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英文原文
This chapter was penned upon occasion of a great drought, for want of rain. This judgment began in the latter end of Josiah's reign, but, as it should seem, continued in the beginning of Jehoiakim's: for less judgments are sent to give warning of greater coming, if not prevented by repentance. This calamity was mentioned several times before, but here, in this chapter, more fully. Here is, I. A melancholy description of it, Jer 14:1-6. II. A prayer to God to put an end to this calamity and to return in mercy to their land, Jer 14:7-9. III. A severe threatening that God would proceed in his controversy, because they proceeded in their iniquity, Jer 14:10-12. IV. The prophet's excusing the people, by laying the blame on their false prophets; and the doom passed both on the deceivers and the deceived, Jer 14:13-16. V. Directions given to the prophet, instead of interceding for them, to lament them; but his continuing notwithstanding to intercede for them, Jer 14:17-22.
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Lamentation Caused by a Great Drought; Prayer for Mercy; Pleading with God (606 BC)
因大旱而发的哀歌；求怜悯的祷告；向神恳求（主前 606 年）
¹ 耶和华论干旱之事临到耶利米的话。 ² 犹大悲哀，她的城门衰败；众人哀恸变为黑皮肤伏于地上；耶路撒冷的哀声上达。 ³ 他们的贵胄打发家童去打水；他们来到水池，却找不着水，就拿着空器皿回来，抱愧蒙羞，蒙上头颅。 ⁴ 因为地土因无雨而干裂，农人也羞愧，他们蒙上头颅。 ⁵ 田野的母鹿下崽之后，因无草就撇弃它。 ⁶ 野驴站在高冈上，像龙一般喘气；它们的眼睛因无草而失明。 ⁷ 耶和华啊，我们的罪孽虽然作见证告我们，求你为自己的名行事；我们的背道甚多，我们得罪了你。 ⁸ 以色列的盼望啊，患难之时救他的主啊，你为何在这地如同客旅，又如同只住一夜的过路客呢？ ⁹ 你为何像惊奇的人，像不能拯救的勇士呢？耶和华啊，你仍在我们中间，我们也称为你名下的人；求你不要离开我们。
第一节是全章的标题：它的确都「论到干旱」，但其中大部分是先知为此所作的祷告；然而这些祷告称为「耶和华关于这事临到他的话」并非不合宜，因为凡蒙悦纳的祷告，都是神先放进我们心里的；我们向他所献上的话，没有一句是属我们的，除非那是先从他而来的他的话。在这些经文中我们看到：
一、为灾祸哀叹的自然之语。当天如铜、不降甘露，地如铁、不出产果实，于是悲伤和混乱便成为普遍之事。1. 这地的人都流泪。毁掉他们的葡萄树和无花果树，他们的一切欢乐便止息（何 2:11-12）。他们一切喜乐都随五谷新酒的喜乐一同消逝。「犹大悲哀」（耶 14:2）——不是为罪，而是为患难——为雨水的断绝，不是为神恩惠的收回。「她的城门」，就是素常从那里把粮食运进城的人，「衰败」——面色苍白、力衰气弱，因为缺乏维持生命所必需的供应，又惧怕这审判进一步致命的后果。「城门」素常是运粮进城之处，如今当居民反倒出城到别国寻找饼时，便显得凄凉。连坐在城门口的人也衰败；「众人哀恸变为黑皮肤」——他们如居丧者身穿黑衣，「伏于地上」坐着，正如穷人乞丐在门口因缺粮而「面色发黑」，「比煤黑」（哀 4:8）。饥荒由黑马所代表（启 6:5）。他们因软弱无力而倒在地上，不能沿街走动。「耶路撒冷的哀声上达」——即市民的哀声（因城「靠田野服事」）；或说是从全国各地聚集到耶路撒冷求雨之人的哀声。但我担心，这更可能是他们患难的哀号，而非他们祷告的声音。2. 这地的大人物也感到这审判（耶 14:3）：「贵胄打发家童去打水」——也许是他们自己的孩子，因养不起仆人而不得不辞退，又愿意训练孩子从小做工，尤其在如此急需之时。我们读到亚哈和俄巴底——王和他宫中的家宰——在这样的困厄中，亲身去寻找水（王上 18:5-6）。或者更确切地说，「家童」指他们的仆人和下级官吏；他们打发这些人去找水——水是不可或缺之物；却找不到：「他们拿着空器皿回来」；不下雨，泉源便干涸，无水可汲；于是「他们」（打发他们的主人）「抱愧蒙羞」，因失望而羞愧。他们不肯为自己的罪羞愧，不肯因罪的认识而惶恐；他们在话语的责备下不自卑，以为自己的财富和尊贵使他们不必悔改；但神找到法子，使他们因自己引以为傲之事而羞愧——因为他们发现，即使在地狱的这一边，他们的贵族身份也不能为他们买到一滴水来凉舌头。我们读到这灾祸的记述，当为水的怜悯而感恩，免得我们要在亲历这灾祸之时才学懂其价值。最必需的，也是最丰富的。3. 农人对它感受最为直接（耶 14:4）：「农人也羞愧」——因为地土烤得又硬又干，纵然「干裂」得似乎不需耕，也不能下犁。他们因无事可做而羞愧，因无可作为，也就无可指望。那「因寒冷而不肯耕地」的懒惰人，并不为自己的愚妄羞愧；而那「因燥热而不能耕地」的勤劳农人，却为自己的苦境羞愧。请看农人何等直接地仰赖神的护理，因此当时常仰望它；除非神「浇透地的犁沟」（诗 65:10），他们便不能存指望耕地撒种。4. 连野兽的处境也十分可怜（耶 14:5-6）。人的罪使地受这样的审判，连低等受造之物也叹息；先知以此作为向神求怜悯的依据。犹大和耶路撒冷犯了罪，但鹿和野驴作了什么呢？鹿是可爱的动物，秀美而温驯，特别疼惜幼崽；然而处境之窘，竟使它们违背天性，撇下初生之崽——那时它们最需要母亲——到别处寻找青草；若找不到，便「丢弃」它们，因为无力喂养。母鹿因自己没有草吃并不那么悲伤，因没有草给幼崽才更为悲伤——这将使那些把本该留给家人的钱财耗费在自己私欲上的人羞愧。母鹿产子之后，便「抛开痛苦」（伯 39:3），却仍继续看顾；但那里接着说，不久她就看见自己劳苦的善果，因为「幼崽」过不多时便「长大」，不再烦扰它（伯 39:4）。然而此处最大的痛苦在于：它没有什么可以给它们。不，连「野驴」也令人惋惜（虽然它是没人多大感情的动物）；尽管「荒野」素常是它的居所（伯 39:5-6），如今连那里也热得它受不了——热得无法呼吸，只好爬到所能到的「最高之处」，那里空气最凉爽，「像龙一般吸风」——像那些因过热而时刻张口喘气的活物。「它们的眼睛失明」，力气也衰败，「因为无草」可吃。那服事主人的驯驴，可到他「槽上」（赛 1:3）得食，因它的劳苦而得粮；而「不受管驴之喝叱」的「野驴」，却被迫「靠吸风过活」，它因不肯服事而受此对待，也是应得。「不肯作工的人，就不可吃饭。」
二、此处也有恩典之语——为罪孽哀叹，并向神诉苦。百姓不肯主动祷告，但先知在此为他们代求，借此激发他们为自己祷告，又把话放在他们口中，使他们可借此使用，盼望得蒙应允（耶 14:7-9）。这祷告中：1. 谦卑地认罪。当我们为求阻止或除去某种审判而祷告时，总当承认「我们的罪孽作见证告我们」。我们的罪就是控告我们的证人，真正的悔改者也是如此看它们。它们作证，因为它们明显而确凿；我们无可否认。它们「告我们」，为定我们的罪——这导致我们今日的羞愧惶恐，并将来的定罪。它们推翻并驳倒我们为自己所行的一切辩护；因此不仅控告我们，也回答我们。我们若夸耀自己的美德、倚靠自己的义，我们的罪孽便作见证告我们，证明我们乖僻。我们若与神争辩，说他苦待我们、待我们不公不义，我们的罪孽便作见证告我们说我们冤枉了他；「因为『我们的背道甚多』，我们的悖逆也大，『我们得罪了你』——太多以致无法掩饰，因为它们甚多；太重以致无可推诿，因为它们是得罪你。」2. 切切恳求怜悯：「『虽然我们的罪孽作见证告我们』，反对我们所处境况所需之恩典的赐下，『求你为自己名行事』。」他们没有具体说明要神作什么；而是如悔改者和乞丐所当行的，把这事交托给神：「你看怎样好，就怎样待我们」（士 10:15）。不是「求你这样行、那时行」，而是「『求你为自己名行事』——求你行那最能荣耀你名的事」。注意：我们在祷告中最佳的恳求，是从神自己名的荣耀所引出的恳求。「主啊，求你行事，使你的怜悯被显大、你的应许得应验、你在世上的权益得以维持；我们自己无可陈述，但在你里面却有一切。」这祷告中还有另一个恳求，十分谦卑（耶 14:9）：「『不要离开我们』，求你不要收回你的恩惠和同在。」注意：我们当惧怕、当恳求脱离的，是神离开我们，胜过我们失去任何或一切受造之物的安慰。3. 他们与神的关系、在他里面的利益，并基于此对他所存的指望，都极动情地向他恳求（耶 14:8-9）。（1）他们看他为一位他们有理由指望他在患难中拯救他们的神——即使他们的罪孽作见证告他们；因为在他里面，怜悯常胜过审判。先知正如古时的摩西，愿意尽可能为百姓的案件找到最好的理由，因此虽不得不承认他们犯了许多大罪（出 32:31），却恳求说：「你是以色列的盼望。」神既鼓励他的百姓仰望他，又多次自称「以色列的神」、「以色列的磐石」、「以色列的圣者」，便使自己成为「以色列的盼望」。他既赐给以色列他的话使他们可借之盼望，又使他们借之产生盼望；而以色列中仍有人以神独为他们的盼望，指望他作「他们在患难之时的救主」，并不在别处寻求拯救；「你素常在他们极度困厄之时就是如此。」注意：神既是他的百姓全足的救主，他们在最大的艰难中也当仰望他；他既是他们独一的救主，他们就当唯独仰望他。他们也恳求说：「『你仍在我们中间』；我们有你同在的特殊记号——你的圣殿、你的约柜、你的圣言；『我们也称为你名下的人』，是神的以色列；因此我们有理由盼望你不离开我们；『我们是属你的，求你拯救我们。』你的名既称为我们之上，我们身上所受的灾祸也就使你蒙羞，仿佛你不能救助属你的人。」先知屡次告诉百姓，他们的宗教信仰不能保护他们免受神的审判；然而此处他却以此向神恳求，正如摩西在出 32:11 所行的。在对一位怜悯的神，连这一点也可作为涉及今世刑罚的有力依据。「Valeat quantum valtere potest——让这恳求在合理的限度内发挥它的力量。」（2）因此，想到他不显明为他们施行拯救，他们便伤痛；他们虽不将这不义归咎于他，却谦卑地以此恳求他——为着他名的荣耀，他本应恩待他们。否则他便会显得：[1] 对自己的百姓漠不关心：「埃及人会怎么说呢？」他们必说：「以色列的盼望和救主并不顾念他们；他『在这地如同客旅』，对这地的事全不关心；他素常称为自己『永远安息之所』的圣殿，如今不再如此，他在其中『如同只住一夜的过路客』——过路客在客栈过夜，对那里的情形全不过问，也全不挂虑。」虽然神从不如此，但他有时似乎全不在乎他的教会要遭遇何事：当门徒在风暴中时，基督却睡着了。[2] 不能给他们任何解救。从前仇敌曾说：因耶和华「不能」领他的百姓进迦南，便任凭他们「在旷野灭亡」（民 14:16）；如今他们也要说：「不是他的智慧、就是他的能力有了缺欠；他要么『像一个惊奇的人』——虽有人的理智，却因惊奇而完全不知所措、无计可施；要么像一个『勇士』，被比他更强的所压制，因此『不能拯救』——虽是勇士，但终归是人，因此能力有限。」这两种说法都会是对神圣属性的难以忍受的亵渎；因此，我们确知「在我们中间」的神，为何「如同客旅」呢？全能的神为何似乎不过像一个勇士——惊奇之时虽愿拯救却不能拯救呢？我们在祷告中当显出，我们关心神的荣耀胜过关心自己的安逸。「主啊，你要为你大名怎样行呢？」
英文原文
