った」—私が自分の傷について訴えようとした時に—「訴えて何になろうか」.「これは悲しみであり、私はできる限りそれを耐え忍ばなければならない」。これは恵みによる従順というよりも、むっつりした従順の、原理による忍耐ではなく力ずくの忍耐の、ことばである。私が苦難にある時に私は言うべきである。「これは悪であり、私はそれを耐え忍ぼう。神が私にそうすることを御旨であり、神の知恵がこれを私に定め、神の恵みがそれを私のために善と働くようにされるからである」と。これは神の御手から悪を受け取ることである（ヨブ 2:10）。しかし「これは悪であり、私はどうすることもできないからそれを耐え忍ばなければならない」と言うのは、野獣的な忍耐にすぎず、私たちが常に—苦難の下でさえ—持つべき神についての良い考えの欠如を示す。「神はでき、また望むことをされる」と言うだけでなく、「御思いのままにさせよ」と言うこと。3. 国が完全に滅び、荒らされたこと（エレ 10:20）。「私の天幕は荒らされた」。エルサレムは堅固な町であったのに、今やそれが取り壊され、それを一緒に保持すべきすべての綱が断たれた時に、天幕やテントのように弱く、動かしやすいことが証明される。あるいはここでの天幕によって宮殿、聖所が意味されるかもしれない。それは初めには天幕にすぎず、今やそう呼ばれる。当時それが宮殿と呼ばれたことが時折あったように。彼らの教会は滅び、そのすべての支えは失敗する。それは教会と国家、町と国の一般的な滅びであり、これらの荒廃を修理する者はいなかった。「私の子どもたちは私から出て行き」。ある者は逃げ、他の者は殺され、まだ他の者は捕囚に連れて行かれ、私についてはいない。私は追放者となり、避難所の不足で滅びるようである。私の天幕を張り広げる者がもはやおらず—私のためにそれをするものであった子どもたちの—私の垂れ幕を立てる者がおらず、私に何の奉仕もする者がいない。エルサレムはそのすべての子らのうち、彼女を導く者がない（イザ 51:18）。4. 支配者たちが彼らの訴えの是正とその滅びた状態の再確立のために、何の注意も、適切な措置も取らなかったこと（エレ 10:21）。「牧者たちが獣のようになった」。天幕—羊飼いたちの天幕—が荒らされた時（エレ 10:20）、それは羊飼いたちがそれらの世話をすることに関係していた。しかしそれらは愚かな羊飼いたちであった。彼らの王たちとつかさたちは公の幸福を全く顧みず、地の荒廃について何の感覚も持っていないようであり、完全に呆然とし、うかつであった。祭司たち—神の天幕の牧者たち—は宗教の滅びに大いに寄与したが、その修理には何もしなかった。彼らは実に獣のようである。「彼らは主を求めなかった」から。彼らは主と平和を結ばず、主に祈らなかった。彼らは事柄の管理において主とその摂理に目を向けなかった。彼らはさばきを認めず、救いが神の御手から来ることを期待しなかった。なお、主を求めない者たち—祈りなしに生き、世界で神なしに生きる者たち—は獣のような人々である。すべての人は聖徒か獣のいずれかである。しかし民の牧者たちが—彼らは知識と理解をもって彼らを養うべきであるのに—自らこのように獣のようである時に、それは実に悲しい。そしてそれは何をもたらすか。それゆえ彼らは栄えない。公の安全のための彼らの試みは何一つ成功しない。なお、信仰と祈りによってすべての道において神を共に連れて行かない者たちは、栄えることを期待できない。そして牧者たちが獣のようである時に、そのすべての群れが散らされる以外に何が期待できようか。というのも、もし盲人が盲人を導くなら、両方とも 穴に落ちるからである。民の滅びはしばしばその牧者たちの獣のような性質による。5. 敵の接近の噂が非常に恐ろしかったこと（エレ 10:22）。「噂の音が来た」。最初はささやかれ、確認を欠くとして広められた噂の。それは今やあまりにも真実であることが判明する。「北の国から大騒ぎが起こる」。それはすべてのユダの町々を荒廃させ、竜の隠れ家とすることを脅かす。というのもそれらはすべてカルデヤの軍勢の貪欲と怒りに犠牲とされることを期待しなければならないからである。そして罪によって自らを盗人の隠れ家とした場所が、竜の隠れ家とされる以外に何を期待できようか。
三、彼は神に向きを変え、神に向かって語る。人々に語ることがほとんど無益であることを見て。貧しい奉仕者たちにとっての慰めは、もし人々が彼らに聞かないなら、神が聞かれることである。そして神には常に近づく自由がある。預言者のように、説教を祈りで閉じるなら、彼らはむだに労したと言う理由がない。
-
預言者はここで神の摂理の主権と支配を認める。それによって—彼ら自身の意志と知恵によってではなく—国々と特定の人々の事柄が導かれ、決定されることを（エレ 10:23）。これは私たちの信仰の箇条であり、私たちが苦難について訴え、あるいはあわれみを求める時に、恵みの御座で告白するのに非常に適している。「主よ。私は知り、信じます。人の道は自分自身にはないことを」。ネブカデネザルは彼自身の思いによってではなく、神の摂理の導きによって私たちの地に来たのである。私たちは自分自身では、自分自身の救いのために何もすることができない。神が私たちと共に働き、私たちのために救いを命じられない限り。というのも歩く人が自分の歩みを定めることではないからである。たとえ彼が歩くにおいて完全に自由であり、自分の道を選ぶように見えても。自分たちの財産や所有の長い享受を自分たちに約束した者たちは、カルデヤ人によって投げ出された時に、悲しい経験によって、人の道は自分自身にはないことを知らされた。人が深く設け、よく形成されたと思っている計画は、一瞬にして打ち砕かれる。私たちは皆これを自分自身に適用し、信仰を混ぜるべきである。私たちは自分自身の処分にはなく、神の導きの下にあることを。事柄はしばしば私たちの意図や期待とまったく反対になるように 覆される。私たちは自分自身の道の主人ではなく、すべてが私たちの心にかなうと考えることもできない。それゆえ私たちは自分自身を神に委ね、神の御旨に服さなければならない。ある人々は預言者ここでこれを、慰めの用途にする意図をもって言及していると考える。カルデヤの軍勢の道が彼ら自身のうちにないので、彼らは神が許す以上のことはできない。神はこれらの誇り高い波に境界を設け、ここまで来て、それ以上は来るなと言うことができると。そして最も恐ろしい敵でさえ上から与えられた以上の力は私たちに対して持たないという静める考慮である。
