that these accounts being joined to the story of the putting to death of the great men at Riblah, all that are here said to be carried away were put to death as rebels. Of a third captivity not mentioned before, which was in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, four years after the destruction of Jerusalem, then Nebuzar-adan came and carried away 745 Jews; it is probable that this was done in revenge of the murder of Gedialiah, which was another rebellion against the king of Babylon, and that those who were now taken, were aiders and abettors of Ishmael in that murder, and were not only carried away but put to death for it; yet this is uncertain. If this be the sum total of the captives (all the persons were 4,600, v. 30), we may see how strangely they were reduced from what they had been, and may wonder as much how they came to be so numerous again, as afterward we find them; for it should seem that, as at first in Egypt, so again in Babylon, the Lord made them fruitful in the land of their affliction, and the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied. And the truth is, this people were often miracles both of judgment and mercy.

New lords make new laws. Nebuchadrezzar had long kept this unhappy prince in prison; and his son, though well-affected to the prisoner, could not procure him any favor, not one smile, from his father; any more than Jonathan could for David from his father; but when the old, peevish man was dead, his son countenanced Jehoiachin, and made him a favorite. It is common for children to undo what their fathers have done; it were well if it were always as much for the better as this here. That the world we live in is a changing world. Jehoia. chin, in his beginning fell from a throne into a prison, but here he is advanced again to a throne of state, though not to a throne of power. As, before, the robes were changed into prison garments, so now they were converted into robes again. Such chequer work in this world; prosperity and adversity are set the one over against the other, that we may learn to rejoice, as though we rejoiced not, and weep as though we wept not, that though the night of affliction be very long, yet we must not despair but that the day may dawn at last, Jehoiachin was thirty-seven years a prisoner, în confinement, in contempt, ever since he was eighteen years old, in which time we may suppose him so inured to captivity, that he had forgotten the sweets of liberty, or rather that after so long an imprisonment, it would be doubly welcome to him. Let those whose afflictions have been lengthened out, encourage themselves with this instance; the vision will at the end speak comfortably, and therefore wait for it. While there is life there is hope. Though now we suffer, we shall not always suffer.

Thursday, October 27th.

Lamentations i. 1 to 8.

We shall not enter into the reality of things in "the book of tears," if we fail to see that while the grief of the prophet is indeed his own grief, it is wrought in him by the Spirit of God. In other words, Jeremiah expresses God's grief over Israel. But why, then, did God inflict the very judgments

which so afflicted Him? Because He must. We may reverently say that He could do other than this without becoming a partaker of Israel's guilt. Verse 8. "Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed." Let it be remembered that we have here, not judgment, as upon Babylon afterward; but chastisement. It is precisely the principle of the solemn warning of the apostle to us: "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world." 1 Cor. xi. 31, 32. Israel and Judab might have escaped the terrible chastisements of the captivities by stern self-judgment; the resolute abandonment of known evil and by returning to obedience.

From Matthew Henry:

The sins of Jerusalem are here complained of as the procuring, provoking cause of all these calamities. Whoever are the instruments, God is the Author of all of these troubles; it is the Lord that has afflicted her, and He has done it as a righteous Judge, for she has sinned. Her sins are for number, numberless. Are her troubles many? her sins are many more. It is for the multitude of her transgressions that the Lord has afflicted her, and He has done it as a righteous Judge, for she has sinned. Her sins are for number, numberless. Are ber troubles many, her sins are many more. It is for the multitude of her transgressions that the Lord has afflicted her. Jer. xxx. 14. Where the transgressions of a people are multiplied, we cannot say as Job does, in his own case, that wounds are multiplied without cause. Job iz. 17. They are for nature exceeding heinous, Jerusalem has grievously sinned; has sinned sin, so the word is; sinned wilfully, deliberately; has sinned that sin which of ail others, is the abominable thing that the Lord hates, the sin of idolatry. The sins of Jerusalem, that makes such a profession and enjoys such privileges, are of all others the most grievous sins. She has sinned grievously, and therefore she came down wonderfully. Grievous sins bring wondrous ruin. There are some workers of iniquity to whom there is a strange punishment. Job xxxi. 3. Jerusalem's friends are here complained of as false and fainthearted and very unkind; they have all dealt treacherously with her, so that, in effect, they are become her enemies. Her deceivers have created as much vexations as her destroyers. The staff that breaks under us, may do us as much mischief as the staff that beats as. Ezek. xxix. 6, 7. Her princes that should have protected her, have not courage enough to make head against the enemy for their own preservation; they are like harts, that, upoa the first alarm, betake themselves to flight, and make no resistance; nay, they are like harts, that are famished for want of pasture, and having no strength for flight, are soon run down and made a prey of. Her neighbors are unneighborly, for there is none to help her, either they could not, or they would not; she has no comforter, none to sympa thize with her or suggest anything to alleviate ber griefs; like Job's friends, they saw it was to no pur pose, her grief was so great; and miserable com forters were they all in such a case.