Lamentation Caused by a Great Drought; Prayer for Mercy; Pleading with God (606 BC)
¹ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
² Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
³ And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
⁴ Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
⁵ Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
⁶ And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
⁷ O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
⁸ O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
⁹ Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
The first verse is the title of the whole chapter: it does indeed all concern the dearth, but much of it consists of the prophet's prayers concerning it; yet these are not unfitly said to be, The word of the Lord which came to him concerning it, for every acceptable prayer is that which God puts into our hearts; nothing is our word that comes to him but what is first his word that comes from him. In these verses we have,
I. The language of nature lamenting the calamity. When the heavens were as brass, and distilled no dews, the earth was as iron, and produced no fruits; and then the grief and confusion were universal. 1. The people of the land were all in tears. Destroy their vines and their fig-trees and you cause all their mirth to cease, Ho 2:11,12. All their joy fails with the joy of harvest, with that of their corn and wine. Judah mourns (Jer 14:2), not for the sin, but for the trouble—for the withholding of the rain, not for the withdrawing of God's favour. The gates thereof, all that go in and out at their gates, languish, look pale, and grow feeble, for want of the necessary supports of life and for fear of the further fatal consequences of this judgment. The gates, through which supplies of corn formerly used to be brought into their cities, now look melancholy, when, instead of that, the inhabitants are departing through them to seek for bread in other countries. Even those that sit in the gates languish; they are black unto the ground, they go in black as mourners and sit on the ground, as the poor beggars at the gates are black in the face for want of food, blacker than a coal, La 4:8. Famine is represented by a black horse, Re 6:5. They fall to the ground through weakness, not being able to go along the streets. The cry of Jerusalem has gone up; that is, of the citizens (for the city is served by the field), or of people from all parts of the country met at Jerusalem to pray for rain; so some. But I fear it was rather the cry of their trouble, and the cry of their prayer. 2. The great men of the land felt from this judgment (Jer 14:3): The nobles sent their little ones to the water, perhaps their own children, having been forced to part with their servants because they had not wherewithal to keep them, and being willing to train up their children, when they were little, to labour, especially in a case of necessity, as this was. We find Ahab and Obadiah, the king and the lord chamberlain of his household, in their own persons, seeking for water in such a time of distress as this was, 1Ki 18:5,6. Or, rather, their meaner ones, their servants and inferior officers; these they sent to seek for water, which there is no living without; but there was none to be found: They returned with their vessels empty; the springs were dried up when there was no rain to feed them; and then they (their masters that sent them) were ashamed and confounded at the disappointment. They would not be ashamed of their sins, nor confounded at the sense of them, but were unhumbled under the reproofs of the word, thinking their wealth and dignity set them above repentance; but God took a course to make them ashamed of that which they were so proud of, when they found that even on this side hell their nobility would not purchase them a drop of water to cool their tongue. Let our reading the account of this calamity make us thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not by the feeling of the calamity be taught to value it. What is most needful is most plentiful. 3. The husbandmen felt most sensibly and immediately from it (Jer 14:4): The ploughmen were ashamed, for the ground was so parched and hard that it would not admit the plough even when it was so chapt and cleft that it seemed as if it did not need the plough. They were ashamed to be idle, for there was nothing to be done, and therefore nothing to be expected. The sluggard, that will not plough by reason of cold, is not ashamed of his own folly; but the diligent husbandman, that cannot plough by reason of heat, is ashamed of his own affliction. See what an immediate dependence husbandmen have upon the divine Providence, which therefore they should always have an eye to, for they cannot plough nor sow in hope unless God water their furrows, Ps 65:10. 