-
彼は神の怒りが神のイスラエルの上に落ちないようにそれを避ける（エレ 10:24）。彼は自分自身のためだけでなく、彼の民に代わって語る。「主よ、私を懲らしてください。しかし公正をもって」（節度をもって、穏やかに、知恵において、私たちの心に結びつけられている愚かさを追い出すのに必要以上に）。「怒りではなく」（懲らしみがどれほど厳しくても、それをあなたの愛から来させ、私たちの善のために意図し、善のために働かせてください）。「私たちを無に帰さないために」、しかし私たちをあなたご自身に連れ帰るために。私たちの罪の当然の分に従ってではなく、あなたの恵みの計画に従ってください。なお、(1) 私たちが自分たちが懲らしめを必要とし、それに値することを自覚し、神が愛するすべての者を懲らされることを知っている間、私たちが決して懲らされないように信仰において祈ることはできない。(2) 苦難において私たちが恐れるべき大いなるものは神の怒りである。「主よ、私を懲らさないでください」と言わず、「主よ、怒りで私を懲らさないでください」と言え。というのもそれは苦難と悲惨の中ににがよもぎと毒を注ぎ込み、私たちを無に帰させるからである。私たちはそのむちの痛みに耐えることができるが、その怒りの重さに耐えることはできない。
-
彼はイスラエルの圧制者と迫害者に対して神の怒りをのろう（エレ 10:25）。「あなたを知らない異邦人の上に、あなたの激怒を注ぎ出してください」。この祈りは悪意や復讐の霊から来るのではない。また神がそのさばきを誰の上に、あるいはどの順序で執行すべきかを規定することを意図するのでもない。しかし、(1) それは神の正義への訴えである。彼が言ったかのように。「主よ、私たちは挑発する民です。しかしもっとそうである他の国々はありませんか。そして私たちだけが罰せられるのですか。私たちはあなたの子どもであり、父としての懲らしめを期待できます。しかし彼らはあなたの敵であり、彼らに対してではなく、私たちに対してあなたの憤りがあると考える理由があります」。これは神の通常の方法である。神の民の手に与えられる杯は混合物で満ちている—あわれみの混合物である。しかし杯の澱は地の悪者たちのために残され、彼らにそれを絞らせよ（詩 75:8）。(2) それは神の教会と神の国のすべての不悔い改めの敵に対する神のさばきの予言である。もしさばきが神の家からこのように始まるなら、その福音に従わない者たちの終わりは何であろうか（ペテ一 4:17）。神の激怒が注ぎ出される異邦人がどのように描写されているかを見よ。[1] 彼らは神に見知らぬ者であり、そうであることに満足している。彼らは神を知らず、神を知ることを望まない。彼らは祈りなしに生きる家族、彼らの中に宗教の何もない家族である。神の御名を呼び求めない。祈りを制する者は神を知らないことを証明する。というわけ神を知る者は神を求め、神の恵みを切に願うからである。[2] 彼らは神の民の迫害者であり、そうであることを決意している。彼らはヤコブを食い尽くした—飢えた者がその必要な食物を食べるほどの貪欲さで。いな、それ以上に、彼らは彼をむさぼり食い、彼を消し尽くし、彼の住処を荒廃させた。すなわち彼が住む地、あるいは神の宮—神が彼らの中に住まわれる住処—を。なお、異邦人がその怒りと悪意において神の民に対して行うことは、神が彼らをご自身の懲らしの器として用いられるにもかかわらず、そのために神は彼らをその憤りの対象とされる。この祈りは詩篇 79:6-7 から取られている。
英語原文
Lamentation of Judah; Sovereignty of Divine Providence; Prophetic Imprecations (606 BC)
¹⁷ Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
¹⁸ For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
¹⁹ Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
²⁰ My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
²¹ For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
²² Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
²³ O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
²⁴ O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
