T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S which had been full of water and was emptied of it so that only mire remain ed. Such empty cisterns were often used as prisons (Zech. 9:11). The depth forbade hope of escape.— Brown. Many of God’s faithful witnesses have thus been privately made away, whose blood will be brought to account in the day of discovery. We are not here told. what Jeremiah did in his distress, but he tells us himself in Lam. 3:55, 5 7 , “ I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon, and thou drewest near saying, Fear not.”—Henry. In spite of all that had happened they still felt a superstitious dread of actually shedding the blood of a prophet. They felt that they would be less guilty if they left him in the empty dungeon to be starved to death, or suffocated, than if they had cut his head off. They acted in the spirit of Reuben’s advice concerning Joseph who was also cast into an empty pit: ‘‘Shed not blood but cast him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him.” By a singular blend ing of hypocrisy and superstition the mediaeval church thought to keep her self unstained by the blood of heretics by handing them over to the govern ment.—Exp. Bible. All this reminds us of Him, our blessed Lord, who was also accused by false witnesses and who went Himself into the horrible pit and the miry clay, into the deepest suffering and jaws of death, to take us out of the dungeon where sin had put us.— Anno. Bible. Jeremiah sunk in the mire. Much to be preferred to the moral sinking of Zedekiah in verse 22.— Comp. Bible. Jeremiah herein was a type of the Messiah (Ps. 69:2, 14), “ I sink in deep mire.”— J. F. & B. v. 7. The Ethiopian. God has His remnant in all places, among all sorts. There were “ saints” even in Caesar’s household.— Sel. He who rules the raging sea knows how to raise up means to check the designs of the ungodly.— Racine. In spite of man’s short-sight ed endeavors to dispose of events ac cording to his own wishes, there is an intelligence beyond his reason which holds the scales of justice and promotes the well being of God’s own.—Morler. _v- 8. Spake to the king. God’s faithful ministers, who show men what enemies they are to themselves, are of ten looked upon as enemies of the coun try, and are wickedly abused. They may, however, commit the keeping of their spirits to God, their rewarder, who can even raise up advocates for them in
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PRACTICAL POINTS (1) A prison affords a good pulpit for a true prophet. (2) A loyal messenger never mini mizes his message. (3) The devil’s servants never sleep on duty. (4 ) Truth it in love, hut troth i t (5) Better be a prophet in the mire of the pit, than a pulpiteer in the mire of Modernism. (6) God’s selection of servants is not after the manner of men. (7) Ebed-melech risked his life to restore a life. (8) _ Every jot and tittle plays its part in God’s wondrous work. v. 4. Weakeneth the hands of the men of war. Had Jeremiah not had the divine commission he might justly have been accused of treason, but hav ing the Word of COMMENTS FROM G o d , w h i c h MANY SOURCES made the result Keith L. Brooks of the siege cer- gj tain, he acted humanly as an interpreter of God’s will. Jamieson. Seeketh not the welfare of this people. It is not uncommon for preachers of the Word of God to be rep resented as dangerous men, disaffecting to the country, and their preaching as having a bad tendency.— Henry. Cer tainly Jeremiah’s word was enough to take the heart out of the bravest soldier, but the concluding sentence about the welfare of .the people was merely cheap talk, not "without parallel in the sayings of many rulers in later times. The welfare of the people would have been best promoted by surrender to the will of God, which Jeremiah ad vocated.—Ball. v. 5. King cannot do anything against yon. Zedekiah was a weak king and now, in his straits, afraid to oppose his princes. He hides his dis like of their overweening power, which prevented him from shielding Jeremiah as he would have wished, under compli mentary speeches. “ It is not right that the king should deny aught to such faithful and wise statesmen.”— Jerome. v. 6. Cast him into the dungeon. Literally “ cistern.” It was not a sub terranean prison, but a pit or cistern
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