4. The case even of the wild beasts was very pitiable, Jer 14:5,6. Man's sin brings those judgments upon the earth which make even the inferior creatures groan: and the prophet takes notice of this as a plea with God for mercy. Judah and Jerusalem have sinned, but the hinds and the wild asses, what have they done? The hinds are pleasant creatures, lovely and loving, and particularly tender of their young; and yet such is the extremity of the case that, contrary to the instinct of their nature, they leave their young, even when they are newly calved and most need them, to seek for grass elsewhere; and, if they can find none, they abandon them, because not able to suckle them. It grieved not the hind so much that she had no grass herself as that she had none for her young, which will shame those who spend that upon their lusts which they should preserve for their families. The hind, when she has brought forth her young, is said to have cast forth her sorrows (Job 39:3), and yet she continues her cares; but, as it follows there, she soon sees the good effect of them, for her young ones in a little while grow up, and trouble her no more, Jer 14:4. But here the great trouble of all is that she has nothing for them. Nay, one would be sorry even for the wild asses (though they are creatures that none have any great affection for); for, though the barren land is made their dwelling at the best (Job 39:5,6), yet even that is now made too hot for them, so hot that they cannot breathe in it, but they get to the highest places they can reach, where the air is coolest, and snuff up the wind like dragons, like those creatures which, being very hot, are continually panting for breath. Their eyes fail, and so does their strength, because there is no grass to support them. The tame ass, that serves her owner, is welcome to his crib (Isa 1:3) and has her keeping for her labour, when the wild ass, that scorns the crying of the driver, is forced to live upon air, and is well enough served for not serving. He that will not labour, let him not eat.
II. Here is the language of grace, lamenting the iniquity, and complaining to God of the calamity. The people are not forward to pray, but the prophet here prays for them, and so excites them to pray for themselves, and puts words into their mouths, which they may make use of, in hopes to speed, Jer 14:7-9. In this prayer, 1. Sin is humbly confessed. When we come to pray for the preventing or removing of any judgment we must always acknowledge that our iniquities testify against us. Our sins are witnesses against us, and true penitents see them to be such. They testify, for they are plain and evident; we cannot deny the charge. They testify against us, for our conviction, which tends to our present shame and confusion, and our future condemnation. They disprove and overthrow all our pleas for ourselves; and so not only accuse us, but answer against us. If we boast of our own excellencies, and trust to our own righteousness, our iniquities testify against us, and prove us perverse. If we quarrel with God as dealing unjustly or unkindly with us in afflicting us, our iniquities testify against us that we do him wrong; "for our backslidings are many and our revolts are great, whereby we have sinned against thee—too numerous to be concealed, for they are many, too heinous to be excused, for they are against thee." 2. Mercy is earnestly begged: "Though our iniquities testify against us, and against the granting of the favour which the necessity of our case calls for, yet do thou it." They do not say particularly what they would have done; but, as becomes penitents and beggars, they refer the matter to God: "Do with us as thou thinkest fit," Jdg 10:15. Not, Do thou it in this way or at this time, but "Do thou it for thy name's sake; do that which will be most for the glory of thy name." Note, Our best pleas in prayer are those that are fetched from the glory of God's own name. "Lord, do it, that thy mercy may be magnified, thy promise fulfilled, and thy interest in the world kept up; we have nothing to plead in ourselves, but every thing in thee." There is another petition in this prayer, and it is a very modest one (Jer 14:9): "Leave us not, withdraw not thy favour and presence." Note, We should dread and deprecate God's departure from us more than the removal of any or all our creature-comforts. 3. Their relation to God, their interest in him, and their expectations from him grounded thereupon, are most pathetically pleaded with him, Jer 14:8,9. (1.) They look upon him as one they have reason to think should deliver them when they are in distress, yea, though their iniquities testify against them; for in him mercy has often rejoiced against judgment. The prophet, like Moses of old, is willing to make the best he can of the case of his people, and therefore, though he must own that they have sinned many a great sin (Ex 32:31), yet he pleads, Thou art the hope of Israel. God has encouraged his people to hope in him; in calling himself so often the God of Israel, the rock of Israel, and the Holy One of Israel, he has made himself the hope of Israel. He has given Israel his word to hope in, and caused them to hope in it; and there are those yet in Israel that make God alone their hope, and expect he will be their Saviour in time of trouble, and they look not for salvation in any other; "Thou hast many a time been such, in the time of their extremity." Note, Since God is his people's all-sufficient Saviour, they ought to hope in him in their greatest straits; and, since he is their only Saviour, they ought to hope in him alone. They plead likewise, "Thou art in the midst of us; we have the special tokens of thy presence with us, thy