²⁵ Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
In these verses,
I. The prophet threatens, in God's name, the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 10:17,18. The Jews that continued in their own land, after some were carried into captivity, were very secure; they thought themselves inhabitants of a fortress; their country was their strong hold, and, in their own conceit, impregnable; but they are here told to think of leaving it: they must prepare to go after their brethren, and pack up their effects in expectation of it: "Gather up thy wares out of the land; contract your affairs, and bring them into as small a compass as you can. Arise, depart, this is not your rest," Mic 2:10. Let not what you have lie scattered, for the Chaldeans will be upon you again, to be the executioners of the sentence God has passed upon you (Jer 10:18): "Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once; they have hitherto dropped out, by a few at a time, but one captivity more shall make a thorough riddance, and they shall be slung out as a stone out of a sling, so easily, so thoroughly shall they be cast out; nothing of them shall remain. They shall be thrown out with violence, and driven to a place at a great distance off, in a little time." See this comparison used to signify an utter destruction, 1Sa 25:29. Yet once more God will shake their land, and shake the wicked out of it, Heb 12:26. He adds, And I will distress them, that they may find it so. He will not only throw them out hence (that he may do and yet they may be easy elsewhere); but, whithersoever they go, trouble shall follow them; they shall be continually perplexed and straitened, and at a loss within themselves: and who or what can make those easy whom God will distress, whom he will distress that they may find it so, that they may feel that which they would not believe? They were often told of the weight of God's wrath and their utter inability to make head against it, or bear up under it. They were told that their sin would be their ruin, and they would not regard nor credit what was told them; but now they shall find it so; and therefore God will pursue them with his judgments, that they may find it so, and be forced to acknowledge it. Note, sooner or later sinners will find it just as the word of God has represented things to them, and no better, and that the threatenings were not bugbears.