Friday, October 28th.

Lamentations i. 9 to 20.

The central verse of this portion is verse 18. Note how the prophet makes Israel's sin his own. It is the very spirit of vicarious suffering. It was Daniel's spirit in this very epoch, when he "confessed the sins of his people," as if they were personal. It was Paul's spirit when he said (Rom. ix. 3), "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." But it was most of all in the heart of Christ when "He bore our sins in His own body on the tree."

From Matthew Henry:

The world is a vale of tears to the people of God. Zion's sons are often Zion's mourners. Zion spreads forth her hands, which is here an expression rather of despair than of desire; she flings out her hands as giving up all for gone. Let us see how she accounts for this passionate grief. Her God is withdrawn from her; and Micah, that had but gods of gold, when they were stolen from him, cried out, What have I more? And what is this that ye say unto me? What aileth thee? The church here grieves excessively, for says she, the comforter that should receive my soul is far from me. God is the Comforter; He used to be so to her, He only can administer effectual comforts, it is His word that speaks them, it is His Spirit that speaks them to us. His are strong consolations, able to relieve the soul, to bring it back when it is gone, and we cannot of ourselves fetch it again; but now He is departed in displeasure, He is far from me, and beholds me afar off. Note, it is no marvel that the souls of the saints faint away, when God, who is the only Comforter that can relieve them, keeps at a distance.

Her children are removed from her, and are in no capacity to help her; it is for them that she weeps, as Rachel for hers, because they were not and therefore she refuses to be comforted. Her children were desolate, because the enemy prevailed against them, there is none of her sons to take her by the hand (Isa. li. 18); they cannot help themselves and how shall they help her? Both the damsels and the youths, that were her joy and hope, are gone into captivity (verse 18). It is said of the Chaldeans, that they had no compassion upon young men or maidens, not on the fair sex, not on the blooming age. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17.

Her friends failed her; some would not and others could not give her any relief. She spread forth her hands, as begging relief, but there is none to comfort her (verse 17), none that can do it, none that cares to do it; she called for her lovers, and, to engage them to help her, called them her lovers, but they deceived her (verse 19); they proved like the brooks in summer to the thirsty traveler. Job vi.15. Note, those creatures that we set our hearts upon, and raise our expectations from, we are commonly deceived and disappointed in.

Saturday, October 29th.

Lamentations ii, 1 to 22.

The heart of things in this lesson is in verse 14.

"Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee; and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity." It is not to be denied that we have fallen upon like times. The solemn warnings, the unsparing discovery and rebuke of sin which once characterized the Protestant pulpit have well-nigh ceased. Instead, the progress of the world and the passing events of the day form the subjects of discourses. It is well to remember that precisely this is to us a sign of the coming catastrophes: "When they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh."

From Matthew Henry:

Note, to those who know how to value God's favor, nothing appears more dreadful than His anger; corrections in love are easily borne, but rebukes in wrath wound deep. It is God's wrath that turns against Jacob like a flaming fire (verse 3), and it is a consuming fire, it devours round about, devours all her honors, all her comforts. This is the fury that is poured out like fire (verse 4), like the fire and brimstone which were rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, but it was their sin that kindled the fire. God is such a tender Father to His children, that we may be sure He is never angry with them but when they provoke Him, and give Him cause to be angry; nor is He ever angry more than there is cause for; God's covenant with them that if they would obey His voice, He would be an enemy to their enemies, Exodus xxiii. 22; and He had been so, as long as they kept close to Him, but now He is an enemy to them; at least He is an enemy, verse 5. He has bent His bow like an enemy, verse 4. He stood with His right hand stretched out against them, and a sword drawn in it as an Adversary. God is not really an enemy to His people. No, not when He is angry with them, and corrects them in anger. We may be sorely displeased against our dearest friends and relations, whom yet we are far from having an enmity to. But sometimes He is as an Enemy to them, when all His providences concerning them seems in outward appearance to have a tendency to their ruin; when everything makes against them, and nothing for them. But, blessed be God, Christ is our Peace, our Peacemaker, who has slain the enmity, and in Him we may agree with our Adversary, which it is our wisdom to do, since it is in vain to contend with Him, and He offers us advantageous conditions of peace.

Sunday, October 30th.

Lamentations iii. 1 to 18.

Here again the prophet must be understood as the spokesman of his afflicted people. Personally guiltless he will not separate himself from his nation, but becomes, through the Spirit, the mouthpiece of their despair.

From Matthew Henry:

The title of the one hundred and second Psalm might very fitly be prefixed to this chapter: the prayer of the afflicted; when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint is here poured out. Let us observe the particulars of it.

The prophet complains that God is angry, this gives both birth and bitterness to the affliction (v. 1). I am the man, the remarkable man that has seen affliction and has felt it sensibly by the rod of His wrath. Note, God is sometimes angry with His own people; yet it is to be complained of, not as a sword to cut off, but only as a rod to correct; it is to them the rod of His wrath, a chastening which though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous. By this rod we must expect to see affliction, and if we be made to see more than ordinary affliction by the rod, we must not quarrel, for we are sure that the anger is just and the affliction mild, and mixed with mercy.

That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark; darkness is put for great trouble and perplexity, the the want both of comfort and direction; this was the case of complaint (v. 2); "He has led me by His providence and an unaccountable chain of events, into darkness and not into light; the darkness I feared,and not the light I-hoped for," and (v.6), He has set me in dark places, dark as the grave, like those that be dead of old, that are quite forgotten, nobody knows who or what they were. Note the Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness.

Monday, October 31st.

Lamentations iii. 19 to 66.

Jeremiah will voice the despair of Israel, but he will still testify of the mercy of the Lord. Read these brief sentences as what indeed they are -ejaculations of faith and praise. It is like David's "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him." In the worst of his present distress, David looks beyond the encompassing gloom. It is beautiful to see how the prophet justifies God, and neither himself nor Israel. See especially verses 22, 23, 32, 33, 39.

From Matthew Henry:

Afflictions are really good for us, and if we bear them aright, will work very much for our good. It

is not only good to hope and wait for salvation, but it is good to be under the trouble in the meantime (verse 27). It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Many of the young men were carried into captivity; to make them easy in it, be tells them that it was good for them to bear the yoke of that captivity, and they would find it so, if they would but accommodate themselves to their condition, and labor to answer God's ends in laying the heavy yoke upon them. It is very applica ble to the yoke of God's commands, it is good for young people to take that yoke upon them in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religions, it will make our duty the more acceptable to God,and easy to ourselves, if we engage in it when young. But here it seems to be meant of the yoke of afflic tion; many have found it good to bear this in youth; it has made them humble and serious, and has weaned them from the world, who otherwise would have been proud and unruly, and as a bal. lock unaccustomed to the yoke. But when do we bear the yoke so that it is really good for us to bear it in our youth? He answers in the following verses, when we are sedate and quiet under our afflictions; when we sit alone and keep silence, do not run to and fro into all companies with our complaints, aggravating our calamities, and quarreling with the disposals of providence concerning us, but retire into privacy, that we may in a day of adver sity, consider, sit alone, that we may converse with God; and commune with our own hearts, silencing all discontented, distrustful thoughts, and laying our hand upon our mouth, as Aaron, who, under a very severe trial, held his peace. We must keep silence under the yoke, as those that have borne it upon us, not wilfully pulled it upon our own necks, but patiently submitted to it when God laid it upon us. When those who are afflicted in their youth, accommodate themselves to their afflictions, fit their necks to the yoke, and study to God's end in afflicting them, then will they find it good for them to bear it, for it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are thus exercised thereby.

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