temple, thy ark, thy oracles, and we are called by the name, the Israel of God; and therefore we have reason to hope thou wilt not leave us; we are thine, save us. Thy name is called upon us, and therefore what evils we are under reflect dishonour upon thee, as if thou wert not able to relieve thy own." The prophet had often told the people that their profession of religion would not protect them from the judgments of God; yet here he pleads it with God, as Moses, Ex 32:11. Even this may go far as to temporal punishments with a God of mercy. Valeat quantum valere potest—Let the plea avail as far as is proper. (2.) It therefore grieves them to think that he does not appear for their deliverance; and, though they do not charge it upon him as unrighteous, they humbly plead it with him why he should be gracious, for the glory of his own name. For otherwise he will seem, [1.] Unconcerned for his own people: What will the Egyptians say? they will say, "Israel's hope and Saviour does not mind them; he has become as a stranger in the land, that does not at all interest himself in its interests; his temple, which he called his rest for ever, is no more so, but he is in it as a wayfaring man, that turns aside to tarry but for a night in an inn, which he never enquires into the affairs of, nor is in any care about." Though God never is, yet he sometimes seems to be, as if he cared not what became of his church: Christ slept when his disciples were in storm. [2.] Incapable of giving them any relief. The enemies once said, Because the Lord was not able to bring his people to Canaan, he let them perish in the wilderness (Nu 14:16); so now they will say, "Either his wisdom or his power fails him; either he is as a man astonished (who, though he has the reason of a man, yet, being astonished, is quite at a loss and at his wits' end) or as a mighty man who is overpowered by such as are more mighty, and therefore cannot save; though mighty, yet a man, and therefore having his power limited." Either of these would be a most insufferable reproach to the divine perfections; and therefore, why has the God that we are sure is in the midst of us become as a stranger? Why does the almighty God seem as if he were no more than a mighty man, who, when he is astonished, though he would, yet cannot save? It becomes us in prayer to show ourselves concerned more for God's glory than for our own comfort. Lord, what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
10-16
Divine Threatenings (606 BC)
Divine Threatenings (606 BC)
¹⁰ 耶和华论到这百姓如此说：他们喜爱飘流，不禁止他们的脚，因此耶和华不悦纳他们；现今要记念他们的罪孽，追讨他们的罪恶。 ¹¹ 耶和华又对我说：不要为这百姓求福。 ¹² 他们禁食的时候，我不听他们的呼求；他们献燔祭和素祭，我也不悦纳；我却要用刀剑、饥荒、瘟疫将他们灭绝。 ¹³ 我就说：唉，主耶和华啊！那些先知对他们说：你们必不看见刀剑，也不再有饥荒；我必在这地方赐给你们长久的平安。 ¹⁴ 耶和华对我说：那些先知奉我的名说假预言。我并没有差遣他们，也没有吩咐他们，也没有对他们说话；他们向你们预言虚假的异象、占卜、虚无的事，以及自己心中的诡诈。 ¹⁵ 所以耶和华论到那些奉我名说预言、我却未曾差遣的先知如此说：他们在这地说，这里必没有刀剑、饥荒；那些先知必被刀剑、饥荒所灭。 ¹⁶ 那些先知向其说预言的百姓，必因饥荒和刀剑被抛掷在耶路撒冷的街道上；无人葬埋他们，他们的妻子、儿子、女儿也无人葬埋；因为我必将他们的恶倒在他们身上。
本章中神与他的先知之间的辩论，仿佛葡萄园的主人与园户论到那棵不结果子的无花果树（路13:7）一般。主人的公义判定要把它砍下来；园户的宽厚却为之求情延缓。耶利米曾迫切地在祷告中求神在怜悯中归回这百姓。在此，
一、神驳回了先知为他们所提出的申诉，并向他指明这申诉站不住脚。为回答这一申诉，神如此论到「这百姓」说（耶14:10）。他不说「我的百姓」，因为他不承认他们，因为他们已经与他背约。诚然，他们「被称为」他名下的人，他临在的记号也在他们中间；但他们犯了罪，惹动神收回他的临在。先知已经承认了这一点，并希望借着代求与献祭，仍能为他们获得怜悯；因此神在此告诉他：1. 他们并未合宜地具备蒙赦免的资格。先知已承认「他们的退后甚多」；虽是如此，他们若归回就仍有指望。但「这百姓」丝毫没有归回的意向；他们飘流，而且「他们喜爱飘流」；他们的退后是他们自己所拣选、所喜悦的，本应是他们的羞耻与痛苦，因此也必成为他们的毁灭。他们既如此乐于偏离神去追随偶像，就不能指望神在他们中间安息。他们飘流并非出于无奈或疏忽，而是他们喜爱飘流。罪人是偏离神的人；他们的飘流使神的恩宠丧失，但使他们完全与之隔绝的，正是他们「喜爱飘流」。他们曾被警告过其飘流的结局——一样罪要催促他们犯另一样罪，最终归于毁灭；然而他们却不肯受警诫而「禁止自己的脚」。他们非但没有归回他们的神，反而无论是先知的劝诫还是审判的惩治，都不能使他们稍加收敛对罪恶之追的放纵。这正是神如今与他们清算的因由。当他不赐下雨时，他正在「记念他们的罪孽」，「追讨他们的罪恶」；正是因此，他们那「结果子的地」才「变为荒凉」。2. 他们既已弃绝了他们的神，就别指望神悦纳他们；即或他们禁食、祈祷，并付上燔祭和祭物的代价，也是如此：「耶和华不悦纳他们」（耶14:10）。「他不喜欢他们」（这是原文之意）；因为圣洁的神怎能在那些以神的对手为乐的人——在任何事奉、任何群体中，只要不是神的，他们都喜悦——身上得着喜悦呢？「他们禁食的时候」（耶14:12）——这本是悔改与改过合宜的表达——「他们献燔祭和素祭的时候」——这本是信靠中保之信心的设立——即或他们的祷告如此加强，并附在素来悦纳的载体之中献上，然而由于这些并非出自谦卑、痛悔、更新的心，他们仍然「喜爱飘流」，所以「我不听他们的呼求」，无论多么响亮；「也不悦纳他们」，无论是他们的本人还是他们的奉献。早就宣告过：「恶人的祭物是耶和华所憎恶的」；唯有「行得好」的人才能蒙悦纳（创4:7）。3. 他们因未听先知向他们所传的道，也就丧失了先知为他们代求的一切益处。这就是神对先知反复发出的禁令之意（耶14:11）：「你不要为这百姓求福」，正如先前耶7:15、11:14所说。这并非禁止他如此表达对他们的「善意」（摩西在神说「任凭我」（出32:10）之后，仍继续为以色列代求），而是禁止他们在「侧耳不听律法」的情况下，指望从中得到任何益处。如此，刚硬不悔改者的厄运便被批准了，正如扫罗被弃绝时撒母耳所得的那句话：「你为扫罗悲伤要到几时呢？」因此接下来说（耶14:12）：「我必将他们灭绝」，不仅借着这场饥荒，也借着刀剑和瘟疫进一步的严惩；因为神的箭袋中有许多箭，那不肯被一样所劝服、所挽回的，必被另一样所灭绝。
二、先知为百姓的顽梗提出了另一个申辩的理由，那不过是托辞而已，但他愿意尽量为他们的处境说尽一切可说的话；这理由就是：那些假托奉天而来之使命的先知欺骗了他们，纵使他们仍在罪中行恶，却用平安的保证阿谀他们（耶14:13）。他为此哀叹说：「唉！主耶和华啊，这些百姓似乎愿意留心奉你名而来的话，也有人在你名下告诉他们『必不看见刀剑和饥荒』；他们装得像奉你名说话的先知一般，端着十足的威仪与把握：『我必在这地方保全你们，必赐给你们确实的平安，真理的平安。』我告诉他们的却是相反的话；但我以一敌众，而人人都容易信那对自己有利的话；所以主啊，求你怜悯、宽容他们，因为『他们的领袖使他们走错了路。』」这个申辩若不是因为他们先前已受过关于假先知的警告，并得着分辨他们的准则，本可有些分量；如此一来，他们若被迷惑，就完全是咎由自取了。但这教导我们：要尽量诚实地从最好处看待别人的不是，并在其处境所能承受的范围内，以最宽厚的心判断他们。
三、神不仅驳回了这一申辩，更判定那些瞎眼的领路人和瞎眼的跟从者要一同落在坑里。1. 神否认那些阿谀之辞（耶14:14）：「他们奉我名说假预言。」他们根本没有从神领受说预言的使命：「我差遣他们，也没有吩咐他们，也没有对他们说话。」他们从未受神差遣办任何差事；神从未向他们启示自己，更没有借他们向百姓启示自己；主的言语从未临到他们，没有呼召、没有凭据、没有训诲，更没有差遣他们执行这样的使命——去哄他们安然沉睡。不，人可以自欺，撒但可以媚人，但神从来不这样做。那是「虚假的异象，是虚无的事」。请注意：虚假无据之物，尽是虚空无用。不真实的异象无论多么悦人，毫无用处；那是「他们心中的诡诈」，是从他们自己腹中织出的蛛网，他们以为可以藏身其中，但顷刻之间便被扫除，原是一场大骗局。那些以自己的心思敌挡神话语的人（神诚然如此说，他们却另有想法），正是行在「心中的诡诈」里，这必成为他们的毁灭。2. 他向阿谀者宣告判决（耶14:15）。至于那些先知，他们既这样欺哄百姓、告诉他们必有平安，又这样冒犯神——奉神的名如此宣告，就当知道他们自己必不得平安。他们必先倒在那些他们哄骗别人以为可以免受的审判之下。他们保证百姓「这地必没有刀剑和饥荒」；但他们的保证很快就显得一文不值，因为他们自己必被刀剑和饥荒所灭。他们既不能保全自己，又岂能为别人预言平安，岂能对自己将要临到的灾祸有所预见而躲过呢？请注意：那些向罪人保证在其罪恶之路上可以逍遥的人，必受最严厉的刑罚。3. 他使受阿谀者同归一劫：「那些向他们说谎言的先知所预言的百姓，必死于刀剑和饥荒」（耶14:16）。请注意：受骗者的不信和骗子的谎言，都不能使神的威吓归于无效；刀剑和饥荒必临到，无论他们怎么说；而那些最自以为稳妥的，反倒最不安全。不悔改的罪人绝不会因说「我总不能相信有地狱这回事」就逃脱地狱的定罪，他们必亲身感受到自己所不愿畏惧的。这里甚至警告说：这百姓不仅死于「刀剑和饥荒」，而且他们的尸首将如被示众的囚犯一般悬挂出来，作为他们所蔑视的神圣公义的标记；他们的尸体必「被抛掷」，甚至在「耶路撒冷的街道上」——在所有地方中，人以为这里最该清除这样的污秽：他们必不得埋葬；他们最亲的亲人，本该为他们尽这最后一份爱心，却或因贫困无力承担，或因饥饿衰弱不能送殡，或因悲伤过度无心去作，或因丧失天性而不肯如此尊重他们。这样，神必将「他们的恶倾倒在他们身上」，即他们恶行的刑罚；神忿怒的满瓶必倾倒在他们身上，他们已使自己无法逃避。请注意：罪人被患难吞没之时，必须在其中看见自己的恶倾倒在自己身上。这既指假先知的恶，也指百姓的恶；瞎子领瞎子，二者一同落在坑里，在那里彼此都成了无用的安慰者。