II. He brings in the people sadly lamenting their calamities (Jer 10:19): Woe is me for my hurt! Some make this the prophet's own lamentation, not for himself, but for the calamities and desolations of his country. He mourned for those that would not be persuaded to mourn for themselves; and, since there were none that had so much sense as to join with them, he weeps in secret, and cries out, Woe is me! In mournful times it becomes us to be of a mournful spirit. But it may be taken as the language of the people, considered as a body, and therefore speaking as a single person. The prophet puts into their mouths the words they should say; whether they would say them or no, they should have cause to say them. Some among them would thus bemoan themselves, and all of them, at last, would be forced to do it. 1. They lament that the affliction is very great, and it is very hard to them to bear it, the more hard because they had not been used to trouble and now did not expect it: "Woe is me for my hurt, not for what I fear, but for what I feel;" for they are not, as some are, worse frightened than hurt. Nor is it a slight hurt, but a wound, a wound that is grievous, very painful, and very threatening. 2. That there is no remedy but patience. They cannot help themselves, but must sit still, and abide it: But I said, when I was about to complain of my wound, To what purpose is it to complain? This is a grief, and I must bear it as well as I can. This is the language rather of a sullen than of a gracious submission, of a patience per force, not a patience by principle. When I am in affliction I should say, "This is an evil, and I will bear it, because it is the will of God that I should, because his wisdom has appointed this for me and his grace will make it work for good to me." This is receiving evil at the hand of God, Job 2:10. But to say, "This is an evil, and I must bear it, because I cannot help it," is but a brutal patience, and argues a want of those good thoughts of God which we should always have, even under our afflictions, saying, not only, God can and will do what he pleases, but, Let him do what he pleases. 3. That the country was quite ruined and wasted (Jer 10:20): My tabernacle is spoiled. Jerusalem, though a strong city, now proves as weak and moveable as a tabernacle or tent, when it is taken down, and all its cords, that should keep it together, are broken. Or by the tabernacle here may be meant the temple, the sanctuary, which at first was but a tabernacle, and is now called so, as then it was sometimes called a temple. Their church is ruined, and all the supports of it fail. It was a general destruction of church and state, city and country, and there were none to repair these desolations. "My children have gone forth of me; some have fled, others are slain, others carried into captivity, so that as to me, they are not; I am likely to be an outcast, and to perish for want of shelter; for there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, none of my children that used to do it for me, none to set up my curtains, none to do me any service." Jerusalem has none to guide her of all her sons, Isa 51:18. 4. That the rulers took no care, nor any proper measures, for the redress of their grievances and the re-establishing of heir ruined state (Jer 10:21): The pastors have become brutish. When the tents, the shepherds' tents, were spoiled (Jer 10:20), it concerned the shepherds to look after them; but they were foolish shepherds. Their kings and princes had no regard at all for the public welfare, seemed to have no sense of the desolations of the land, but were quite besotted and infatuated. The priests, the pastors of God's tabernacle, did a great deal towards the ruin of religion, but nothing towards the repair of it. They are brutish indeed, for they have not sought the Lord; they have neither made their peace with him nor their prayer to him; they had no eye to him and his providence, in their management of affairs; they neither acknowledged the judgment, nor expected the deliverance, to come from his hand. Note, Those are brutish people that do not seek the Lord, that live without prayer, and live without God in the world. Every man is either a saint or a brute. But it is sad indeed with a people when their pastors, that should feed them with knowledge and understanding, are themselves thus brutish. And what comes of it? Therefore they shall not prosper; none of their attempts for the public safety shall succeed. Note, Those cannot expect to prosper who do not by faith and prayer take God along with them in all their ways. And, when the pastors are brutish, what else can be expected but that all their flocks should be scattered? For, if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch. The ruin of a people is often owing to the brutishness of their pastors. 5. That the report of the enemy's approach was very dreadful (Jer 10:22): The noise of the bruit has come, of the report which at first was but whispered and bruited abroad, as wanting confirmation. It now proves too true: A great commotion arises out of the north country, which threatens to make all the cities of Judah desolate and a den of dragons; for they must all expect to be sacrificed to the avarice and fury of the Chaldean army. And what else can that place expect but to be made a den of dragons which has by sin made itself a den of thieves?
III. He turns to God, and addresses himself to him, finding it to little purpose to speak to the people. It is some comfort to poor ministers that, if men will not hear them, God will; and to him they have liberty of access at all times. Let them close their preaching with prayer, as the prophet, and then they shall have no reason to say that they have laboured in vain.
1. The prophet here acknowledges the sovereignty and dominion of the divine Providence, that by it, and not by their own will and wisdom, the affairs both of nations and particular persons are directed and determined, Jer 10:23. This is an article of our faith which it is very proper for us to make confession of at the throne of grace when we are complaining of an affliction or suing for a mercy: "O Lord, I know, and believe, that the way of man is not in himself; Nebuchadnezzar did not come of himself against our land, but by the direction of a divine Providence." We cannot of ourselves do any thing for our own relief, unless God work with us and command deliverance for us; for it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps, though he seem in his walking to be perfectly at liberty and to choose his own way. Those that had promised themselves a long enjoyment of their estates and possessions were made to know, by sad experience, when they were thrown out by the Chaldeans, that the way of man is not in himself; he designs which men lay deep, and think well-formed, are dashed to pieces in a moment. We must all apply this to ourselves, and mix faith with it, that we are not at our own disposal, but under a divine direction; the event is often overruled so as to be quite contrary to our intention and expectation. We are not masters of our own way, nor can we think that every thing should be according to our mind; we must therefore refer ourselves to God and acquiesce in his will. Some think that the prophet here mentions this with a design to make this comfortable use of it, that, the way of the Chaldean army being not in themselves, they can do no more than God permits them; he can set bounds to these proud waves, and say, Hitherto they shall come, and no further. And a quieting consideration it is that the most formidable enemies have no power against us but what is given them from above.