英文原文
Divine Threatenings (606 BC)
¹⁰ Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
¹¹ Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
¹² When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
¹³ Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
¹⁴ Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
¹⁵ Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
¹⁶ And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
The dispute between God and his prophet, in this chapter, seems to be like that between the owner and the dresser of the vineyard concerning the barren fig-tree, Lu 13:7. The justice of the owner condemns it to be cut down; the clemency of the dresser intercedes for a reprieve. Jeremiah had been earnest with God, in prayer, to return in mercy to this people. Now here,
I. God overrules the plea which he had offered in their favour, and shows him that it would not hold. In answer to it thus he says concerning this people, Jer 14:10. He does not say, concerning my people, for he disowns them, because they had broken covenant with him. It is true they were called by his name, and had the tokens of his presence among them; but they had sinned, and provoked God to withdraw. This the prophet had owned, and had hoped to obtain mercy for them, notwithstanding this, through intercession and sacrifice; therefore God here tells him, 1. That they were not duly qualified for a pardon. The prophet had owned that their backslidings were many; and, though they were so, yet there was hope for them if they returned. But this people show no disposition at all to return; they have wandered, and they have loved to wander; their backslidings have been their choice and their pleasure, which should have been their shame and pain, and therefore they will be their ruin. They cannot expect God should take up his rest with them when they take such delight in going astray from him after their idols. It is not through necessity or inadvertency that they wander, but they love to wander. Sinners are wanderers from God; their wanderings forfeit God's favour, but it is their loving to wander that quite cuts them off from it. They were told what their wanderings would come to that one sin would hurry them on to another, and all to ruin; and yet they have not taken warning and refrained their feet. So far were they from returning to their God that neither his prophets nor his judgments could prevail upon them to give themselves the least check in a sinful pursuit. This is that for which God is now reckoning with them. When he denies them rain from heaven he is remembering their iniquity and visiting their sin; that is it for which their fruitful land is thus turned into barrenness. 2. That they had no reason to expect that the God they had rejected should accept them; no, not though they betook themselves to fasting and prayer and put themselves to the expense of burnt-offerings and sacrifice: The Lord doth not accept them, Jer 14:10. He takes no pleasure in them (so the word is); for what pleasure can the holy God take in those that take pleasure in his rivals, in any service, in any society, rather than his? "When they fast (Jer 14:12), which is a proper expression of repentance and reformation,—when they offer a burnt offering and an oblation, which was designed to be an expression of faith in a Mediator,—though their prayers be thus enforced, and offered up in those vehicles that used to be acceptable, yet, because they do not proceed from humble, penitent, and renewed hearts, but still they love to wander, therefore I will not hear their cry, be it ever so loud; nor will I accept them, neither their persons nor their performances." It had been long since declared, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; and those only are accepted that do well, Ge 4:7. 3. That they had forfeited all benefit by the prophet's prayers for them because they had not regarded his preaching to them. This is the meaning of that repeated prohibition given to the prophet (Jer 14:11): Pray not thou for this people for their good, as before, Jer 7:15,11:14. This did not forbid him thus to express his good-will to them (Moses continued to intercede for Israel after God had said, Let me alone, Ex 32:10), but it forbade them to expect any good effect from it as long as they turned away their ear from hearing the law. Thus was the doom of the impenitent ratified, as that of Saul's rejection was by that word to Samuel, When wilt thou cease to mourn for Saul? It therefore follows (Jer 14:12), I will consume them, not only by this famine, but by the further sore judgments of sword and pestilence; for God has many arrows in his quiver, and those that will not be convinced and reclaimed by one shall be consumed by another.
II. The prophet offers another plea in excuse for the people's obstinacy, and it is but an excuse, but he was willing to say whatever their case would bear; it is this, That the prophets, who pretended a commission from heaven, imposed upon them, and flattered them with assurances of peace though they went on in their sinful way, Jer 14:13. He speaks of it with lamentation: "Ah! Lord God, the poor people seem willing to take notice of what comes in thy name, and there are those who in thy name tell them that they shall not see the sword nor famine; and they say it as from thee, with all the gravity and confidence of prophets: I will continue you in this place, and will give you assured peace here, peace of truth. I tell them the contrary; but I am one against many, and every one is apt to credit that which makes for them; therefore, Lord, pity and spare them, for their leaders cause them to err." This excuse would have been of some weight if they had not had warning given them, before, of false prophets, and rules by which to distinguish them; so that if they were deceived it was entirely their own fault. But this teaches us, as far as we can with truth, to make the best of bad, and judge as charitably of others as their case will bear.
III. God not only overrules this plea, but condemns both the blind leaders and the blind followers to fall together into the ditch. 1. God disowns the flatteries (Jer 14:14): They prophesy lies in my name. They had no commission from God to prophesy at all: I neither sent them, nor commanded them, nor spoke unto them. They never were employed to go on any errand at all from God; he never made himself known to them, much less by them to the people; never any word of the Lord came to them, no call, no warrant, no instruction, much less did he send them on this errand, to rock them asleep in security. No; men may flatter themselves, and Satan may flatter them, but God never does. It is a false vision, and a thing of nought. Note, What is false and groundless is vain and worthless. The vision that is not true, be it ever so pleasing, is good for nothing; it is the deceit of their heart, a spider's web spun out of their own bowels, and in it they think to shelter themselves, but it will be swept away in a moment and prove a great cheat. Those that oppose their own thoughts of God's word (God indeed says so, but they think otherwise) walk in the deceit of their heart, and it will be their ruin. 2. He passes sentence upon the flatterers, Jer 14:15. As for the prophets, who put this abuse upon the people by telling them they shall have peace, and this affront upon God by telling them so in God's name, let them know that they shall have no peace themselves. They shall fall first by those very judgments which they have flattered others with the hopes of an exemption from. They undertook to warrant people that sword and famine should not be in the land; but it shall soon appear how little their warrants are good for, when they themselves shall be cut off by sword and famine. How should they secure others or foretel peace to them when they cannot secure themselves, nor have such a foresight of their own calamities as to get out of the way of them? Note, The sorest punishment await those who promise sinners impunity in their sinful ways. 3. He lays the flattered under the same doom: The people to whom they prophesy lies, and who willingly suffer themselves to be thus imposed upon, shall die by sword and famine, Jer 14:16. Note, The unbelief of the deceived, with all the falsehood of the deceivers, shall not make the divine threatenings of no effect; sword and famine will come, whatever they say to the contrary; and those will be least safe that are most secure. Impenitent sinners will not escape the damnation of hell by saying that they can never believe there is such a thing, but will feel what they will not fear. It is threatened that this people shall not only fall by sword and famine, but that they shall be as it were hanged up in chains, as monuments of that divine justice which they set at defiance; their bodies shall be cast out, even in the streets of Jerusalem, which of all places, one would think, should be kept clear from such nuisances: there they shall lie unburied; their nearest relations, who should do them that last office of love, being so poor that they cannot afford it, or so weakened with hunger that they are not able to attend it, or so overwhelmed with grief that they have no heart to it, or so destitute of natural affection that they will not pay them so much respect. Thus will God pour their wickedness upon them, that is, the punishment of their wickedness; the full vials of God's wrath shall be poured upon them, to which they have made themselves obnoxious. Note, When sinners are overwhelmed with trouble they must in it see their own wickedness poured upon them. This refers to the wickedness both of the false prophets and of the people; the blind lead the blind, and both fall together into the ditch, where they will be miserable comforters one to another.
17-22
The Prophet's Intercession (606 BC)
先知的代求（主前606年）
**¹⁷» 所以你要将这些话对他们说：『我眼昼夜流泪，永不止息；因为我民的处女受了重大的破口，受了极重的击打。』』 **¹⁸» 我若往田间去，就看见被刀杀的；我若进城，就看见患饥荒病的；连先知带祭司都流落到素不相识的地去。』 **¹⁹» 你全然弃绝了犹大吗？你的灵厌恶锡安吗？你为何击打我们，使我们不得痊愈呢？我们指望平安，却得不着好处；指望痊愈，不料，受了惊吓！』 **²⁰» 耶和华啊，我们承认我们的罪恶，和我们列祖的罪孽；因为我们得罪了你。』 **²¹» 求你不要为我们自己的缘故藐视我们，为你名的缘故不要羞辱你荣耀的宝座；求你记念，不要废弃你与我们所立的约。』 **²²» 外邦虚无的神中，有能降雨的吗？天能自降甘霖吗？耶和华我们的神啊，岂不是你吗？所以我们必等候你，因为这一切都是你所造的。』
犹大和耶路撒冷当前可悲的光景，在此成为先知哀哭的题材（耶14:17、18），也成为他为他们祷告代求的缘由（耶14:19）。我情愿盼望后者也和前者一样是出乎神的指示；而（耶14:17）『你要将这些话对他们说』（或『论到他们』，或『当着他们的面』），既指代求，也指哀哭，那么它便等于撤销了先前给先知『不要为他们祷告』的吩咐（耶14:11）。无论如何，从这段经文所见的祷告，明显先知并非把它当作禁令，而只是当作一种劝阻，如同约壹5:16所说『我不说他当为此祈求』。此处，