2. He deprecates the divine wrath, that it might not fall upon God's Israel, Jer 10:24. He speaks not for himself only, but on the behalf of his people: O Lord, correct me, but with judgment (in measure and with moderation, and in wisdom, no more than is necessary for driving out of the foolishness that is bound up in our hearts), not in thy anger (how severe soever the correction be, let it come from thy love, and be designed for our good and made to work for good), not to bring us to nothing, but to bring us home to thyself. Let it not be according to the desert of our sins, but according to the design of thy grace. Note, (1.) We cannot pray in faith that we may never be corrected, while we are conscious to ourselves that we need correction and deserve it, and know that as many as God loves he chastens. (2.) The great thing we should dread in affliction is the wrath of God. Say not, Lord, do not correct me, but, Lord, do not correct me in anger; for that will infuse wormwood and gall into the affliction and misery that will bring us to nothing. We may bear the smart of his rod, but we cannot bear the weight of his wrath.
3. He imprecates the divine wrath against the oppressors and persecutors of Israel (Jer 10:25): Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not. This prayer does not come from a spirit of malice or revenge, nor is it intended to prescribe to God whom he should execute his judgments upon, or in what order; but, (1.) It is an appeal to his justice. As if he had said, "Lord, we are a provoking people; but are there not other nations that are more so? And shall we only be punished? We are thy children, and may expect a fatherly correction; but they are thy enemies, and against them we have reason to think thy indignation should be, not against us." This is God's usual method. The cup put into the hands of God's people is full of mixtures, mixtures of mercy; but the dregs of the cup are reserved for the wicked of the earth, let them wring them out, Ps 75:8. (2.) It is a prediction of God's judgments upon all the impenitent enemies of his church and kingdom. If judgment begin thus at the house of God, what shall be the end of those that obey not his gospel? 1Pe 4:17. See how the heathen are described, on whom God's fury shall be poured out. [1.] They are strangers to God, and are content to be so. They know him not, nor desire to know him. They are families that live without prayer, that have nothing of religion among them; they call not on God's name. Those that restrain prayer prove that they know not God; for those that know him will seek to him and entreat his favour. [2.] They are persecutors of the people of God and are resolved to be so. They have eaten up Jacob with as much greediness as those that are hungry eat their necessary food; nay, with more, they have devoured him, and consumed him, and made his habitation desolate, that is, the land in which he lives, or the temple of God, which is his habitation among them. Note, What the heathen, in their rage and malice, do against the people of God, though therein he makes use of them as the instruments of his correction, yet he will, for that, make them the objects of his indignation. This prayer is taken from Ps 79:6,7.
私たちは、この章の預言が最初の捕囚の後、すなわち多くの人々がバビロンに連れて行かれたエコヌヤまたはエホヤキンの時代に語られたものと推測することができる。なぜなら、それは二重の参照を持つからである。一、カルデヤ人の地に連行された者たちへ。その地は偶像礼拝と迷信によって悪名高い国であり、彼らはここで異邦人の道を学ばないよう（エレミヤ書10:1,2）、その地の悪影響に対して警告される。なぜなら、彼らの占星術と偶像礼拝はともに愚かなこと（エレミヤ書10:3-5）であり、偶像礼拝者たちは獣のようだからである（エレミヤ書10:8,9）。彼らが訪れられる日にもそのことが現れる（エレミヤ書10:14,15）。彼らは同様に、イスラエルの神に堅く従うよう勧められる。彼に並ぶ者はないからである（エレミヤ書10:6,7）。神はまことの神、とこしえに生き、世界の支配をその手におさめられる（エレミヤ書10:10-13）。そして神の民は神によって幸いである（エレミヤ書10:16）。二、なお自国に残っている者たちへ。彼らは安逸に対して警告され、苦しみを覚悟するよう告げられる（エレミヤ書10:17,18）。しかも神が彼らの罪のゆえに彼らにもたらされる外国の敵による苦しみを（エレミヤ書10:20-22）。預言者はこの災いを嘆き（エレミヤ書10:19）、それが和らげられるよう祈る（エレミヤ書10:23-25）。