一、先知站在本国废墟上哭泣；神指示他如此行，使他既显出自己受感，便可能借此打动他们，使他们预见将临的灾祸。耶利米不但要对自己说，也要对他们说：『我眼昼夜流泪』（耶14:17）。他如此向他们表明，他确已预见『刀剑』来到，并另一种饥荒，比他们如今所呻吟的更重；此次是在乡间因无雨而成，那次将在城中因被困困乏而成。先知说话如同已经看见迦勒底人攻下他们时随之而来的痛苦：『我民的处女』——她于我如女儿之于父亲——『受了重大的破口，受了极重的击打』，比她素来所受的更大更重；因为（耶14:18）『田间』有大批被『刀杀』的尸首横陈，城中有大批因缺粮而奄奄一息的人。悲惨的景象！『先知和祭司』——那以谎言奉承他们的假先知，和那逼迫真先知的恶祭司——如今被逐出本土，四处『流落』，或作俘虏囚奴，被征服者随意驱使；或作逃亡流浪之人，到处寻找可避难得救济之处，『在素不相识的地中』。有人将此解作真先知——以西结和但以理，与众人一同被带到巴比伦。先知因预见此事，眼必『昼夜流泪』，使百姓得以确信：不但这可悲之日必无可避免地来到，而且实在可悲；他也绝非盼望它来到，倘若可以从天上得着许可，他必乐意像那些假先知一样给他们带来平安的信息。请注意：因为神虽向罪人施死刑，却不以之为乐，所以他的仆人虽奉他的名宣告罪人的死刑，也当为之忧伤哀痛。
二、他站起来为他们代求；因为焉知神不会转意后悔呢？一日活着便一日有盼望，也有祷告的余地。虽然他们中间许多人既不自己祷告，也不看重先知的祷告，但仍有一些人态度较好，愿与他一同祷告，并以『阿们』印证。
1.他就他们当前光景的可悲向神谦卑诉愿（耶14:19）。那实在悲惨，因为（1）他们对他们之神的期望落空了；他们以为他已认犹大为属自己的，但如今看来他已『全然弃绝』了她，抛弃了她，不愿认与她的任何关系，也不顾念她。他们以为锡安是他心里所爱的，是他永远安息之处；但如今『他的心』竟『厌恶锡安』——因其中所犯的罪，连其中所行的敬拜也一同厌恶。（2）那么他们别的一切期望也都落空，便不足为奇：他们『被击打』，伤痕累累，却『不得痊愈』；他们『指望平安』，因为暴风之后通常有平静和好天气，久雨之后亦然；却『得不着好处』，情形每况愈下。他们指望『痊愈的时候』，却连喘息之时也得不到。『不料，受了惊吓』——他们原盼望平安由此门而入。情形竟如此吗？『你果真弃绝了犹大吗？』你本可公义地如此行。『你的灵厌恶锡安吗？』我们罪有应得。但你岂不至终在怒中记念怜悯吗？
2.他作悔改的认罪，说他们众人本都当说的话——尽管极少人如此说（耶14:20）：『我们承认我们的罪恶』——我们遍地横行的恶，『和我们列祖的罪孽』——我们效法了他们，因此受罚也是公道。『我们知道，我们承认，我们得罪了你；所以你加在我们身上的一切都是公义的；但我们既认罪，便盼望在你里面找到那信实公义、赦免我们之罪的那位。』
3.他求神转消怒气，并凭信心诉诸神的尊荣和应许（耶14:21）。他的恳求是：『不要藐视我们』；你虽管教我们，『却不要藐视我们』；你的手虽『攻击』我们，你的心却不要如此，你的心意向我们也不要疏远。他们承认神公义地可以藐视他们，他们已使自己在他眼中可憎；然而当他们求『不要藐视我们』时，意思是：『求你再施恩收纳我们。不要厌恶锡安』（耶14:19）。不要使我们的香成为可憎。』他们诉诸，（1）神的尊荣——他借以显明自己的话的尊荣：他的『道』，他『比一切的名更为崇高』：『为你名的缘故，不要藐视我们』——我们以之名称呼、又呼求的名。他圣所的尊荣也被引为理由：『主啊，不要藐视我们，因为那将羞辱你荣耀的宝座』（圣殿，被称为『从起初荣耀高超的宝座』，耶17:12）；不要使那曾为『全地所喜乐的』，成为令人『嗤笑』和『惊骇』的。我们罪有应得受辱，但不要让它波及你自己；不要因圣殿的荒废给外邦机会毁谤那素来在其中受敬拜的神，仿佛他不能、或不愿保护它，或仿佛迦勒底的神胜过了他。请注意：善人把信仰和它在世人中的尊荣，看得比任何私人的利益或关切更近自己的心；凡由此而发的恳求，在祷告中是大有能力的，也是信心的大帮助。我们确知神不会在地上『羞辱他荣耀的宝座』；他也不会借一次护理使宝座的荣耀黯淡，而不速即借另一次护理使之再发光，且比先前更明亮。神至终必不亏损他的尊荣。（2）神的应许；他们谦卑放胆地以此提醒他：『记念你与我们所立的约，不要废弃那约。』并非他们对他的信实有任何不信，或以为他需要人提醒他对他们的应许，而是他所说要在自己身上诉明的话，他们便冒昧用以向他诉明。『我便记念我的约』（利26:42）。
4.他表明信靠神赐雨的怜悯——他们正缺这雨水（耶14:22）。他们既已失去与他作立约之神的利益，却仍不放松抓住他作为创造之主之神。（1）他们绝不向外邦的偶像求助，因为那是愚昧无益的：『外邦虚无的神中，有能降雨的吗？』没有；以色列大旱之时，巴力——虽在亚哈的日子全以色列都向他祈求——却不能解救；惟独那位『用火回答』的神，也能『用水回答』。（2）他们不把指望停留在第二因上，也不只指望从自然界得供应：『天能自降甘霖吗？』不能，没有天上的神吩咐便不能；因为云的钥匙在他手中，他『打开天上的窗户』，并『从他的楼阁浇灌在地』。但（3）因此他们一切的指望都在于他，他们的信心也在他身上：『耶和华我们的神啊，岂不是你吗！』我们可以向你指望救援，必须向你恳求的那位。『降雨、赐甘霖的岂不是你吗？因为这一切都是你所造的；你赐它们存在，所以你也赐它们法则，使它们全归你调度；你造了自然界中那不断循环的湿润以服事护理的旨意，你也引导它，随意使用它；所以我们必等候你，也唯独等候你；我们必向耶和华『求雨』（亚10:1）。我们必信靠他按时赐下，也甘心等候他的时间；我们如此行是合宜的，也必不徒然。』请注意：神的主权当吸引我们归向他，他的全足也当鼓励我们随时仰望他、从他有所期望。
英文原文
The Prophet's Intercession (606 BC)
¹⁷ Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
¹⁸ If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
¹⁹ Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
²⁰ We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
²¹ Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
²² Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
The present deplorable state of Judah and Jerusalem is here made the matter of the prophet's lamentation (Jer 14:17,18) and the occasion of his prayer and intercession for them (Jer 14:19), and I am willing to hope that the latter, as well as the former, was by divine direction, and that these words (Jer 14:17), Thus shalt thou say unto them (or concerning them, or in their hearing), refer to the intercession, as well as to the lamentation, and then it amounts to a revocation of the directions given to the prophet not to pray for them, Jer 14:11. However, it is plain, by the prayers we find in these verses, that the prophet did not understand it as a prohibition, but only as a discouragement, like that 1Jo 5:16, I do not say he shall pray for that. Here,
I. The prophet stands weeping over the ruins of his country; God directs him to do so, that, showing himself affected, he might, if possible, affect them with the foresight of the calamities that were coming upon them. Jeremiah must say it not only to himself, but to them too: Let my eyes run down with tears, Jer 14:17. Thus he must signify to them that he certainly foresaw the sword coming, and another sort of famine, more grievous even than this which they were now groaning under; this was in the country for want of rain, that would be in the city through the straitness of the siege. The prophet speaks as if he already saw the miseries attending the descent which the Chaldeans made upon them: The virgin daughter of my people, that is as dear to me as a daughter to her father, is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow, much greater and more grievous than any she has yet sustained; for (Jer 14:18) in the field multitudes lie dead that were slain by the sword, and in the city multitudes lie dying for want of food. Doleful spectacles! "The prophets and the priests, the false prophets that flattered them with their lies and the wicked priests that persecuted the true prophets, are now expelled their country, and go about either as prisoners and captives, whithersoever their conquerors lead them, or as fugitives and vagabonds, wherever they can find shelter and relief, in a land that they know not." Some understand this of the true prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, that were carried to Babylon with the rest. The prophet's eyes must run down with tears day and night, in prospect of this, that the people might be convinced, not only that this woeful day would infallibly come, and would be a very woeful day indeed, but that he was far from desiring it, and would as gladly have brought them messages of peace as their false prophets, if he might have had warrant from heaven to do it. Note, Because God, though he inflicts death on sinners, yet delights not in it, it becomes his ministers, though in his name they pronounce the death of sinners, yet sadly to lament it.
II. He stands up to make intercession for them; for who knows but God will yet return and repent? While there is life there is hope, and room for prayer. And, though there were many among them who neither prayed themselves nor valued the prophet's prayers, yet there were some who were better affected, would join with him in his devotions, and set the seal of their Amen to them.
1. He humbly expostulates with God concerning the present deplorableness of their case, Jer 14:19. It was very sad, for, (1.) Their expectations from their God failed them; they thought he had avouched Judah to be his, but now, it seems, he has utterly rejected it, and cast it off, will not own any relation to it nor concern for it. They thought Zion was the beloved of his soul, was his rest for ever; but now his soul even loathes Zion, loathes even the services there performed, for the sake of the sins there committed. (2.) Then no marvel that all their other expectations failed them: They were smitten, and their wounds were multiplied, but there was no healing for them; they looked for peace, because after a storm there usually comes a calm and fair weather, after a long fit of wet; but there was no good, things went still worse and worse. They looked for a healing time, but could not gain so much as a breathing time. "Behold, trouble at the door, by which we hoped peace would enter. And is it so then? Hast thou indeed rejected Judah? Justly thou mightest. Hath thy soul loathed Zion? We deserve it should. But wilt thou not at length in wrath remember mercy?"
2. He makes a penitent confession of sin, speaking that language which they all should have spoken, though but few did (Jer 14:20): "We acknowledge our wickedness, the abounding wickedness of our land and the iniquity of our fathers, which we have imitated, and therefore justly smart for. We know, we acknowledge, that we have sinned against thee, and therefore thou art just in all that is brought upon us; but, because we confess our sins, we hope to find thee faithful and just in forgiving our sins."
3. He deprecates God's displeasure, and by faith appeals to his honour and promise, Jer 14:21. His petition is, "Do not abhor us; though thou afflict us, do not abhor us; though thy hand by turned against us, let not thy heart be so, nor let thy mind be alienated from us." They own God might justly abhor them, they had rendered themselves odious in his eyes; yet, when they pray, Do not abhor us, they mean, "Receive us into favour again. Let not thy soul loathe Zion, Jer 14:19. Let not our incense be an abomination." They appeal, (1.) To the honour of God, the honour of his scriptures, by which he has made himself known—his word, which he has magnified above all his name: "Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, that the name of thine by which we are called and which we call upon." The honour of his sanctuary is pleaded: "Lord, do not abhor us, for that will disgrace the throne of thy glory" (the temple, which is called a glorious high throne from the beginning, Jer 17:12); let not that which has been the joy of the whole earth be made a hissing and an astonishment. We deserve to have disgrace put upon us, but let it not be so as to reflect upon thyself; let not the desolations of the temple give occasion to the heathen to reproach him that used to be worshipped there, as if he could not, or would not, protect it, or as if the gods of the Chaldeans had been too hard for him. Note, Good men lay the credit of religion, and its profession in the world, nearer their hearts than any private interest or concern of their own; and those are powerful pleas in prayer which are fetched thence and great supports to faith. We may be sure that God will not disgrace the throne of his glory on earth; nor will he eclipse the glory of his throne by one providence without soon making it shine forth, and more brightly than before, by another. God will be no loser in his honour at the long-run. (2.) To the promise of God; of this they are humbly bold to put him in mind: Remember thy covenant with us, and break not that covenant. Not that they had any distrust of his fidelity, or that they thought he needed to be put in mind of his promise to them, but what he had said he would plead with himself they take the liberty to plead with him. Then will I remember my covenant, Le 26:42.
4. He professes a dependence upon God for the mercy of rain, which they were now in want of, Jer 14:22. If they have forfeited their interest in him as their God in covenant, yet they will not let go their hold on him as the God of nature. (1.) They will never make application to the idols of the heathen, for that would be foolish and fruitless: Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? No; in a time of great drought in Israel, Baal, though all Israel presented their prayers to him in the days of Ahab, could not relieve them; it was that God only who answered by fire that could answer by water too. (2.) They will not terminate their regards in second causes, nor expect supply from nature only: Can the heavens give showers? No, not without orders from the God of heaven; for it is he that has the key of the clouds, that opens the bottles of heaven and waters the earth from his chambers. But, (3.) All their expectation therefore is from him and their confidence in him: "Art not thou he, O Lord our God! from whom we may expect succour and to whom we must apply? Art thou not he that causest rain and givest showers? For thou hast made all these things; thou gavest them being, and therefore thou givest them law and hast them all at thy command; thou madest that moisture in nature which is in a constant circulation to serve the intentions of Providence, and thou directest it, and makest what use thou pleasest of it; therefore we will wait upon thee, and upon thee only; we will ask of the Lord rain, Zec 10:1. We will trust in him to give it to us in due time, and be willing to tarry his time; it is fit that we should, and it will not be in vain to do so." Note, The sovereignty of God should engage, and his all-sufficiency encourage, our attendance on him and our expectations from him at all times.
本章是因一场大旱——久旱不雨——而作。这审判始于约西亚末年,但似乎延续到约雅敬初年;因为较小的审判是作为更大审判的预先警告而来,若不因悔改而止息,更大的便随之而至。这灾祸前文已多次提及,但本章论述得更为详尽。内容包括:一、对这灾祸的忧愁描述(耶14:1-6)。二、向神呼求,求祂止住这灾、再以怜悯归回那地(耶14:7-9)。三、严厉的警告:神必继续追讨,因为他们仍行在不义之中(耶14:10-12)。四、先知为百姓开脱,将责任归咎于他们的假先知;并对迷惑人的与受迷惑的同判了刑罚(耶14:13-16)。五、指示先知不要为他们代求,倒要为他们哀哭;然而先知仍不住地为他们代求(耶14:17-22)。